Good data Tucknkitty. Sounds like you get around in yours, so it's good hard info.
In city or crawling or just sitting i can get up to 210 or 220 which bothers me considering everything i have going on to keep cool. I know most people say that's not hot, but i want to be between 192 and 205 on a hot day.
Well, I won't say that's "not hot" (because it is!), it's just not overheating. Still likely should not be at that level on a regular basis. Have you verified your gauge is reading correctly? That's something I've yet to do on mine, but it's seemed consistent so far with what was expected, so have not taken the time to verify.
Had mine to 240 the other day with just a short drive in 100 degree weather. But that was because the radiator was almost empty. When it's topped off, it just chugs along between 180 and 195 most of the time. Only goes above that on rare occasions.
And this is with stock radiator and A/C running. So yeah, yours seems high by those standards.
What about engine tune? Since the Explorer stuff is no a 351, did you make any modifications such as going up in size on the injectors and a custom tune? I know I've watched your build, but don't remember those details.
Maybe a flowkooler is worth looking at. Either that or a hood louver.
I say it's always worth looking at a high-volume pump. But even at that, mine is also on a stock Explorer pump, so that's not a real argument in favor of one in your case. At least not yet.
Louvers are another big thing for Broncos. Depending on how yours flows, air pressure could be a thing.
What fan in your case? Stock Explorer too? What else is under your hood.
One exception to the rule under my hood is the passenger side vent is gone completely due to the under-dash A/C setup. This missing piece alone could be allowing quite a bit of extra air flow out of the engine compartment through that gaping hole in the side fender skirt. Something to thing about.
An experiment that only takes a little time and effort on your part (instead of money first) would be to simply remove the hood for awhile this summer. If your temps immediately go down to what you'd expect, you have an air-flow issue. Whether it's the effectiveness of the fan, or just too much air getting caught up under the hood (or both) you at least have your direction to go.
I looked last year and Stewart doesn't make a reverse WP for Exploder serp setups.
As said, Flowkooler has one:
http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/FlowKooler-Water-Pump-Explorer-5/EXPLORER5ENGINEPARTS and has had for over about 2 years or so. Guessing they work as advertised. As much as I like Stewart, if I needed a pump sooner than they were going to have one, I would not hesitate to substitute a Flowkooler.
Has anyone gone from a stock type explorer water pump to a flowkooler pump and noticed an improvement, ever? I mean someone who came on here and said "this fixed everything, or even just made it better by 5 degrees at idle"?
Not that I remember. But I don't remember anyone saying they put a Flowkooler Explorer pump on and still had the problem either.
Much of that is likely to do with the fact that 90% of the Explorer swaps are more recent, the Flowkooler pump has only been around a couple of years now, and not all users of the Explorer stuff are having any trouble worth fixing anyway.
Of course, we'll see if it helps Chuzie's issue if that ends up being one of the things he does!
I almost hope he ends up doing it, even though it's a hassle to replace a pump. Be nice to see if it helps someone that's actually having a water flow issue with an Explorer.
The problem with this method though, is when it does
NOT help, is knowing ultimately whether the existing problem was a water flow issue in the first place. Or something else.
Often enough we've found over the years that severe overheating problems don't respond to the normal "cures" because they end up being engine tuning problems rather than an issue with coolant flow or air flow.
But it's the combination problems that really give knowledge bases fits!
Paul
