proper temperature

[sand1303]

ok so i got my first stang and i have a 96 3.8l v6. i know it is nothing special but its my first so i am excited. i notice after it warms up, the temp gauge is constantly straight up and down to 3/4 of the way over. that seems hot to me. my other two vehicles usually keep the needle about 1/4 of the way up on the gauge. they don't ever get to the half way mark usually. is this a problem i need to look at or is it normal for mustangs. the fan is kicking on when it gets about 3/4 point and the needle goes back down to half way point. if it is running hotter than normal what can i try to cool it down. BTW the radiator has plenty of coolant in it. what do those oil filler breathers do? are they a benefit or just for looks. cold air intakes help any with engine temperature?

[Dream]

the stock mustang comes with a cold air intake, the aftermarket ones just breathe better. i had the same problem a while ago and it turned out being the rad fluid....flush ur coolant, get the good stuf, drive around for a bit and wait for it to cool back down. see if it looks empty. sometimes they leak with out you noticing. ALWAYS check ur coolant when the car is cold.

another coolant related problem could be the resivoir is clogged. check the actual fluid in the radiator and see if it goes right to the top. other then that im out of ideas.

[sand1303]

so is the factory cold air intake just as good as an aftermarket if you use a k&n air filter. or is the aftermarket system that americanmuscle sells better than just installing a k&n air filter? also forgot to mention that i installed a new thermostat after noticing the first time i ran it. i will look at the overfill and maybe try flushing out the radiator this weekend. any theories on the oil filler breathers?

[Dream]

i just threw a new oil filter in it when i purchased my car. i dont believe they would have such a massive effect your experiancing but its always good to keep those clean.

as for the aftermarket CAI i believe AM has one for like 80 bucks. i personally was gonna get it but a friend of mine was selling his mustang and i grabbed his k&n filter and gave him my old stock one. so i kinda got lucky. but yes the stock filter already is a cold air intake. you will notice what i mean if you go look under the hood of your car right now and then come back here and take a gander at some of the preview pics in the am website. the ones on the site have less restriction and i believe it even turns into your wheel well away from the hot engine bay. so yes the aftermarket one would slightly change ur temp.

you also might want to recheck or even reconnect your thermostat. also as i said look for the overfill/underfill of coolant. overfill will burst your rad and under will do HEAVY wear and tear on your engine. best the luck!

[sand1303]

thanks for the quick replies dream, but i didn't mean oil filter i meant oil filler breather like this one


http://www.americanmuscle.com/chrome...her-86-95.html

[Dream]

lol i duno about that one...kinda sketchy.....never heard even heard of one of those before and im around mustangs quite a bit. i duno even HOW it would effect your oil. gettin a little bit of already hot air wont make much of a difference to your over all temp. but hey it does look kinda unique :P

[01FR500]

Normally the temp. gauge runs stright up and down, but without a more accurate temp. gauge it is hard to tell if you are running hot or not. If you want you can flush you coolant, or install a new or lower temp. thermostat. I've seen thermostats out of the box that don't work right. That oil breather wouldn't have anything to do with you running warm.

[spike_africa]

Oil breather wont do anything. Keep your PCV system closed to help the rings seal better.

[sand1303]

whew! just looked at the air filter and it is diiiirty. now just need to figure if i want to buy the 50$ k&n filter or the 80$ cai from americanmuscle. am going to flush radiator this weekend to see if that helps.

[HokieStang00]

Originally Posted by sand1303

whew! just looked at the air filter and it is diiiirty. now just need to figure if i want to buy the 50$ k&n filter or the 80$ cai from americanmuscle. am going to flush radiator this weekend to see if that helps.

Buy the air filter and remove your air silencer.

[sand1303]

what is the air silencer?

[HokieStang00]

It's not necessary, and to be honest, I'm not sure if it improves much. Maybe 1 hp heh.

http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/fcar/intke.htm

[sand1303]

yea, might as well give it a shot seeing how i am going to be there anyways when i put a filter in

[sand1303]

well, i have not got the air filter yet but i did a flush over the weekend. i used prestone "flush" just like the bottle said i drained the radiator, poured the flush bottle and refilled the water. ran for 10 minutes at normal temp, cooled, drained, filled, reran for 10 min, cooled, drained and added a 50/50 solution of prestone coolant and water. when i drained i also removed the bottom hose from the radiator and got some more out of the engine. i took it to pick up my kid from work last night and the temp got pretty close to the red once or twice. should i try a new water pump? i don't think the filter has that much to do with the engine temp. does it? also what about a new temperature sending unit? those are a easy cheap replacement would that have anything to do with when the radiator fan actually turns of or is that a different sensor? all imput appreciated, thanx

[spike_africa]

First things first does the upper radiator hose get firm and hot when the engine is at operating temp or higher? If its not your thermostat is stuck and has failed and needs to be replaced. Next does the fan work at all you have no mentioned if it does at all.

[sand1303]

yea the upper hose gets hot after the needle reaches about halfway. the fan will eventually kick on but the temp gets too hot sometimes when i am driving. new thermostat and cooling fluid. temperature switch and sensor? thats about 25.00 so it would be a very inexpesive and easy fix if it would do the trick.

[spike_africa]

When does the fan turn on? does it only go on when the a/c is on or does it actully turn on once the car gets to normal temp which is half way in the gauge on the dash. Oh and does the upper hose get firm once its hot. It can get hot from just the system overheating you need to know if it gets hard or firm as that means the thermostat is open and letting coolant threw to the radiator.

[sand1303]

yea, the hose gets firm once it heats up. i just replaced the temperature switch so we will see. new thermostat, new switch, new fluids. so hopefully thats what it needed. any other ideas appreciated will be checking back. oh and the fan kicks on when it got over half way more like three quarter way, but when i am driving i can't tell if it is running before it gets really hot or not.

[spike_africa]

If its still over heating then it could be either a lean condition in the motor making it run super hot or you have some clogged coolant passages. or the radiator isnt flowing like it should to cool the car down.

[sand1303]

well after looking around at heating/cooling parts, i found a electric fan thermostat for around 25$ at autozone. could this be causing my problems? the fan runs when i run the a/c but it does not seem to run without it. i drove it the other night and the temp. got super hot almost to the naughty red mark. the only other thing i was thinking about trying is the temperature sending unit?

[spike_africa]

So the fan isnt working correctly then. It should turn on once the car is up to temp. turn off the a.c let it idle and warm up and wait to see if the fan turns on. If it doesnt you have some electrical problem.

[sand1303]

yea, no a/c no fan most of the time. so i replaced the temp sending unit and it still seems to run hot and the fan doesn't seem to come on in time. so the only other thing left is the fan motor right. does it have some sort of thermostat built in to it? i had a car b4 with the same problem and could not figure it out i replaced everything even the fan motor, nothing worked so i ran the fan motor to come on when the key is turned to acc. automaticaly so this meant as long as the engine is on the fan was on even if it was 20^ F outside is this ok because i am ready to do it again. the fan motors are $100 new that is too much money just to try out a part. im getting frustrated with it.