mustangGT90210

So I've got a '91 with the I6, and it's having some cooling issues. It's not overheating, but I'm afraid to really test that. The top radiator hose is (obviously) the wrong one, and it almost clamps shut if front of the valve cover sometimes, the thermostat is questionable, and the lower radiator is unknown. The truck is running mostly on water at this moment, because it did overheat on the previous owner (she was up front about her husband not taking too good of care of it) while pulling a boat.

So my question here is, after I replace the t-stat and radiator hoses, then get someone to flush the system, unless me and my dad can do that too, what should I look for if it's not anything that I've replaced?

Sidenote: I've got the towing package, does that mean I have either an oil or trans cooler?

Just for the record, I drove the truck at least 50 miles today

farmer12

Well whatever you do dont go and flush the system when the motors hot, thats a good way to split a head wide open. And I'd say you've got your bases covered pretty good, get the right hoses an such on there. Maybe give the water pump a wigglin when you get the belt off to see if its loose or not. If it is that'd be a good time to replace it. As far as flushing it...when you pull your lower hose off you'll get a good amount out of the radiator, and if it doesnt look to bad (rusty or dirty) I think i'd just get the garden hose and stick it in the top and let it run thro there for a lil bit. I dunno bout everyone else but if the coolent (or water in your case) doesnt look to bad I'd just get all your new parts on and filler up with clean coolent. 60/40 mix with distilled water.

mustangGT90210

The water in it is rust colored, so I think it'd be best to get a real flush instead of just hose water, know what I mean?

farmer12

Well I gotta tell ya...I worked for Ford for bout 6 months doing just that sort of thing, coolent flushes, trans, ect.... and the way they do those is a **** poor way to flush an engine, I think if ya gotta do something like that, just fill it with clean water, run it for a bit with out the t stat in it, drain and repeat till its clean. Thats the way I would do it. Always seemed like a waste of money to me.

mustangGT90210

I'll try your way the second time around, if there's a second time. I wanna try the chemical flush first to see if it helps the coolant from turning rust colored...

TheLoudestSilence

I had the same problem when i changed my T-stat.. the rust water that is.. when i pulled the T-stat housing off it just looked like mud water pouring out.. I pretty much did what Farmer said.. I went ahead and just put the housing back on (with out my new T-stat) and filled it with clean water.. then I added about half a cup of bleach and drove it around about 10-15 minutes.. then parked it.. after it cooled down i just put my water hose in the radiator and turned it on and waited about 10 minutes.. Its kinda a redneck way of back flushing the cooling system i guess.. any way after about ten minutes i turned the water off opened the little valve and drained it all and put new water in and added the bleach again.. I repeated the process about 3 times and the water coming out was crystal clear in the end.. After all that i put my new T-stat in and havent had any problems since.. and my water is still clear

mustangGT90210

Alright, well here's what we did. Drain it, follow instructions on the flush(put the flush in, add water to get to right level, get to temp, let run) So we did that, then drained it all, disconnected the hoses, ran the hose through the thermostat housing, out the bottom of the engine, then through where the radiator cap was, then where the upper hose comes out of the radiator until the water was clean coming out.

Getting the t-stat to sit in the housing right for a good seal was a MAJOR PITA for my dad. He did that, I did basically everything else. We changed a lot of stuff today. Worked from ~12 to sundown.

mitchalvin

If it has tap water in it you could have plugged up the radiator.

Lois

I change the exahust manifold on my 95 f 150 4.9 but it keeps making the same noise like if I still have a leak

Good old Bill

Everything said above is all good and fine, when exactly was the temp going hotter than you like. Breaking it down, gets real warm or hot right away===T-stat, no circulation of water. Gets to warm in city type stop and go driving===fan clutch, no air being pulled across radiator for colling. Gets to hot on open road, freeways and the higher speed driving===radiator internally plugged up, again not sufficient water passing thru radiator to get cooled down.

Again in general terms, by all means get the correct hose on there. The rusty water is caused by operation with out the proper coolant mixture, 50/50 water and undiluted antifreeze. Not a good thing. If someone has added the stop leak stuff, there is your problem. The radiator will be internally restricted and needs to be boiled out at a radiator shop.

OK, flame throwers, come and get me with your input.