barely any heat in cab, seems radiator/water pump below temp as well?

[xekon]

truck was sitting for a couple years, it needed a new e4od trans which I just finished replacing this summer, As well as disassembling, ultrasonic cleaning, and pop testing my injectors, and replacing the return line system. It is now running nicely.

EDIT: I also have an isspro trans temp sensor/gauge, that I installed alongside the new trans. After 30 minutes of driving or so it will report about 115-120 degree, which is still VERY cold for the e4od. It never gets above this temp, although I have only driven about 120 miles so far, since getting it back up and running.

I am going through everything little by little, my current issue is that I have barely any heat from the defrost.

I replaced the thermostat with a Motorcraft RT1049 / E5TZ-8575-C, I figured might as well because I had no idea what the previous owner had in there, what came out appears to be a china copy the Motorcraft, it was much shorter in total height. I also installed a new radiator cap because the rubber seals were dry rotted and cracked on the old one.

I still just barely have heat from the defrost, if its 60 degree outside, then the heat feels maybe 65-70? just barely warmer is all.

I hooked up my garden hose to one side of the heater core, and unhooked the other side, when I turn the garden hose on I get a full flow from the heater core, so it does not appear to be plugged up.

I use my infrared thermostat to check the the thermostat neck, water pump, and the upper and lower radiator tanks.

The thermostat neck, water pump, and upper tank read about 138 degree. the lower radiator tank reads about 70 degree.

so the bottom of the radiator is waaaaaay colder, I drained a little bit from the radiator and looked into the top tank through the radiator cap hole, it looks a little bit gunky, but all the rows/holes are visible, none of the holes appear blocked off entirely.

My next test was to shut the truck off and see what the temps do. once I shut the truck off the temp at the thermostat housing and water pump went up until around 185 degree.....

so that tells me that the engine is much cooler while running, so I am suspecting the clutch fan. I do think I can hear it while driving, and it seems to be pushing a good amount of air at idle..... I have heard one that is fully locked up before and mine is not quite that loud, but its also louder than normal *i think*

I have seen plenty of posts that say DO NOT try to stop that fan with anything.... so I don't plan to.

just wish I could know for sure if its the fan clutch, if it were a plugged up radiator then it wouldn't stay so cool at the thermostat housing and water pump while running would it?

I would kinda think that even with the fan clutch running the fan way more than it should, that the thermostat would still get the truck to operating temperature, but maybe not? can an overactive fan clutch really stop these trucks from reaching operating temperature?

 

[chris142]

The thermostat controls the minimum temp. Not the fan clutch. Its odd that you replaced it and its still running cold. Either the new stat is bad or coolant is somehow bypassing it.

 

[xekon]

also chris142, the lower tank in the radiator is only 70 degree, verse the top tank which is 140 degree, twice the temperature......

even after a 30 minute drive on the highway.... is that normal?

maybe the thermostat is indeed bad.... its brand new so I should be able to exchange it. (not the most fun part to replace though.)

 

[79jasper]

The thermostat controls the minimum temp. Not the fan clutch.

Yes, but.....
If the fan is staying locked, it will basically be giving max cooling.
With the engine "warm," you should be able to turn the fan without too much resistance.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[xekon]

I think maybe I need to feel what the resistance is like on a different truck to compare......

EDIT: when I spin the fan as hard/fast as i can, as if playing wheel of fortune, as soon as my hand lets go of the fan blade, it stops moving, no continued spin at all, is that normal?

 

[towcat]

I think maybe I need to feel what the resistance is like on a different truck to compare......

EDIT: when I spin the fan as hard/fast as i can, as if playing wheel of fortune, as soon as my hand lets go of the fan blade, it stops moving, no continued spin at all, is that normal?

firstly, thanks for doing extensive legwork ahead of time. it is deeply appreciated.
your clutch fan appears to be a little tight. don't know where you live, but for experimentation purposes, put some cardboard over 3/4 of the radiator and see what happens.
report back with results.

 

[xekon]

I live in Washington state. Will try the cardboard trick, thanks towcat and everybody else

 

[xekon]

I tried the cardboard trick, but i didnt get the cardboard close enough to the radiator to really block the air and its pretty freakin cold outside. I was able to see between the radiator and fan clutch by peaking between the shroud and radiator and the spring/coil on the fan clutch looks to be on there crooked like its about to fall off.

