I finally got around to fixing my a/c on my truck and it blows nice and cold. One problem that I'm still having with the new compressor that I had with the old compressor is that the truck still wants to overheat when I'm doing stop and go driving with the a/c on. I have to turn the a/c off to prevent it from overheating.

The only thing I can possibly think of is that maybe the previous owners put a smaller radiator on the truck than what came from the factory on it. Based on everything else I've had to do with the truck, it wouldn't surprise me. Especially considering the fact that the radiator looks brand new and the a/c wasn't working when I bought it, I'm thinking they may have used the cheapest thing available.

The radiator on my truck looks kinda thin (about an inch thick core if that), so perhaps it's a 1 row radiator and I need to upgrade? I'm running out of options here. I can drive the truck all day long without the a/c and the needle on the temperature gauge MAY make it to the N in Normal. It runs perfectly ok and perfectly cool under all conditions when I'm not using the a/c.

If I upgrade to a 3 core radiator, what do I need to do regarding the fan shroud? Maybe a fan shroud for an F250 will fit? I'm assuming since it's a heavy duty truck, it should come with a 3 row radiator. Maybe my existing fan shroud already fits the truck if it came with a 2 row radiator originally.

For the guys that have factory a/c that use it during stop and go driving in the city, how thick is your radiator core?

I flushed my cooling system less than a year ago when I replaced the intake manifold gasket and timing cover gasket. My thermostat is still a 160 degree thermostat. I never changed it back to 195 degrees as I mentioned I would do a few months back.

This seems to be a relatively simple fix to me and I just want some input on it before I go out and buy a 2 or 3 row radiator. I'm thinking if I do get a new radiator, might as well make it a 3 row.

One thing I noticed was in going to Autozone's website to look up radiators, the lowest priced radiator had a note that says without a/c and the next step up in their radiator selection says with a/c. I think I have it figured out, but would like to get some sort of confirmation before making this purchase.

Thoughts?

 

It doesn't matter, you can run any of the radiators. Your shroud will fit any of them. I started having cooling problems when I swapped in my a/c (non a/c truck) and I do have the same thin radiator as you. Non a/c trucks have a different shroud, actually I wouldn't even call it a shroud but I swapped that on a while ago.

Anyways, today I remembered that my fan has been freewheeling for a few years. I put on a new fan clutch and it seems the cooling problems are gone. Only one day of testing though, and only on the way home from work. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes, but for only $30 it was worth it and I immediately noticed the temperature was lower than before and even lower than before I put in the a/c, which also almost never reached the N. Pretty damn hot here too.

 

Any specific brand of fan clutch? Right now, I'm looking at getting the severe duty fan clutch made by imperial.

 

Nah, I used whatever AutoZone had on the shelf.

 

20 miles to work, noon in the dead heat, stop and go, a/c on full blast the whole way. Truck ran as cool as ever not even touching the N, didn't boil over when I got to my destination and the a/c seemed to be colder too. I'd try it before the radiator. Also, I did just put in a brand new 195 thermostat before the fan clutch with no change.

 

Thanks! I just picked up a fan clutch and I had the same boilover to happen to me yesterday afternoon. I will be installing ASAP to see if I can put this problem to rest.

 

First and foremost, THANK YOU very much for the suggestion!!!

I believe my overheating problem is resolved. I installed the new fan clutch, turned on the a/c and put it to the test driving into downtown Charlotte (stop and go traffic) and it never even made it to the N in Normal.........it barely even made it to the line before normal. One other thing I noticed was that my a/c blew much cooler since installing the new fan clutch. I guess it cools the entire engine compartment just that well.

The only negative if you want to call it that is that the severe duty fan clutch makes my truck sound more like a cargo van when I'm accelerating than anything else. It makes a roaring noise when accelerating. I think the standard duty one (which costed more) would be much quieter and probably just as sufficient for my problem. I might invest in a standard clutch in the future. But for now, it can roar as loud as it likes as long as my engine is cool!

I have one final test to put it through tomorrow and that'll serve as confirmation, but from what I saw today, I'm 99.999999% sure that fixed the problem.

 

No problem. Yours seems to be running slightly cooler than mine. New fan clutches can be noisy at first whether regular or heavy duty, they need a little bit to work in. But I imagine yours will be noisier than mine being a heavy duty.