How do you get to those bolts in the back of the actuator?

Never mind. I just looked tgrough the thread (like I should have the first time) and I guess I just have to be patient. Arg.

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You can do two things, either cut off the stud, or just get your socket to the back and work on it, that's the worst part of doing it! I chose to keep the back stud in there so it took me about 4 hours to replace the actuator.

I finally got the heater fixed! It was that damn actuator. Thanks so much for all of your help.

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Mine blows cold all time, even if I have it set to heat.. any insightful ideas gentleman?

Well I'm just guessing you have an 08?! If so I bet it's the actuator

06 but dam near close enough, the actuator can be tinkered with by removing passenger air bag, right?

Don't even have to do that, the glovebox drops down and it's three bolts holding it in, two in the front and 1 in the back, take it out and se if it does anything when you adjust the temp!

If it doesn't, its bad I presume? So is this something id want to get new or jy?

Doesn't matter really, you risk getting one from a junkyard and they won't last long,

FireRanger...thanks very much for posting the workflow chart. I have a few questions that might lead to an extra box on the chart. First, a rundown on my situation:

1999 B2500 2wd. Got the truck cheap from the wife's dad, it was a spare truck for him. He bought it with a cooling problem.

Symptoms: No heat in cab, temp gauge never even gets to cold mark. So far, typical thermostat symptom. When we first get the truck, I pop the hood, start the engine (completely cold) and hold my hand on the upper radiator hose. I feel coolant running through it immediately, and the hose slowly be steadily gets luke warm, and the air being pulled through the radiator by the fan is cold, again typical thermostat failed-open symptoms. So I figure its a failed-open thermostat. I pull the thermostat housing, and discover that while the old thermostat still opens and closes, the rubber o-ring that goes around the thermostat is completely gone, allowing coolant past the thermostat.

So I throw in a new thermostat (after testing the new one in pot of boiling water) and button up the system. Start the engine, and again hold hand on upper hose. This time it acts as it should, no coolant running through hose, then after about 3-5 minutes of running, thermostat opens and hot coolant starts coming through the hose. (hot to the point I can only keep my hand on the hose for about 3-5 seconds) and the air being pulled through the radiator is now hot. So far, so good. However, I go to the cab, temp gauge still not even at cold mark, and no heat in the cab.

If I follow the flowchart, I'm at the point of water pump replacement. However, here is the part that does not make sense. There seems to be some confusion online as to where the sending unit for the gauge is. Some pages say it is 1 of the 2 sensors in the thermostat housing, other pages say it is on the drivers side of the block, above the oil pressure sending unit.

Can anyone verify which one it is? If it is indeed 1 of the sensors that are in the thermostat housing, I'm a bit confused. How could I be getting hot coolant in the upper radiator hose, but yet no reading on the gauge? The only way for hot coolant to get into the upper radiator hose would be to flow past both sensors in the thermostat housing. I get that a rotted water pump would not create as much flow, and could prevent coolant from getting to the heater core, but if the pump has enough flow to push coolant into the upper hose, and the sending unit is between the pump and the upper hose, shouldn't the gauge at least read properly at this point, even without heat in the cab?

What I'm getting at here, is this: Is it possible that I have no heat in the cab because of either a 4 way valve/actuator/blocked heater core issue, and I'm not getting a reading on the gauge because of a failed temp sending unit?

thanks for any help, and again, thanks for the flowchart

I figured it out. Earlier in this thread, someone had asked about any special tricks for bleeding the air out of the cooling system, and it was said that nothing really special needed to be done. Well, I think it just depends on each trucks situation. I followed the procedure from another forum on "burping" the cooling system, and sure enough, as soon as I did it, temp gauge went right to normal (tad under half-way) and I now have heat!! So, for anyone who has followed the flowchart, and you are getting hot coolant in the upper rad hose, in the hose going to the 4-way valve, the hose going to the firewall, and you still get no heat and temp gauge reads low...bleed your cooling system. I dont know if its against the rule here to link to another forum, so I wont, but just search google for "Doonze's Ultimate Radiator Flush" should be the 2nd listing.

I have had a low reading temp gauge for a long time, it never even makes it to N in Normal. The first thing I replaced a couple of years ago was the temp sending unit, but that was not the issue. Next I replaced the thermostat, same result. I have read and re-read lots of posts on this topic and it appears to be a common but elusive problem on these Rangers.

Recently I changed out the timing belt, water pump, thermostat again (motorcraft 192*), fan clutch, radiator hoses and heater hoses, and of course refilled with fresh 50/50 prestone. I back-flushed the heater core which flowed easily. The old coolant was still green and clean. Ran the truck with the front elevated and the heater on hot, tried to burp the air out and think I did.

I was hoping all this would solve the temp gauge issue but no. The truck runs great, I do have at least luke warm heat from the vents, and all vents transmit air when the slide selector points to vent, floor, defrost, etc.

The top radiator hose gets warm and hard, the heater hoses get warm as does the bypass hose that runs around behind the engine to the intake.

However, I just discovered that the lower radiator hose stays stone cold even after driving home from work (6 miles), and the temp gauge never even got to the N in Normal.

Any advice would be welcome as my logic has become pretty circular.

Thanks.

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1989 Ranger XLT, 2wd, Lima 2.3, M50D-R1 5 speed, Redline MTL 178,000 miles

6 miles isnt really enough for the engine to warm up 100%...id say take it for a good 10-20 mile drive and see what happens

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2021 F150 5.0 Screw

Past:18 F150 2.7, 16 F150 5.0, 14 F150 5.0, 07 F150 5.4, 03 Ranger 4.0

Master Certified Ford Parts / Warranty Admin

Thanks for the reply, but I have driven it more than that. I have had the problem for years, lots of miles, and 3 thermostats. I have put 200 miles since these recent repairs, the temp gauge never even gets to N. As I am driving, the temp gauge rises to just below the N, but as soon as it idles, the gauge drops back down.

Also, there is no heater control valve in the hoses between the heater core and the engine, don't think the 89's came with that.

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1989 Ranger XLT, 2wd, Lima 2.3, M50D-R1 5 speed, Redline MTL 178,000 miles

This weekend I raised the front of the truck to try and burp the system again. With the radiator cap off, I ran the engine for about 15 minutes and coolant slowly spilled out of the radiator from the cap opening the entire time. The temp gauge never left the cold mark, but the top radiator hose and both heater hoses got hot. I never saw the coolant level drop in the radiator, and don't think it ever flowed through the lower radiator hose.

I am beginning to think perhaps my radiator is not flowing well, so I drained the coolant last night, and it took approx. 5 minutes to drain just 1 gallon from the drain valve. That seems slow right? If the temp never reaches 192* then I wouldn't expect coolant to flow through the radiator, but the upper radiator hose gets hot even though the temp gauge stays cold.

AutoZone has a 20% off promo right now and I can get a new radiator and heater core for $100. Don't want to waste my money, but everything else in the cooling system has been replaced already.

Any ideas or advice?

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1989 Ranger XLT, 2wd, Lima 2.3, M50D-R1 5 speed, Redline MTL 178,000 miles