2.9 runs to cold with heat on.

I have a 87 bronco ii as my dd and the motor never seems to realy warm up with the heater on. I havent checked to see if thermostate is working or even there for that matter. But my radiator is only 3/4 in thick and and a little over a foot across and tall. Its so tiny lol i thin my heater is doing half the cooling. Any thoughts?


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I hate to ask, but are you sure you're not looking at a transmission cooler or AC unit, not the radiator? That's mighty small.

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You might want to check the coolant level to make sure the radiator is full.

I had a 1984 Bronco II with the 2.8L, it had issues in the winter also. Tried any number of thermostats and even changed the heater core since sometimes the baffle corrodes through bypassing the core.

In the end it was the fluid drive clutch fan, when cold it was 1:1 and in my climate never warmed enough on the highway to disengage, the solution...take it off. Mine was threaded on the waterpump snout for easy removal at water crossings etc.

It was OK in the city with the fan on but on the highway the clutch would freeze up and be pulling a lot of air through the rad...noisy too. Still check the obvious things like your rad cap and thermostat (test it, I had ones that were all over the map) but these vehicles have large capacity rads for the size of engine for offroad use at low speeds.

Looks small but remember its only 2.9 Litres.

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Yes its the rad lol i got a 5 speed with no ac so its simple. If checked the level and looked good. Im gunn pull the fan and see if it helps. Any trick to it or what? Im new o these lille things

Removed.the fan and gained a litle heat but not much. Im gunna pull the thermo today and let you.know

I would replace the thermostat before you go pulling the fan off. If the thermostat is working correctly the fan will have nothing to do with temperature until the thermostat opens.
If the engine is running cold then the thermostat most likely is not closing all teh way or is weak and opening to soon.

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Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity



Chet

You also want to check that the heater valve is opening and closing. Is the dash guage showing that the engine is up to normal operating temp? If you are going to pull the thermostat I agree with Chet. Stick a new one in.

The silly little ting ford put in this and called a guage was BARELY getting off the cold line. I pulled the fan and it now gsts th the bottom of the L on normal. Removing the fix is just a bandaid. I still have to check the t stat. I got called in to work for an emergancy tonight so i didnt have time. Gota work at 4am so i will pull it tomoro and let you guye know

Ok, so i replaced the t stat. Now it comes to the middle of the L on normal. The heat feels a little warmer now. Being the factory origanal guage, i figure its a little off. And mix that with theh fact that the cooling system neefs to be flushed, i think everything is as good as its gunna get. Thanks for all the help and advice along tue way. U guys were awsome as usual