93 with Banks kit getting hot

[BlackedOut93]

Hello all I am posting to try and troubleshoot my dad's 93 F-350 which seems to be having some cooling problems.
The truck has not been driven much in the last 7 years or so but we need it now to haul around the race car he recently finished building. What it is doing is running on the hot side of the factory gauge while we are out on the highway typically around "A" and "L" on the Normal averaging 60 MPH. This is with the A/C off. It has had a new OEM fan clutch which was replaced under warranty about 10,000 miles ago. Last night a new Motorcraft T-stat was installed as well as a new waterpump. We removed the oem temp sending unit and put a mechanical temp gauge in its place and got the pyrometer working as well. Filled it 50/50 low silicate antifreeze/purified water and added 24 oz of Royal Purple Purple Ice.

We took it out on the highway tonight (85 degrees outside and no load) and its hitting 220 degrees on relatively flat ground. Hit an approx. 6% grade that lasts less than 1/4 mile and temps hit 230. Immediately pulled over at the top pf the hill and shut her off so I could see what the fan clutch was doing and when I spun it by hand it seemed to have just slightly more resistance then when the engine is cold. Should the fan be hard to spin at that engine temp? IIRC I read the overheat light comes on at 240 so it seems to me the fan should be fully locked. There is never an increased load and we have never heard a difference in sound which is what I have read should happen when the fan locks. The pyro read about 400 when we hit the hill it peaked at 600 at approx 2800 rpms. The peak seems a bit low compared to what I've seen people posting what their EGTs are.

I'm contemplating fully locking the fan and seeing what happens.

All help is greatly appreciated.

 

[79jasper]

Definitely should be locking up pretty solid.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

 

[argve]

What shape is the radiator in? It wasn't overheating before I assume. Mineral build up on the inside of the rad will limit it's ability to cool.

 

[cpdenton]

What shape is the radiator in? It wasn't overheating before I assume. Mineral build up on the inside of the rad will limit it's ability to cool.

This is very true, 20 some years of crud can do this. My radiator looked good, until I opened it up and couldn't see through half the tubes.

On another note, my truck before I had installed electric fans, would not lock the fan clutch until just over 230 on my gauge. 230 seems like a high number, but it is not really that scary on these trucks.

A couple months ago, I completely replaced all the cooling system on my truck. New aluminum radiator and all. Unloaded, the temp is always at 195 now. Put a big load behind it and get the EGTs up in the 1100 range, and it will stay at 230. I just recently pulled my camper to St. Louis, which is a 6 hour trip each way, and ran 225 to 230 the whole way.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

yeah that's not bad.you might need to block off the radiator with some cardboard to get the temps upwards of 230-235 before you hear the roar.
you don't want your clutch to kick in any sooner than 230 because they are monster draw and will suck the fuel down.plus there isn't any need for them below that.the engine can run all day at 240F.i wouldn't push mine this high myself but she wouldn't mind.
the place to start is as mentioned above.she's been sitting for 7 years so try a coolant flush first off,but 230 isn't in the danger zone.........that should just be when working her on grades though.

 

[chris142]

it should not be running that hot at speed on flat ground. feel the core for cold spots,drain it and look for water standing in the tubes etc.

 

[BlackedOut93]

What shape is the radiator in? It wasn't overheating before I assume. Mineral build up on the inside of the rad will limit it's ability to cool.

Asfaik its the original radiator, however before the water pump and tstat we removed the radiator and had it cleaned by a radiator shop. I will take the advice posted and feel the core for colder spots as well as look into locking the clutch and possibly replacing it. Any other words of wisdom?

 

[zjspeedy]

I had a shop clean the cooling system and it didn't do sh*t. Had overheating problems when i moved 2000 miles as well as e40d problems. The temps i was seeing was anywhere from 220 to 235. By 235 degrees i layed off the throttle but i was going through mountainous areas. Couple months after my move i decided to do a minor overhaul which included changing the radiator. After ripping out the stock radiator i found it was caked inside with a quarter inch of sludge. This was before i learned of the additive we should put in the coolant. I will never have some other idiot mess with my cooling system again. But i also have a turbo in mine so during my overhaul i swapped the stock fan clutch to the turbo version of the 7.3 idi. the difference is 10 degrees. The non turbo idi kicks in at 210. The turbo idi kicks in at 200. Thermostat should full open at 190. My truck idles at 190 and most of the time my truck stays at 190. unless it is a warm day, i.e. 80 degrees outside it stays rock solid at 200 unless i purposely try to make it go up. However my temperatures are based on my aluminum radiator i put in, and i put in the largest i could find. All this coupled with the napa filter and napakool additive for the cooling system keeps my truck running happy. On the old radiator i popped off the cap and scraped out some sludge with a screwdriver. This is just my 2 cents worth, hopefully it helps.

Here are some questions. Do you add anything to counteract the cavitation issues? If not you should, if you do that additive might not mix well with that royal purple and sludge your system. Might try doing an entire system flush to flush any crud in your system. Recommend doing it yourself as some other idiot might screw up the system by adding cheap brand antifreeze. I use 50/50 mix of distilled water and Havoline extended life coolant. Don't let the name fool you, its not ELC antifreeze if you research it.

 

[BlackedOut93]

Yeah the royal purple additive also protects against cavitation. The thermostat opens up at about 180 according to the mechanical gauge. It seems we still have some issues with the cooling systemso I guess from here we change out the radiator and more than likely the fan clutch as well. Hopefully we get it all taken care of so it doesn't leave us stranded somewhere.