Water temp guage

[Dieselmeister]

My friend has a 95 7.3...

His temp guage barely makes it to the normal mark when his truck running. With a load on it, the guage jumps all around.. With the highest he ever sees being it making it to the "N" on Normal...

Is this common for this year of truck? I have helped him replace his radiator and thermostat so I know they are good... and when he's pulling and it makes it to the "N" you can hear the fan clutch lock up, making the motor area noisier.. I am just trying to get a feeling for what is normal and what is not...

He's seems to think its not getting warm enough because when it's been idleing for a while, like waiting at a supermarket, when he goes to take off it feels as though the EBV has kicked in and takes a minute for it to open back up again...

He lives here in Havasu (a little piece of hell on Earth in the summer) and it's happening. I told him I think we should just gut his EBPV and be done with it, but I wanted to get some others Idea's before we start changing things.

So what do you think.??

 

[Patrick Feeley]

Mine barely moves as well, although I have gotten it up to about mid-scale on a long hard pull with the fiver on some of the passes on Hwy 395 in the eastern Sierras. Things he can try: Put in a 203F thermostat. Also, he can try removing the tube that runs from the passenger side exhaust manifold (front), under the alternator, and up to the exhaust back pressure sender (top front middle of motor by the High Pressure Oil Pump Reservoir). Clean the tude out with some wire rope chucked in a drill and some carb cleaner (sort of like a plumbing snake). Clean out the little section that is left attached to the sender as well. This sometimes helps with erratic EBPV operation. Cheers!

 

[Dieselmeister]

Pat,

Thanks for the reply... We'll give it a try..

 

[95_stroker]

Yeah, the temp guages on the 94-97 year models is pretty unreliable. To get mine to the N in normal takes a pretty hard pull in hot weather. And Pat gives excellent advice on the EBPV, if that doesnt work then he can unhook the actuator arm and wire the valve in the open position or he can gut the valve also.

 

[Crumm]

Mine was on the "N" for about seven years. I then installed a 203* stat from Dieselsite and it now runs on the "R". The stock stat is just too cold to build any heat.

 

[95_stroker]

Didnt the 95's have the 203 in them from the git go?

 

[KansasDiesel]

My '96 runs low as well. I just ordered a 203* thermostat for mine, should get it next week. And will see if it rises then.

 

[Renegade]

Yall may want to consider swapping out the lil sending unit in the top of the water pump as they do tend to get bad & covered in SCA over time & not read very well.

A quick check of the guage in the dash by grounding out the single wire connection with a long wire & using the key can tell if you have a low reading dash guage.

They are actually very cheap from Ford

Cheers

 

[Crumm]

Didn't the 95's have the 203 in them from the git go?

I think you are right on that one. They went to the lower temp stat when they changed the pump style in 1996.

Even though it came from the factory with a 203 doesn't mean it is still in there or that it is good. It may be bad from wear or someone may have changed it in the last 10 years to a lower temp one. I would try changing the thermostat to see if it stabilizes the temperature. Renegade also has a good idea.