Ever since I got stuck in the 1/4 mile of mud I've been having overheating problems and a couple weeks ago, I noticed that there was mud in the overflow bottle. Knowing the "features" of the mud I was stuck in, I assumed that the mud had also gotten into the radiator so I bought a bottle of Valvoline Radiator Cleaner and it seems to have worked wonders.

Basically, you flush the system with plain water which I did by removing the top hose from the radiator and inserting a garden hose into the radiator opening and running the engine until clear water ran from the upper radiator hose. The next step is to drain the system, reinstall the upper hose, pour in the cleaner and fill with water and run the engine for 3-6 hours of normal driving. For me, this took almost a week since I don't drive much anymore. Tonite, I did the last step which is to once again flush the system with water until it runs clear and then fill with 50/50 mix. I let it run for 35 minutes with the A/C on full blast and the temp set to hot and my electric fan never came on. This is good since it's set at 185 and the t-stat is 160.

I don't remember what the name on the outside of the bottle of cleaner (not flush) was but it said Valvoline on the back. Pep Boys carries 4 different radiator treatments in this brand but only one is a cleaner. It's good stuff and seems to do a great job. I was astounded at the amount of mud that came from the upper hose tonite while flushing with water.

 

Thats great to hear Tom. Sounds like good stuff. So is the truck trail ready again?

 

Not quite... I'm still working on a skidplate. It's amazing how difficult 1/4" aluminum can be to bend.

 

i heard installing a tstat lower than say, 180, would cause mess up's with u're engine..

i know it was a trick for older, carb'd engines, but with our electronically controlled ones....i dunno

i just flushed and installed new radiator fluid...i had never changed it...the last time it saw fresh stuff was right before it left Mazda's plant...it runs a little cooler, and i noticed the temp wont budge even when sitting in the drive thru FOREVER...

 

have you heard of dummy gauges?

 

no....

 

Actually, I don't think the temp gage is a dummy on these trucks as I have seen it run slowly thru the entire range on it's way to overheating.... As far as the stat temp, it won't damage the engine, the most it would do is make the PCM run in closed loop mode which richens the mix when the engine is cold but I believe that the PCM runs in normal mode once the engine reaches 120 or so, but I could be wrong.

 

Sounds good Tom I hope it all works out.

Whats the advantage of running a lower Tstat ?

 

Lower t-stat are put it to let more water/antifreeze run through allowing it to cool more.

Bad side of it is, if you run to low of a t-stat, you dont give the water time enough to cool. Which means, its circulating through the radiator too fast, not enough time to cool it down.

Ive learned alot about radiators with my stang, i love my non dummy guages, i stay at a cool 160 degrees, ive flushed the radiator, and havent touched the t-stat.

I recommend a 180, thier enough for a ranger.

 

running a lower temp t-stat fools the engine to think its still in open loop. then it'll add more fuel in the engine. it WILL ruin the engine. excessive fuel will slowly dilute the oil and wear out the bearings. plus it will wash the film of oil off the cylinder walls causing premature ring and cylinder bore wear. plus if u live in a cooler climate and need to use the heater it wont reach its full potental and ur gunna freeze ur ***** off. these engines run BEST when they are at the proper operating tempature and i dont care who says what. all ur gunna do is make it run pig rich.

its just wrong, like using a cheby engine in a ford. lowest i would run would be a 180* t-stat.

 

Hmm... I think I need to flush mine...

 

rpg (jason) i love ur sig quote "I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for someone I'm not" <----so VERY true.

 

Flusing a radiator is always a good thing. Probably should do it every 2 or 3 years just to help remove any calcium buildup.

and I wouldn't call the temp gauge a dummy one, but to call it a highly calibrated instrument is blasphemy. It does what it's needs to though, tells you if it's cold, warm or hot.

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=Flusi...en-US:official

lol..

 

This is true only if you're running a stat that keeps the engine temp below the point at which the PCM switches over to normal operation. 160 degrees is well above that point. If you made your statement about running no stat, then I would agree with you, but 160 is plenty warm enough for the engine to run in normal mode where it uses sensor inputs to determine how much fuel to run rather than running a fixed pulse width.

[QUOTE[operating tempature and i dont care who says what. all ur gunna do is make it run pig rich. [/QUOTE]

It's obvious you don't care who says what, because you obviously know everything about everything.

 

knock tat sit off.... j/k

 

oh thats right, ur a genious with everything as well. figures, u out dooped me again. i guess the school i went to for automotive technology was a fraud. will u take me under ur wing and teach me ur ways of vast knowledge...

 

i forgot to quote this as well. the t-stat will stay open all the time, thus acting as it isnt there at all.

but what do i know

find out what tempature ur engine reaches operating tempature...i cant find it

 

That's what understanding the computer's mapping is all about... Knowing how different sensors affect timing and fuel mixture to make the engine run correctly.

Just so you know, it's not always what you say that makes people want to disagree with you. Your message insn't completely incorrect however, when you make statements like "and i dont care who says what. " it's just plain irritating. Perhaps if you tried leaving stuff like this out when you try to disagree with someone, they will be more receptive to what you have to say. When you don't care what others have to say, you are proclaiming yourself to be all knowing, which you (and I) are not.

 

understood, i guess i do come on a bit strong. now, at least, pointing it out this way will make me think twiced about that and keep out the comments.

im gunna appoloogize even if i dont need to.