I am going to remove the fan and clutch today and drive the truck without it and see what happens, while the fan clutch is off I can check it out and see more clearly what is going on with that coil on the front of it.

 

[pelky350]

The top of radiator being hotter is supposed to be like that, cold water sinks to bottom of radiator and goes back to the engine and that's how the radiator cools. Much like cold air settles to the ground and hot air rises. It sounds like thermostat is bad and engine is running cold because it being open. Engines do get hotter when just turned off, no more fan or circulating coolant the heat of motor parts will sink into the outer parts of the engine while sitting for a short time. If you choose to take thermostat out and swap it for new take that one test it by heating up water on stove with stat inside water watch for it to open and test temp of water with thermometer to see its opening pressure. Also do this with your new stat as well before install to ensure proper operation

 

[franklin2]

Be warned, these diesels do not warm up very fast. If you start it and let it just sit in the driveway, it will never warm up. If you take off down the road and are running it at speed, 30 minutes later it may be at 150 on my aftermarket gauge.

It's the one thing I do not like about these engines. If you are going to drive in the snow, it does not do a good job keeping the snow melted off the windshield. The cardboard trick works, I have a piece of 1/4 OSB I keep behind the seat and install it every winter. I kept trimming it's size to get it just right, it's surprising how much of the radiator you have to block off to get it to warm up good.

 

[79jasper]

On my PSD, I put in a 203°F thermostat.
Once it's fully warmed up, I have to turn back the heat. Like melt your face hot. Lol
But it is a big engine and giant cooling system capacity to get warmed up.


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[xekon]

So the fan clutch is definitely goofy, the spring outside edge is no longer connected to the clutch, so the amount of resistance its set to would never change. I completely removed the fan and fan clutch from the truck.

I took the truck for a 30 minute drive, came back, and still didnt feel all that much heat from the dash.

however this time, checking with my lazer thermostat, the engine temps look normal:

engine block side thermostat 180 degree
thermostat kneck going to upper radiator hose 165 degree
intake manifold 133 degree
top radiator tank near hose 169 degree
lower tank radiator 160 degree
water pump 182 degree

The heat on full hot, full blower feels maybe just a little warmer, but still waaaaay less than my car.

At this point the temps on the motor seem like what they should be I think, right guys?

So I am now going to inspect the blend door, etc. Also it was pointed out to me that some heater cores have a splitter tee that goes to the lower radiator, and some dont. Mine DOES have this splitter, so I need to find out if thats a possible loss of heat.... I would think so since engine coolant will be hotter than radiator coolant, unless thats the hose that flows out instead of in.

Also when I unhook both hoses from heater core, I get good flow, so I dont believe its the heater core. At this point I am thinking possibly blend door or that extra Tee for the heater core that goes to lower radiator.

I am going to order a new fan clutch, the old one can just stay off for now, also thinking I may as well replace the water pump since I already have the fan and clutch out of the way.

 

[Thewespaul]

Check your heater core, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was clogged with leaves and crud.

 

[Cubey]

It could be a stuck open thermostat too.

Be warned, these diesels do not warm up very fast. If you start it and let it just sit in the driveway, it will never warm up. If you take off down the road and are running it at speed, 30 minutes later it may be at 150 on my aftermarket gauge

Maybe it’s a symptom of an issue with mine, but it doesn’t take but maybe 15 minutes of idling. I do give it a bit of light pressing of throttle while in neutral a few times though. It’s not too hard to get to 160 without driving, according to my aftermarket gauge.

Pure idling might be different, or maybe I have a slightly bad head gasket. It might explain a slight loss of coolant I have without any obvious leaks. There is no milky oil so that’s fine at least. I had a Geo Metro with at least a blown head gasket that ate coolant and oil like crazy, but never mixed. As long as I kept it filled up, it was happy. I sold it still in that condition, in fact, for a darn decent price really.

 

[david85]

How hot do those hoses to the heater core get? They should be getting fairly hot if proper coolant is flowing through the heater core.