My ideas/ tries on fixing over heating without going to OEM fan clutch (which I tried) and notes.
1. Radiators come in different sizes in the aftermarket world. 1-1/2" to 1" thick at the core. Mine is 1-1/4" (I will be going oversized ) it's possible to loose 30% of your cooling by installing a new radiator !!!!
2. Under hood temperatures must be crazy! My washer fluid will almost boil ! (Got hit by the spray once)
3. Air flow into and out of the engine compartment is horrible !
4. Fan clutches need to be working almost locked up.
5. A/C needs to be operating in good shape.
My fixes that I have tried, Some work a little, some worked a lot ! Let me point out that I just didn't want the AIRPLANE sound and I wanted enough cooling to let my truck idle a long time or in deep sand or big rocks in 100 degree temps with the A/C on for as long as I wish. If I wanted noisy I would just install a fixed fan ! Heck it's almost locked up when they work good enough to keep a VX cool anyways ! I THINK MY FAN SET UP IS BETTER THAN OEM !!! Or updated OEM.
1. Cleaned out the radiator VERY good ( fixed my last episode) replaced thermostat twice, drilled out hole in thermostat to allow more air to escape and a little more flow when cold, replaced THE O-rings for heater tubes under intake ( it's hard to tell if leaking because it boils away as fast as it leaks)
2. & 3. Made my own grill to increase air flow in (helped a bit), trimmed core support to clean up air flow going in (helped a bit), cut out hood and raised stock insert 3/8" in the back and 1/4" in the middle (helped a bit), added transmission cooler to by-pass radiator (helped a bit). I will try moving A/C condenser a 1" farther away from radiator next time I'm goofing in there.
4. Wrapped a shoe string tight around the clutch fan to lock it up to test. (Helped bunches) replaced fan clutch ( fixed it completely except for long idles / and in very slow sand washes, in heat with A/c on) tried a cheap 3000 CFM EBAY fan (didn't work at all), tried a 2400 CFM dual FFD fan W/shroud (didn't work), tried a 3600 CFM big single fan from FFD (worked great except for freeway hills in heat, bad shroud designs) installed a 1997-98 Lincoln 4200 CFM fan W/shroud and it fixes everything. Note: you will need a bigger alternator !
Added a radiator sprayer to wet the radiator on long steep hills in heat. ( works great but I really don't need it)
5. A/C charged and to specs. But I think the bearings are going out as it is noisy. 230,000 miles on the VX.
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