I just tried that magazine trick as shown on that video, it didnt stick in there, which is a good thing because my fan is obviously working good.

It would be more expensive to get a 5spd one then buy an external one, wouldn't it? Would I be better off just buying a replacement auto one like I have now?

 

id go with an auto one unless you look at the local scrapyard for external tranny coolers. some rigs use to come stock with them

 

I would think a 5 spd radiator + an external tranny cooler would be a little bit more expensive than just an automatic radiator with the cooler built in. Either option will work fine for years. But in the future (say 7-10 years from now) you'll need to replace the auto radiator again, where the external cooler and 5 spd radiator will still be fine most likely.

I guess you'd need to ask yourself if you plan on having this truck for many years to come. A radiator is only like <$150 anyways so it doesn't really matter much over the course of 10 years. If it were me, I would buy an new auto radiator and call it good for a long while.

 

The TruCool 4454 is a popular choice among guys on here, but there are several to choose from. I'd suggest you look at one of the tranny cooler threads on here (there's a million of them) and see which one you think you'd want. As brian said, if you are replacing the radiator it isn't NECESSARY to add a cooler, but you will extend the life of your transmission (as long as you install it correctly), and remove that heat from your engine's cooling circuit.

 

+1 on that.

 

Sounds good guys, I've been pretty convinced now that it's my radiator and I need to get a new one, then maybe soon after look for an external tranny cooler. Thanks everyone for their help!

So that must be my problem then, can anyone think of what else it could be?

 

I'm using the 4454 too, but there is a B&M model that is twice as thick that FOG likes better.

 

Thats what I thought and I just replaced my radiator and still over heats. I had my water pump and timing belt done about 40k miles ago so I doubt those are the issues. Im going to try t-stat and test my fan again with the video and hope its one of those 2. If not, I am out of ideas.

 

If the t-stat and fan check out ok, you might want to flush the engine block and make sure you don't have any blocked coolant passages (make sure the heater is turned to hot so it flushes those passages too).

 

Me and Vital22 actually did that when we did the timing belt/water pump, so unless something got clogged within the past couple months, I don't think it can be that. I know you're talking to him, but mine also wasn't 40k ago. I'm leaning towards getting a new radiator then.

 

I agree with your plan.

 

Did you make sure there was coolant in it? Just sayin...

 

Brian; Cool, thanks for your input again! I'll probably check my work within the next few days and see if I can get a discount. There's a shop called "Performance Radiator" around here that I've heard is pretty reliable. And also, working at Ford, I see them down there a lot, so hopefully I can round something up from them!

Ah, good call Logan, I probably should have checked that!!

 

Another possibility is a blown head gasket leaking exhaust gases into the coolant. But of course start with the easy stuff first and that would probably blow coolant out the overflow tank.

 

I'm still wondering about this. Is the gauge reading hot the only sign that it's overheating?

 

I sure hope it isn't that, it did pass my mind though, because I know frequent overheating could lead up to that. :/ Let's hope it's just my radiator going out!

The engine (well, I felt the hood) still felt pretty warm. And like I said, it was over 2 hours after I got home, and when the gauge meter is normally at the half-way point when running, it was just a little bit under that, which seemed different. You'd think after 2 hours it would be cooled down a lot more than that.

 

im not sure if you notice this but after it rains, my hood is the first part of the car that dries due to the heat coming from the engine. and it will leave white residue from the rain cause its so hot. if its lightly raining you can see steam coming off the hood.

 

I understand that, but looking inside, turning the truck on power, then looking at the temperature gauge and seeing that it only moved a little bit after 2 hours just seemed different to me. Which would just be because I overheated before that, you think?

 

we know codys boiled over atleast once... i was there.... but a bad temp sending unit could show hot. Its too bad you don't have an infrared temp scanner or even an obd 2 scanner that shows live data... You could see what the temp reading is for the ecu. Check for cold spots in your radiator.

 

My work could have one of those tools, I'd have to ask for a tech to check it out though. I know what you're saying about the cold spots, but I think however it turns out, I'm going to be needing a new radiator considering this one is 12 going on 13 years.