IRMC delete and heat

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

I deleted my IMRC 2 years ago on the advice on some here. I must say that there is praticaly no change on power loss at low rpm but power and sound are coming a little bit sooner than factory (3000 rather than 3400 factory).

However, I remarked that the heat is a little bit higher with this setup (more air metered, more fuel and then more heat...)

I'm wondering if a cooler thermostat (170 or 180) will be a good maintenance upgrade considering this. (?) I know, in a perfect world, the fans have to be reprogrammed to work correctly with. But it will give a chance to the engine.

Thanks for the advices,

 

[RonPorter]

I doubt that the extra heat is from the IMRC delete. I will say, apart from something obvious like a bad tstat or bad cap, that your radiator could be getting clogged. Over the years, we had lost a few Gen 3 engines to that. Cottonwood seeds were the culprit on one.

Unfortunately, you have to remove the radiator to clean the crap off the front of it. And IIRC, it only comes out of the bottom.

 

[RonPorter]

When I said clogged, I meant crap on the front, blocking airflow.

With Gen 3s now 20+ years old, getting clogged internally is also a possibility.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Yes, lot of dirt can stay between the 2 rads and if it clogged internally, it's not an easy job to do because it coming out by the front on my experience. There is another way to replace them by the bottom !?

(bottle cap revised ? : check, replaced by the 2010 version, black with yellow paint)
(rad revised ? : replaced recently by a clean low mileage SLO one, same part)

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

When I said more heat, I'm not saying overheat just a little more and the needle is going up faster too to 2/3 until fan go on. Living in urban area, I'm considering this temp stat change more like maintenance upgrade.

 

[stephen newberg]

I think it would be a good idea to check out Ron's suggestion.

pax, smn

 

[RonPorter]

If it's going up that fast, there's definitely something going on. Obvious, easy and cheap are the cap and the tstat. But it'll bet that doesn't fix it. And it's not the IMRC. Engine only takes in the air it needs. An open IMRC just kills throttle response at lower rpms, but the V8 doesn't spend much time at low rpms, so you don't notice it. Now, OTOH, the V6 SHO......

 

[E1]

I made a write-up on V8SHO.com about 15 years ago on cleaning between the condenser and radiator without removing either one of them.
Well worth the effort of making the little airbrush-on-a-stick.
http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/RadiatorCleaning.htm

Yes. The radiator NORMALLY comes out the bottom without tearing the nose off the car. Still no fun, but more easy than removing the radiator core support.
http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/RadiatorInstallationBytheBook.htm

Thermostat - I put a 160 in my modified '96 and ran it for years. No worries if you want to do it.

Last - another problem we see on many Taurus's over on TCCA is water pump impeller erosion. The blades on the impeller are half worn out and weak at idle. If one gets the RPM's up a bit, the water pump performance improves.

 

[SHOZ123]

I would not put a lower temp t-stat in. You can get air and water 90* cleaning wands off ebay that can blast out the crud without taking the radiator out. Good for home AC evaporators too...

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Wow, I awaken the whole community of veterans SHO owner... (!!) Thanks for your support !

Thanks Paul for your advice. Your tricks are always welcome.

Eric, this time if I can double like your post, I would do it. I don't even know that technique to remove the rad by the bottom (after all I rode on the sites) and you mentionned a good point. The water pump itself after many time can be a weak point. My last SLO runs a little bit hot and I don't have heat in winter...

Rencently a (too motivated) guy trying to midifying his green SHO saying here he had a bad coolant leak but scrapped it no longer after (don't remember if someone helped him at the moment sadly). I found later a classified where he put his parts for sale where he explained that the of the water pump gasket fell apart... A new gasket will be a good thing too.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

I made a check up of the water pump area yesterday and there is a lot of oil spreading there... it seems to come from the exit of the cam of the valve cover moving the pump.

There is a seal/gasket/bearing there that must be replaced over time to keep things clean ? Thanks.

 

[stephen newberg]

Normally once a water pump starts to leak, it ends up less costly and a lot less hassle to just replace it rather than try to repair it.

pax, smn

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

In fact, I'm not sure it's the pump that is leaking. Seems to be oil, all is wet and black there even the starter. Waterpump strap is a little bit wet too but on the side of the valve cover.

More precisely, my question was it is something that will wear and must be replaced between the cam moving the waterpump and the valve cover itself (seal/gasket/bearing) ?

(Don't worry Stephen, I already have a spare pump, strap, gasket and thermostat in stanby as I'm a bit pananoid.)

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Crap... there is a seal there ! I changed all the valve cover gaskets but I forgot this.

"Water pump cam lip seal - it's in the driver's side end of the front head."
http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/Replacing Seals.htm

"The cam seal on just about every gen3 I have parted, or worked on was very dry and cracked, leaking nicely and making a mess."

Notes for future use (Ford book isn't as precise) :
-Take off the belt (spring loaded idler)
-Remove pulley
-Screw a small sheet metal into old seal (by hand)
-Yank old one out
-Press new seal in with PVC pipe or similar
-Put on pulley and belt

 

[98SF19]

That seal is readily available from parts stores. You want to address it asap since the leaking oil will work its way into your starter and slowly **** it. If you have the means, you may want to clean the starter once seal is replaced. Getting all the sludge out is no fun and takes time, but you'll prolong its life. May want to replace brushes too if you go that route.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Thanks, I will put the used starter low mileage I found after the repair and clean the old one.

(God, this post makes me realising all parts that are still to change...:S)

 

[SHOZ123]

I had a radiator fan fail on just one side. it would overheat in in slow traffic.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

The 2 fans are working, thanks Paul. I rode your comment elsewhere and checked them.

I'm also suspecting an aging waterpump (coolant is good)... And I'm preparing a review of them as I bought 2.

 

[SHOZ123]

The water pump impeller is plastic. I don't think that would be the problem. I would look into a new radiator. They are cheap and it's just as easy to replace it with a new one as to clean the old one.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

My rad was already replaced by a newer one (100 000km) due to a small front impact.

But my mechanic said me that waterpump with plastic propellers tend to broke, because it's plastic... (aging, heat...) He saw many over time with broken ones.

I don't know that original waterpump had plastic propellers... I thought it was steal. Thanks for the info.

One of the 2 I have has metal propellers...(GMB) unlike the ACdelco one. I think i will try the GMB.