running hot...or not?

[zacky6661]

hey OB, been a while since ive been on but ive been busy moving. anyways a couple of new quirks have surfaced on my 84, first off the temp guage is reading WAY hotter than normal, not to the point of overheating but very high. i know factory ford guages are just idiot sticks in these but its never done this before. the part that puzzles me is that the heater doesnt blow any hotter, and if i pull over and pop the hood the upper rad hose isnt any hotter than normal temp turn the motor off and you can touch almost any part of the engine bay without getting burned. could this be a temp sender malfunction? or a thermostat?

another thing that came up, not on the same issue but when i come to an idle theres a tap that comes from the front end of my motor, at first i was wondering if it was a valve tick so i wasnt too worried since i plan on rebuilding the top end with this years tax returns. but my friend says it sounds like a timing chain with slack in it since after i give it some go-juice the tap goes away, is this something to be concerned about?

 

[homelessduck]

I have been wondering what the ideal temp was according to the factory gauges.. I've been meaning to ask, but since it is relevant to your question, I'll ask it here. Even on the hottest summer days my truck never seems to get warm. The hottest it has ever been was showing below the "N" for normal, on the cold side. It usually sits right at the cold line, or just above it..

 

[Diesel Max]

I have been wondering what the ideal temp was according to the factory gauges.. I've been meaning to ask, but since it is relevant to your question, I'll ask it here. Even on the hottest summer days my truck never seems to get warm. The hottest it has ever been was showing below the "N" for normal, on the cold side. It usually sits right at the cold line, or just above it..

I was wondering about this myself as my needle sits between the Cold and Normal mark, so after running 20 miles down the interstate at 75 miles, then down a backroad for a couple miles, I pulled in my driveway. I got out with my IR gun and measuring the temp of the top radiator hose, I was sitting at 135.7 degrees. I then measured the temp of the bottom radiator hose and it was 107.4 degrees. I'm running a 3 tube aluminum radiator and I know it cools better the the stock brass radiator.

 

[vegas39]

Well, your in luck, we dont have timing chains.
Maybe a bad injector, or a lifter.

 

[Goofyexponent]

There are no timing chains in these trucks...everything is gear driven so you can relax on that part. I would imagine it might be a stuck lifter or rockers needing the lash tightened up.

I am having a few issues with my heating and cooling as well. I am hoping a complete flush, fill and thermostat will solve that problem!

 

[gonecrazyi]

If the noise is coming from the front right its most likely the fuel pump, after replacing mine with an aftermarket pump I noticed that it did tick a little more than the original worn one.

As for the temp guage, its not accurate. You really need a mechanical guage to really know whats going on with temps.

 

[7.3n/anut]

180-195 is ideal not much if any higher. I have the same trouble with mine. Wont warm up unless yer balls to the wall in high gear 80 MPH on a slight uphill fee a mile rolling the coal. Haha.

 

[FordGuy100]

Just a Ford factory gauge. First night I got my truck, outside temp was about 25*, and driving it home (about an hour) it was reading almost to the overheat area. Scared me. Now it wont even get past the C for cold.

 

[redneckaggie]

mine doesnt move at all......No use in even looking at it when i got the autometer on the dash

 

[zacky6661]

so i replaced the temp sending unit with a motorcraft replacement one but it still does the same damn thing could the guage be bad on the dashboard unit? or could the thermostat actually be going bad and im just feeling for heat in the wrong places?

 

[Diesel Max]

so i replaced the temp sending unit with a motorcraft replacement one but it still does the same damn thing could the guage be bad on the dashboard unit? or could the thermostat actually be going bad and im just feeling for heat in the wrong places?

If you can get your hands on an IR gun check the temp on the upper and lower radiator hoses and see what kind of readings you get. I've posted the results of my trucks temps in one of the posts above. You can use that for comparrison. My temp gauge runs just below the "N" in the word Normal.

 

[zacky6661]

If you can get your hands on an IR gun check the temp on the upper and lower radiator hoses and see what kind of readings you get. I've posted the results of my trucks temps in one of the posts above. You can use that for comparrison. My temp gauge runs just below the "N" in the word Normal.

ill see what i can do. before it used to run between the O and R on normal, then one day it just started slowly creeping to the L and thats where its been running for close to a month now

 

[93f250idi]

Mines never went above straight up and down (can't member what letter that is) and that was only because it was a little low of water and pulling close to 7000 lbs. Other wise it never goes above the N