I picked up a 91 LX Convertible about 6 months ago, and one thing that has always annoyed me is that it runs a bit hot according to the stock temp gauge. The needle fluctuates between the mid point and the next tick up, something my previous fox never did. The motor was pretty much untouched by the previous owner and I'm guessing it is high mileage. As I want the cooling system working as well as possible, here is what I have installed:
New coolant temp sensor
SVE Aluminum Radiator
Gates reverse flow water pump
Motorcraft 195 degree tstat and fel pro gasket (no rtv or silicone)
New factory style fan, kept the stock fan shroud as-is
Haven't replaced the fan clutch, but it appears to be working as expected
Two 'at-home' flushes via drive cycles
Bled air with the front jacked up
When driving it, sometimes it gets hot at idle and sometimes when I'm cruising. It is inconsistent. It will randomly cool back to normal... both at idle and when cruising. The heat blows warm but NOT HOT - measured a little over 100F on my infrared temp reader. The tstat housing reads 200-205F once it gets warmed up good. No leaks that I can see. Compression is 130-135 psi on all cylinders. Based on the smell of the car I do think it is running rich if that matters. The only code is EGR related, haven't figured that one out yet.
I really don't know what to try or test next!
New coolant temp sensor
SVE Aluminum Radiator
Gates reverse flow water pump
Motorcraft 195 degree tstat and fel pro gasket (no rtv or silicone)
New factory style fan, kept the stock fan shroud as-is
Haven't replaced the fan clutch, but it appears to be working as expected
Two 'at-home' flushes via drive cycles
Bled air with the front jacked up
When driving it, sometimes it gets hot at idle and sometimes when I'm cruising. It is inconsistent. It will randomly cool back to normal... both at idle and when cruising. The heat blows warm but NOT HOT - measured a little over 100F on my infrared temp reader. The tstat housing reads 200-205F once it gets warmed up good. No leaks that I can see. Compression is 130-135 psi on all cylinders. Based on the smell of the car I do think it is running rich if that matters. The only code is EGR related, haven't figured that one out yet.
I really don't know what to try or test next!