My poor '90 5.0 overheated and died driving down the road the other day. Oddly the gauge showed it was running slightly warm but within acceptable range... then my engine started making rattling noises, I went slowly about a couple blocks to find a safe spot to pull over, and right as I did it just died. When I turned the key to the acessory position the temp needle shot up as far as possible, beyond the gauge's markings... then when I turned my parking lights off the gauge went back down. So something is obviously not right with my temp gauge, and it's hard to say how hot the car really got. Luckily I already have an Auto Meter mechanical gauge I was planning to use, I just wish I had already installed it...
I was pretty scared that something was damaged after the car got that hot, but I checked my dipstick and the oil looked OK, although pretty black, so I don't think I blew a head gasket. Upon inspection, my radiator is so rusted inside it's disgusting... it looks like someone ran mashed pumpkin through it. I just bought this car but I can't believe I even made it home before it sprung a leak... go figure the rad. was the one thing I forgot to check when I bought it. After letting her sit a couple hours and refilling the water I drove carefully a couple miles back home, shifting under 2800, and it seemed to run okay, but was still a bit warm when I got there.
So, what's the best replacement radiator under ~ $150? I don't have the budget for something fancy right now, and won't be doing any major mods (FI, heads, rebuild) any time soon anyway. It's going to be just an average daily driver with some bolt ons.
Secondly, I noticed my original clutch fan is starting to look pretty old and brittle. I'd like to go electric to get a few more HP, but again, money is an issue. I've heard the SN95 fan is a good choice, any comments on it? I don't live in a very hot area (Oregon), but I do need it to work on the rare summer days when I'm sitting in traffic with the a/c on. Do people use a '94-'95 5.0L fan or will anything '94+ work? Will I need to upgrade my alt. before the e-fan? And how do I set it up to be thermostatically controlled?
How long do water pumps usually last on 5.0's? My car has about 100k miles on it... I don't like the idea that it was pumping such gross water, but would that really hurt anything? I should be fine after flushing the syetem out well, no?
Maybe I should think about my heater core too, as bad as the radiator was... I'd hate to get stranded again from something that stupid. Are they a complete nightmare to replace?
I'm going to go with a new 180* balanced thermostat... should I run any watter wetter, or is that just being excessive? I think if anything I'd add it in the summer, but definately not right now as cold as it is.
Thanks in advance for any advice, and sorry for writing a novel... I just want to get everything properly sorted out so I can begin with the fun stuff...
I was pretty scared that something was damaged after the car got that hot, but I checked my dipstick and the oil looked OK, although pretty black, so I don't think I blew a head gasket. Upon inspection, my radiator is so rusted inside it's disgusting... it looks like someone ran mashed pumpkin through it. I just bought this car but I can't believe I even made it home before it sprung a leak... go figure the rad. was the one thing I forgot to check when I bought it. After letting her sit a couple hours and refilling the water I drove carefully a couple miles back home, shifting under 2800, and it seemed to run okay, but was still a bit warm when I got there.
So, what's the best replacement radiator under ~ $150? I don't have the budget for something fancy right now, and won't be doing any major mods (FI, heads, rebuild) any time soon anyway. It's going to be just an average daily driver with some bolt ons.
Secondly, I noticed my original clutch fan is starting to look pretty old and brittle. I'd like to go electric to get a few more HP, but again, money is an issue. I've heard the SN95 fan is a good choice, any comments on it? I don't live in a very hot area (Oregon), but I do need it to work on the rare summer days when I'm sitting in traffic with the a/c on. Do people use a '94-'95 5.0L fan or will anything '94+ work? Will I need to upgrade my alt. before the e-fan? And how do I set it up to be thermostatically controlled?
How long do water pumps usually last on 5.0's? My car has about 100k miles on it... I don't like the idea that it was pumping such gross water, but would that really hurt anything? I should be fine after flushing the syetem out well, no?
Maybe I should think about my heater core too, as bad as the radiator was... I'd hate to get stranded again from something that stupid. Are they a complete nightmare to replace?
I'm going to go with a new 180* balanced thermostat... should I run any watter wetter, or is that just being excessive? I think if anything I'd add it in the summer, but definately not right now as cold as it is.
Thanks in advance for any advice, and sorry for writing a novel... I just want to get everything properly sorted out so I can begin with the fun stuff...
