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Old 01-12-2017, 03:23 PM
Soledad Soledad is offline
Ford Rangers
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 223
Default Re: Do I really need a new radiator?

Ok, more long winded info from me. I say this because I ended up replacing nearly all of my cooling system components (except for the octopus hose) after the recovery tank rotted out and started leaking at the same time the radiator end cap started leaking which was right after I bought the truck used. And, they had the green coolant in it when it should have had the Ford Gold coolant. I replaced the radiator, both large hoses, recovery tank and cap, thermostat (twice), water pump, the long metal hose that connects to the top radiator hose (mine was full of rust), fan clutch and did a full clean and flush and refilled with Zerex G-05 (Ford Gold identical).

Anyway...wall 'o text.

1. The cap on the recovery tank is rated to 16-psi and they are known to get weak with age. I want to say the system runs anywhere between 4psi - 10psi but I'm not 100% sure on that.

2. Bubbles in the recovery tank are not good. It means there is air in the system which can come from any leaky hose or connection point, system not burped after a cooling system part was replaced, a leaky heater core or.....the head gasket. The bubbles I was experiencing were coming from a bad "Tee" in the octopus hose (can't remember the name of this hose) that is right above the starter. I replace the cheap, soft plastic "Tee" that someone had replaced the original with, with a brass unit and no more bubbles.

3. On the recovery tank there is a very small hose attached to it on the side. The flow out of that hose is directly proportional to the engine speed. At idle the flow out of that hose and into the tank should be smooth and laminar on a cooling system in good shape. The faster you rev the engine the faster the flow out of that small hose. If it's bubbly or spitting or burpy then there's air in the system. But, in a good system there will be movement in that tank because that small hose is always flowing coolant.

4. I find that running the coolant between the MIN and MAX lines is about perfect as it allows for coolant expansion without it burping out the recovery tank cap under extreme load.

5. The thermostat on the 2001.5-2003 2.3L's has a small heater element in it. The PCM will activate the heating element in it to open the thermostat earlier in situations where the engine is under extreme load. There's more to it than that but that's the gist of it. Some of us swapped out our electric thermostat and are running a non-electric thermostat. Engine runs the same but you do get a code. Have to install a resistor at the thermostat connector to get rid of the code.

6. This Ford Motorcraft .pdf file shows exactly what type of coolant the engine should have and is the reason I'm running the gold coolant: https://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubrican...coolantsEN.pdf

7. And regarding the scanning software. It's not just for reading trouble codes that pop up. It allows you to monitor a lot of your engine vitals and sensors in real time to see exactly what they are doing. I like using it (them) because it can help you catch something before it becomes a much larger and more expensive problem. The software on forscan.org was free and all it cost me was $20 for a USB-OBD2 cable to connect to my old Windows XP laptop. I also use Torque Pro which cost me $5 (I bought it when it first hit the scene many years ago) and another $20 for the bluetooth OBD2 adapter. I've used Torque Pro on a lot of my friends and family vehicles. I actually run a ScanGague2 in my truck (habit from owning a 2006 Ford F350 6.0 diesel) all the time just to keep an eye on the vitals.
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2003 Ranger XL | 2.3L | 2wd | 5spd manual | standard cab | short bed | 112" wheel base | 3.73 rear (open diff) | no power windows or locks but at least it's got A/C!

Last edited by Soledad; 01-12-2017 at 04:15 PM.
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