Hi all I have a 97 F150 4.6 L Windsor engine Fleet side. Now I got a coolant temperature issue cuz on my scanner it's reading 320°, but the dashboard gauge appears to be working just fine. I've changed both ects. I have changed the thermostat. I have changed the water pump. I have flush the heater core, both ways to it's running clear . I have also pulled the radiator of course when I change the water pump and flush the radiator takes forever for my heater to heat up even though my water temperature is already at 320°. I need help with both please.

 

Either your scanner is malfunctioning or you received the incorrect sending units. Can we ask where you purchased them?

Water usually boils at 212 degrees F and each pound of cooling system pressure will raise the boiling point 2-3 degrees.
With a 15 lb radiator cap it will boil at around 250 degrees F.

With 350 degrees F you should have a steam engine..

 

Yes thanks for getting back to me so quickly Hank I got the ects at O'Reilly's and took me forever to figure out what the sensors actually were. Because they had one of the sensors broke off in the middle of me pulling off the plenum and changing the intake gaskets. They said there's a grey and a white one., but all they had were black ones. I told him well that makes a lot of sense doesn't it and bought two black ones. in the white one but all they had was black ones I said well that makes a lot of sense so I bought two. Both of the ECT had dual wires so I figured both of the ects were the same type sensor. They sent information to different parts of the truck. I have a gauge in my truck and it it goes cold when the engine is turned off on the truck and it's been sitting awhile and it heats up normally in the morning it goes to oh probably about 30 or 40% above cold I mean stays to the Lesser side of the halfway point probably around about 35% or so to the cold side yeah other than my OBD2 reader telling me that the engine coolant temperature was hot I have known I have not seen any other signs of overheating or anything else like that I don't lose any water I'm not steaming off the engine or nothing like that but it still takes forever to warm up even when the thermostats all the way heated up it still takes I mean the heater probably takes another 15 or 20 minutes to heat up after the truck. I just flush the heater core today it was a little bit discoloration in it but not a lot at all and then pretty much went clear water I washed it both ways I had noticed when I was under the hood earlier that one of the heater hoses going into the wall was hot and the one that was cold so I thought it was probably a good idea to flush it since I wasn't getting heat very quickly anyway.

 

Is it possible maybe you could send me a picture of what the sending units are supposed to look like mine are kind of triangular at past the and just at the very bottom of it cut off the bottom of the triangles cut off

 

Hi Chris,
Aftermarket parts are usually OK,but if we have a problem with them best to check with a dealership parts dept. That way you have a better chance of getting the right parts the first time. If the parts are wrong ,you own them and still have to go through the trouble to get the right ones. When possible we try to stick with OEM parts.

This goes back a bit, but,,,, does your radiator fan run all the time or does it just lope around until the engine gets hot?