Gathering alone from these forums, it seems as these two seem to get along pretty good, what do the rest of you think??

More and more I am seeing overheating topics and the majority being from 2nd Gen.

I am not liking this.

 

I think your'e right. Maybe the 2nd gens cooling system parts wear out in +/- 10 years. It seems people are either changing radiators, thermostats, and going to electric fans. But my radiator seems to be in good shape. It is very well made and shouldn't ever need replacing. The fan clutch I took apart last night also looked new inside. It might be the little spring termostat on the fan clutch that goes bad. Others have said their radiators have cracks/leaks. Maybe theyr'e the ones that were neglected. I would think the only part that needs regular attention is the thermostat, and maybe the water pump after that.

 

I replaced my radiator last summer. It had corrosion pin holes in the top of it. The t-stat will not last forever and will need to be changed. Some change to a lower temp model to keep the underhood temp down. The change from the engine driven fan to electric is to primarily free up some ponies. The fan on the engine is always turning and creates parasitic drag on the engine.

My tranny was over temp for the first time about 2 months ago (my rig is 10 years old this year). I may get a tranny cooler to combat it. We have alot of hills around here - torture on an old auto tranny. Especially since the 3.0 powerhouse needs to be floored to maintain highway speeds on hills.

 

i hope you like the quote Cebby. i had a hose crack about a year ago, and my radiator replaced..other than that..ive had no problems *knock on wood*!!!!

 

I've had no problems either. I do know that my radiator was replaced before I bought the vehicle. My temp guage gets to the spot and doesn't move. I like that about this truck. My POS Ram used to move all over the place. I had to put a lower thermostat in it so it wouldn't overheat in the summer with the AC on.

 

What is the normal "spot" on the 2nd generation temp gauge? My goes up about a third of the way and then stops. It this where it is supposed to go?

- Robert

 

mine stops half way up.

 

Mine stops right on top of the thermometer, which is half way.

Bobful,
If it only goes a third of the way, then you may have a lower temp thermostat in your truck.

 

Mine goes half way up. For those of us that have auto tranny's it has to go to that point because just below that point is the threshold of the coolant temperature sensor that feeds the ECU the signal to allow the tranny to shift into Over Drive. Any temp lower than that point prevents the truck from going into O/D.

David

 

Mine goes a tick shy of half way up, every time. I've never had overheating issues, in fact I've never seen my guage at any other spot at running temp other than right in the middle. Twice when I've restarted the guage has climbed really, really high, although strangely never to the red zone, but gone right back down before my stroke ended (hehe).

 

Hmm... I suppose my temperature is normal then when it's at the half way mark. That's kind of strange.

My dad's FORD never gets past a quarter even when he leaves it idling for thirty minutes with the A/C at full blast.

Nice to know, still.