3.0 SHO overheating?

[adavery]

I don't know is i have an overheating problem or a gauge problem. I have a 1995 3.0 mtx SHO. Bacicly the entire cooling system is new (radiator, waterpump, termostat, temp sending unit). the car can stand at an idle for days and the temp gauge stays between the R and M in NORMAL. If I drive the car in 90+ degree weather and keep the rpm under 4k the temp remains the same. However, if I punch it a little the temp goes up to between the N and O in NORMAL. I have had 2 Ford Techs and a couple other Mechanics tell me there is nothing to worry about because Taurus temp gauges are not too accurate and that it is staying the the NORMAL range so it is OK. I just thing that the very top of the NORMAL range is too high (hot) for the engine. HELP,
adavery

 

[Slo-Sho]

Get a real gauge on it. A $10 made in Korea mechanical temp. gauge would be better than speculating whether or not the motor is running on the hot side. I personally have the Pro-Comp Ultra-lites.

<small>[ September 06, 2003, 04:04 PM: Message edited by: Slo-Sho ]</small>

 

[AutoSHO]

Did you replace the Radiator hoses? If one of them os collapsed you won't get proper coolant flow.

Also, which temp sender did you replace? There are 2, the Gauge Temp sender (one wire) and the ECT (two wires).

 

[sdpatt]

Rubber hoses can't collpase under 16 pounds of pressure. They can leak though.

You replaced everything except the pressure cap. Are you sure that you have 16 pounds of pressure in the system?

 

[750sho]

adavery,

Sounds to me like you drive a typical SHO. Everybody around here that i know who own SHO's (which is about six or so) all have that problem, incuding me. A buddy of mine put a cincy cowl hood on his car, and his temp never gets above the 'a', and they put cheap ram air on another car (dryer hose, and some clamps) and now it never gets to the 'm', no matter how hard they try. Mine does the same thing yours is doing, and it always has. I think i'm gonna go get some dryer tubing, and see if some cheap ram air can fix it. I think you might want to do the same.

 

[haydenm315]

First of all, the temperature gauge in the cluster is notorious for not being very accurate. With this aside, my fan turns on when the needle gets to around the middle of the O. When the fan turns on the needle rises a little bit more from the electrical current up near the bottom of the N. You may want to do a coolant flush with a seperate heater core flush. I noticed my car ran slightly cooler after this. I recently installed a water temperature gauge and found that when the cluster gauge is pointing towards the O, my new gauge reads between 180-190 depending on where it is on the O. When it gets up to the N, the car reads around 200F. Taking into account the accuracy of the gauge, your sho sounds normal. If you're worried, do the extensive flush including the engine block.

 

[adavery]

First, thanks for the responses. I have flushed the system completely twice. I have a new 16lb radiator cap. The problem remains. I am in the process of getting a gauge and bezel.
Allen

 

[SHOZ123]

The lower radiator hose can collapse if it is too soft. At high rpm the water pump may cause enough of a draw that it will pull the sides of the LR hose in.