Still in the IDI World for a Short While Longer

[tuckerd1]

Hello guys! It's been a long time since I posted here. Some may remember I went to Dodge about 3 years ago for hauling of my 4 horse trailers. Several reasons why I made the swap and it has made the difference I wanted.

I still have my IDI for now, but it will go to my youngest son in a few weeks. But first I am doing some repairs and upgrades before the turnover.

I purchased a Champion aluminum 3 row radiator, a new Motorcraft fan clutch, a new Motorcraft thermostat and a new B&M trans cooler. Also replacing the radiator hoses while I am at it. This should solve the cooling problems I had in the past.

As for some history, about 4 years ago I replaced the original radiator, 4 row-16 fins/inch, with an aftermarket 3 row-13 fins/inch. Also, I replaced the original fan clutch with an aftermarket (Hayden?) and a aftermarket thermostat. Can yall see where all this is leading?

That is when my cooling problems started. I could not pull either of my 4 horse trailers, 15K lbs or 18K lbs, up the 3 mile grade (1200 ft elev. change) leaving my house without having to stop half way up to allow the engine to cool down. I never allowed it to boil over, but it did get extremely hot. I don't have an aftermarket temp gauge so I cannot tell you how hot it really was, but it was beyond normal on the factory gauge. And it didn't matter if it was 90 or 70 degrees outside, I had the same results.

I have the old parts removed and will start the install of the new parts tomorrow. Got a dentist appointment today.

This should solve all of my cooling problems. I will let you know the outcome in a few days after a test pull up the hill.

 

[icanfixall]

Well thanks for visiting us again. Your another success story why to use the oem parts like the thermostat and fan clutch. What you could do with the hayden clutch is remove the spring and cut some of it off. Then reinstall it. Thats what MS Tech does to their modified clutch they get so much money for. I can't tell you how much to remove and rebend but it can't be much. All that spring does is closes or opens the valve so the viscus fluid can or can't flow thru the clutch. Another thing you can do is turn that split shaft coming out the front of the clutch all the way closed do it permanently locked up. I have both the oem and the MS Tech clutch here off an engine. I really need to open the springs and compare...

 

[OLDBULL8]

Ican, about a 1/4", just cut the bend off, then re-bend it, heat that end before re-bending, or it may break, pay attention to which way it's installed before removing, so it's put back in the same way. Mark which side is up.

 

[icanfixall]

All that info is great for modifying the spring. I couldn't write it up any better.

 

[tuckerd1]

Icanfixall, I had actually shorted that spring 1/8" at one time but did not see any improvemnet with the aftermarket thermostat and 3 row radiator. I am going all out this to fix it for good.

 

[tuckerd1]

Hung up on finishing the install until I get the thread adapter for the heater hose fitting. Ordered it today from http://www.threadtoolsupply.com/alum...m16-38npt.html.

 

[tuckerd1]

Got the thread adapter. Radiator and new fan clutch are installed. It went very smoothly. Only thing I had to do was modify one of the mounting brackets to clear my intercooler pipes.

The radiator is nice looking and straight. I was very pleased with the quality after inspection. There was no warp as some people have discussed. The mounting brackets were heavy gauge. I was concerned that if they had been thinner, it may have caused issues with cutting them out for the IC piping.

Now I have to overcome my CRS! I did not buy any distilled water when I bought my antifreeze. I live 30 miles to the nearest store that will carry the water so I will have to wait until my weekly trip into town to pick it up and finish the install. Also need to pickup a new 13lb radiator cap and make sure I still have some cavitation coolant additive.

 

[Exekiel69]

It's been a long time no doubt. I didn't read the rest of the thread but I read the first one, You don't mention if You replaced the water pump, maybe something to look into.

 

[tuckerd1]

Water pump will have to come later. It is a motorcraft pump that has maybe 20K on it. Hopefully it will last quite a while longer.

 

[tuckerd1]

Got it all installed finally yesterday. Did the first test run and all seems good so far. Did a couple of really hard acceleration runs and the temp never got above the "N" on the factory gauge. Still need to pull a horse trailer up the hill leaving my house. That will tell the true story about how the repairs worked.

When does the thermostat open in reference to the factory temp gauge?

 

[icanfixall]

Well if the thermostat is the factory stat then it opens at 192 degrees and is fully open at 212 degrees. Where that is on the factory dash NORMAL is not easy to say because all trucks are a little differant. Know this about the factory gauge. As it gets close to the "L" the temp is approaching 242 degrees. At that temp the over temp switch closes and grounds the dash gauge. Then the needle will cross well past the "L" and the check engine lite comes on. That over temp sender is the large sender in the front of the drivers side head. Remove that wire and ground it. Watch the dash gauge show well past hot or the "L". Thats a test of that sender and its simple to do.

 

[tuckerd1]

Finally pulled a 12K 5th wheel up long steep grades. The factory gauge temp would stay on N and O on level and rolling hills. On long steep grades would shoot up to about the A and would immediately drop to the N when you topped the grade. The less you stayed in the fuel the lower the temp would be.

The test pull was 250 miles at about 55- 70 degree outside and overall it did great.

I am still concerned about temps in the hot summer. But, that is the new owner's problem. It is now in my son's possession.