Fox Overheating

Removing the thermostat is a bad idea. It can cause coolant to move too quickly through the radiator and not allow it to cool like its supposed to.

Few simple checks:

Make sure the radiator cap is in good condition.

The electric fan is it manually activated or temperature activated. When the car is running hot is the fan actually cutting on?

Check the shrouding around the fan to make sure it makes a seal (usually has some rubber insulation around it.)

Verify hot is hot with a turkey thermometer.


I would install your thermostat after making sure it opens at the right temperature


Then you can open your radiator cap (after the engine has complete cooled off), Have a helper (not necessary but helps to let the engine get to hot) in the car start the car let the engine get up to temperature and you should see flow around 160-180 depending on your thermostat. Verify the fan is working at this time too and the bottom hoses isn't sucking shut or clogged.

You could run a 160 Tstat but it sounds like you're fan might not be working appropriately.

Do you have that little black air dam installed?

Also if you see a lot of fluctuation in temperature make sure that little wire on the temperature sensor is tight. Its on the driver side lower intake.

Also check to make sure your e fan is rated for enough cfm to do the job. There are several on the market that don't pull as much as some stock oem fans.