Ok Whitey....when you get there, you owe us some pictures. lol Hope it all works out for you.

Drill....how is the new radiator working out for you. Have your temps finally stabilized yet or are you still having heat problems? I figure you got it figured out and all is well.

 

New bump in the road..... the buyers just backed out on me.

 

Damn the luck Whitey

 

Thank you sir! This is my happy place. Lol
I spent all day out in the yard today weedeating and raking to prep for the bbq this weekend. Should have about 80 people by the time we sauce the Boston butts at 6 pm. Should be a really good day but Sunday will probably hurt a little. Lol

 

It's unbelievably great. If I would have known how much of a difference it was going to make I would have done this last year. 110 degree temps, AC on full blast 80mph down the highway at 200 coolant and 160 trans. The truck just feels happier I guess you could say. I'd be willing to be she ran that hot for a long time. I wouldn't know since I've only had the Scangauge for a couple months. Also, I can get 17 mpg on my way home from work when I'm trying. Best used to be 16.1 and that was really hyper milling.

 

Hey Drill, I believe the HD cooling package also has an upgraded fan clutch. My truck even has a metal fan rather than plastic. That may help you improve even a little more. My truck sits right at 194-197 all the time.... doesn't matter what the temp is outside.

 

In 97 Ford used only a light duty fan clutch on the 150's and Expy, but the HD version on the 250LD. In 1998 and up they all have the HD version. They swap for each other, but of course the 97 being the most unwanted to use. The aftermarket now sells only the HD version in the major brands. I don't use the cheap stuff if possible, so I haven't researched that side of the coin.

We had a thread on this a few years ago, when we were doing the electric fan conversions. I'm not 100% sure it was this forum or the other at .net. We discussed the fan clutches, radiators, e-fans (Taurus is what I used on my blue 98), idlers, bypass idler for the AC and all the related crap that goes with the cooling system. It even discussed the differences with aftermarket water pumps. I'll see later if I can find the link and post it up. It might help any new members having cooling problems down the road.

 

I don't think mine is a LD version. As soon as I get the dust settled everywhere.... and wherever I wind up, operation e-fan will happen on mine. I can tell you that the clutch works flawlessly.

I'm mostly doing the e-fan for the mpg's. It did a lot for my Mustang when I converted.

 

I don't think that you can tell a LD from HD fan clutch in our years. They all used the same basic size and configuration. The difference was the inside mechanism. Aftermarket has both "thermal" and "non-Thermal" styles available. I'll stick with the "thermal" ones, as that is what the 98 and newer have. I don't know what your 97 has for a style. It shows as only a one year part.

 

Huh, I didn't know that. Mine has the plastic fan. I replaced the fan clutch with a made in USA Hayden unit. It was noticeably smaller than the factory one though. If I ever have issues again I'll def look for a metal fan though. I might go Efan once I move to a cooler climate, but for now I want all the air.