Good evening,

I just recently did a coolant job on my 2001 2.3L. Before the job, the temp gauge would creep up ever so slightly past the half way mark.i figured it was time to do a coolant job. After the coolant flush, I'm overheating. I done everything I can think of to bleed the system.

​​​​​​The top rad hose gets hot and I have plenty of heat in the cab. The lower rad hose is cold. When I squeeze it, it doesn't feel full.

Do you think I have a clogged radiator?

 

2001-2003 Ranger 2.3l engines used a Heated Thermostat housing, it was dropped in 2004-2011 models

And its on the Lower radiator hose where it attaches to the engine
Its more likely this thermostat has failed than a clogged radiator, but either is possible

The heated thermostat looks like this: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/KkYAA...pS/s-l1200.jpg
And is expensive

The 2004-2011 model looks and works the same but doesn't have the 2 wire heater plug in, and is cheaper, but.......................
The 2001-2003 computer wants to "see" the heater or it will turn on the CEL(check engine light) telling the driver the heater is broken/disconnected

Some use the unheated version and then leave the old one plugged in but wire tied up and out of the way, for no CEL
Others have use a high watt resistor to mimic a heater, so no CEL
Unheated version looks like this: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...1000_QL80_.jpg
Same hoses just no electrical plug in

Or you can just bite the bullet and get the correct replacement, one is not better than the other, Ford just found the Heated Thermostat was not needed


You have to drain the coolant in any case, because of the location of the thermostat, so you can then remove lower radiator hose and run water thru the radiator to see if its clogged

 

Thanks Ron, I was waiting for your reply after searching through some threads.

So just to confirm, if the bottom hose is cold even after 45 minutes of highway driving, the thermostat could have failed?

I'm probably going to pull the hoses ( top and bottom) and run water through to test the flow.

 

Radiators provide 15-20degrees of cooling, so if coolant is flowing thru the radiator and upper hose is 195deg(operating temp) then lower hose should be 175-180deg

Thermostat on these starts to open at 170deg but fully open at 180-185deg

 

Quick update on this. I replaced the radiator and both coolant hoses. I also removed the thermostat (reused it) and ran some water through the upper coolant line to "flush" the system.

This seems to have solved my problem. I've ran it about 75 miles and the temp gauge sticks to just slightly below the half way point. It will fluctuate a needles worth when down shifting after coming off the highway but then it stabilizes. I call this a win.

I used this radiator, which fit perfectly. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...=2172&jsn=1415