Cant add to anything that hasn't been said about the overheating, but I can comment on these ir guns. They working pretty damn good, and still have an auto off function, as well as a hold setting for odd to reach places.

 

Agreed...think mine was $15 on Amazon. I've used it to make sure the bearings weren't too tight on newly replaced boat trailer hubs, diagnose sticking brakes, and evaluate cooling system. It's one of those tools that can save you a ton of questions and give ya peace of mind. Also mine has a laser which is fun to use with cats.

 

Ragtop's mention of the IR thermometer is spot-on. I had forgot about that, but I used one to set up my Hayden radiator thermostat. I pointed it at the manifold just below the water neck to get an idea of coolant temp when the mechanical thermostat opens, then at the radiator fins above the probe to set the fan-on temp. It's a great $20 tool, and pretty dang accurate I think. For a check, I set our oven to 350, waited for it to reach heat setting, then pointed the IR right at the coil. I was surprized to see 350 on the nose!

 

I swear, sometimes this truck will be the death of me. I did find out I had the smaller radiator, so i went ahead and picked up the Spectra 1709 at Pep boys...they were having a 20% special so it was $108 out the door. Only place in town to stock it.

In the 98 degree heat, losing at least 5 lbs of sweat, I swapped radiators...what a messy job. Between coolant splattering me all over and the trans fluid dripping everywhere, had to take two showers. Saved the filling up for later. Later came, and poured a gallon of 50/50 in....checking for hose leaks all good. Proceeded to pour the next gallon in, and about 1/4 the way, I get a steady stream of coolant at my feet. Appears my brand new radiator has a leak in one of the coils. About 8" from the bottom there's a steady river flowing down the back of the radiator. I had noticed the box was a bit dinged and there were some bent spots in the cooling fins when I pulled it out, but sure didn't expect that. Worst, is that was the only one in town. Now have to wait 2 days for Pepboys to order me a replacement.

 

Ouch.

If it helps any, my tank started leaking when I was about eight months old; but the local radiator shop was able to repair it since it's all metal on the Extreme Cooling radiator.

RwP

 

I feel your pain!! On saturday, I changed out the clutch disc in the carrier of my work van. Has a dana 70. As you said, it was hot to be working outside! That carrier with the ring gear bolted on, weighed 58 lbs. Trying to handle this, keeping bearing races and shims together, and getting gear oil all over me...... Lets just say we both had fun saturday!!

 

Ralph,

What's the extreme cooling radiator that fits our trucks? I know you have an 88, but the 94 core I used has the mounting holes for both styles...so 87-90 and 91-96 radiators fit.

 

Max Cooling (sorry, my brane was saying "Extreme") was the sales name for the option pack that includes the 26.25" wide radiator; the Mopar part number was 4266880 (the Shelby variant was 4401880). Fan shroud if you can find it was a P/N 4266930 for a 1988; don't know what it would be for a 1993. Alas, that SHROUD is what's hard to find nowadays; it's been NLA for quite some time, and the boneyards rarely show up with a Max Cooling packaged truck.

OTOH, if you go for an electric setup, and ditch the clutch fan, as long as it's shrouded (puller) or not shrouded (pusher) it should be fine.

The shroud included three doors that close at idle to keep you from sucking hot engine bay air into the radiator; I'm missing one of them, and if we hit 95* or hotter, I may just tape that opening up.

RwP

 

Well, I installed the second 26" radiator (no leaks). I didn't want to risk the zip tie method with the electric fan puncturing a coil, so I built a nice aluminum frame to support the perma-cool fan. I was pretty proud of my work. Unfortunately, it's for naught, as while the 26" radiator solved my heating problem at speed, at idle the temperature still creeps up. It was weird, as initially, I let it idle for a good 20 minutes in my garage (of course right in front of the AC unit, so the intake air was cool), and the temperature stayed pretty solid. I then put the truck into neutral to check the transmission fluid I lost changing out radiators, and while the truck sat in neutral the temp began to creep up. So, I think there's something to maybe looking at a separate trans cooler? However, once the truck got hot, putting it in park and idle, it didn't cool down, so not sure.

Oh, and the wife got me the IR gun for my b'day, so here's what I noted:

1) The thermostat is working...it's 190 deg T-Stat which is what our stock trucks came with. It started to open around there.

2) The fan T-Stat is working, as when it reached about 160 deg, the fan came on.

3) The top of the radiator was reading about 190, the bottom about 170, so I'm getting about a 20 deg differential top to bottom. Is that about to be expected?

4) I noticed that the cooling from top/bottom on the radiator is spotty. On some columns (this radiator cooling 'rows' run N/S), there was no differential. Other's I noted the 20 deg differential. I'm wondering if this is where the fan isn't sufficient, or if this is where the internal columns for the transmission coils are. Does anyone know how the coils for the transmission run? Are they along the outside, pretty much above where the inlet/outlet nipples are?

5) I suspect that the 3200 CFM quoted by perma-cool is malarky. It's about 2x the amount a Taurus or intrepid fan setup runs.

So, suggestions based on above? I'm thinking of changing the 190 deg T-Stat to a 160 deg, and maybe going with a dual fan setup. And maybe a trans cooler? Is the 98-2004 Intrepid setup still the way to go? I know some run the single Taurus or the Lincoln Mark VIII, but if the Intrepid is proven, I'm okay with that. My only concern is that it seems like a lot of shroud for a pusher fan. Right now, the only saving grace is the fresh air cooling across the open shroudless radiator cools very quickly at speed. When idling, the needle approaches H, but never quite touches. At speed, in less than a minute, it's back at the mid point. That's why I'm thinking maybe the fan is the only issue. But if changing to a 160 deg T-stat would help that's a painless inexpensive change too.

 

Robert, IMO the 160 t-stat will slow down the runaway train. But it will not solve the problem.
You said the the temp goes from 190 to 170 through the radiator. What does it get up too?
Personally, I suspect the fan or fan air flow.... especially since it cools going down the road.


One other thought, have you tried pulling some timing out, and or , adding some fuel, ie its lean? Long, shot, but wanted to throw that out there.