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Old 03-12-2015, 08:57 PM   #11
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Re: 89 e250 SMB with 5.8 struggles to climb high altitude pa

interesting, I also don't have a reservoir. I thought that was pretty strange, I'm guessing it must end up in losing coolant quite a bit due to the overflow just draining onto the ground? I did check the coolant after this incident and it wasn't low and there were no signs of it spilling out.

larrie, what pressure radiator cap do you have? Mine is a 16lb, a mechanic that saw that commented that it seems really high.

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Old 03-12-2015, 09:56 PM   #12
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Re: 89 e250 SMB with 5.8 struggles to climb high altitude pa

Will take a look tomorrow and let you know.
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Old 03-13-2015, 06:10 AM   #13
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Re: 89 e250 SMB with 5.8 struggles to climb high altitude pa

Oops, I missed the rebuild part in your first post. Most certainly it got new coolant and hoses, but I would still be a little concerned if it was the original radiator. It may be packed with bugs!
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Old 03-13-2015, 08:29 AM   #14
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Re: 89 e250 SMB with 5.8 struggles to climb high altitude pa

I missed something in the post also - what is the actual problem?

The title made me think it was a performance/power issue as it "struggles to climb high altitude pass" and that getting hot was a secondary issue. I took that tact, but most are concentrating on the overheating issue.

With that in mind, perhaps the fan clutch needs to be replaced.
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Old 03-13-2015, 09:43 AM   #15
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Re: 89 e250 SMB with 5.8 struggles to climb high altitude pa

Quote:
Originally Posted by BajaSportsmobile
The title made me think it was a performance/power issue as it "struggles to climb high altitude pass" and that getting hot was a secondary issue.
I think you might actually be going the right direction and I didn't do the best job describing the problem fully. Yes it did get really hot and just about overheat but I think that what caused that was not having enough power to make the climb, or at least make it at a decent speed. It got down to about 10-15 MPH and at the very end I even had to drop it from 2nd into 1st to see if that would help but it didn't, it kept slowing down.
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Old 03-13-2015, 10:48 AM   #16
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Re: 89 e250 SMB with 5.8 struggles to climb high altitude pa

I would expect the 5.8L to do a better job climbing. My '94 had a little more power, but I pulled almost 10,000 pounds up through Eisenhower tunnel, in August. I never dropped below 30 MPH.

I did have an intake and exhaust, and after that it did run warm when towing, so I upgraded to the radiator for the 460. However, if you aren't towing there is no reason yours should run warm. If the radiator is original, it is probably plugged up internally.

Have you checked the basics? Air filter fuel filter etc? Also might be a good idea to pull a spark plug and verify the fuel mix is right. It's pretty easy to see if its been rich or lean, looking at the plugs.

Also, older Fords did have some problems with the original coolant temp sensor (the one for the PCM, which is different from the one for the gauges) failing, which can cause it to get stuck in open-loop/warm-up mode.
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Old 03-13-2015, 10:55 AM   #17
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Re: 89 e250 SMB with 5.8 struggles to climb high altitude pa

My radiator cap is also 16 pound.

When going up the hill in Washington I dropped down to 40 or 45 MPH. Have about 79K on the motor with a three speed trans.
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