I have a 2000 S-Type 4.0 liter that my wife and I do a lot of road trips. In 113 F and hotter environments, when climbing grades the car tends to run hot. Does any one have any information about available cooling upgrades? I know they used to race these in Europe so maybe there are still some companies that supply upgrades.

 

How many miles on the car and what is the condition of your cooling system? I live in eastern Montana and in summer months temps can be 105+ degrees F and no "running hot" issues puling grades with my S-type here...

If someone replaced the coolant using mineral rich tap water, you may have calcification of your radiator core.

 

There may not be much available out there. Insufficient cooling rarely seems to be a topic on the forum. And in those cases, it's more like somebody had a fault reducing the system's cooling ability, and not necessarily a design shortcoming requiring an upgrade.

 

113F? You might consider NIGHT driving. My S-Type has never overheated except when I was bleeding air out in the driveway once. I've also never been in heat over 102F.

 

You're correct, there really isn't anything out there for A.M. upgrades. The engine was used in several Ford products, but still no market for upgrades I guess. The car is solid as far as factory stuff. Rebuild engine and trans, new radiator, water pump, hoses, T-stat... Ambient temps of 105-110 are no problem. We drove from California to Alaska and back again without a single problem this year. It's when we did Route 66 last year in August, and it was 113-115 for a solid week, and we were climbing steep grades, that it started to run hot, not overheat, but the gauge moved to about 5/8ths of the travel. Granted there were lots of cars pulled over with steam pouring out and we were not to that point. I'm just looking for a bit more protection.

 

Just to be clear, the AJ28 is a Jaguar engine, not a Ford engine, and was not used in any vehicles other than Jaguars.

What work has been performed on the cooling system?

Has the cooling system been flushed? Does the DCCV work correctly?

Has the radiator been replaced and the system bled correctly?

 

Hmm, how fast were you moving at the time? If the cooling fan was not up to par, and you had to move slowly due to traffic, that might explain the situation.

On my '02 V6, I've had several instances of the temperature running higher than normal. A couple of times, there was a leak and system pressure was lower than normal. Please note it's possible to have a leak high in the system that mainly leaks air, and not necessarily spewing coolant like one might expect. I'd suggest doing a system pressure test just to be sure the system is intact and able to operate as designed.

I've also had the cooling fan fail, which is why I asked.about your speed. Above 30 MPH or so, you get sufficient ram airflow through the radiator and the fan doesn't do much. Below that speed, the fan is much more important. When the fan failed, I was still able to limp home by taking back roads where I could avoid traffic and keep the speed up.

Also, be aware the dash gauge is deliberately misleading. From approximately 180-230F, the needle is centered. Only when the temp rises above that range will you see the needle start to climb. You can keep a closer eye watching live data on a scanner.

 

+1 on Karl's comments about the cooling module.

Other causes of running hot are a worn serpentine belt, which can be checked using the indicator on the tensioner, and a sticking thermostat.

 

Thanks for all the diag info but I don't believe the car is acting broken. 115 degrees, at 85 mph, up steep grades, is going to produce a challenge for that car. My question was if anyone knew of aftermarket upgrades. Apparently, that question is not answerable.

 

member alexjag had 180 thermostats available. I put one in and love it. I myself put in an external trans fluid cooler and it works great. Mostly for the fluid but does help some for radiator not having to cool fluid by itself. I believe alexjag could help with cooling fan operation also. PM him

 

Yep, we have lower temp thermostats with a more reliable improved design that has no rubber which fails quite often. We can also program the operation of the cooling fan and of course can reprogram ECU for performance and more. Alpha Jag Tuning

 

Agreed, but it still wouldn't hurt to run some basic diagnostics. It's kind of like going to the doctor and how they always check the basics. I could walk in carrying my right arm on ice in a cooler, and they would still check my blood pressure.


That's going to be a challenge for any vehicle. On any vehicle, the cooling system's behavior is all a math game. When everything is in good working order, an engine produces X amount of heat. The cooling system is designed to dissipate that same X amount, plus some reserve. You could have the world's most efficient cooling system in perfect condition, but the engine is producing excess heat for reasons unknown (a partially blocked exhaust, for one example). The end result is the temperature climbs. Or one could have some undiagnosed defect reducing the capacity of the cooling system, with the same end result. Or one could have a combination of the two.

I think the question was answered, lol. Unfortunately, there just isn't a lot out there. Not too many owners are reporting overheating issues caused by insufficient capacity of the cooling system. With few problems reported, the need for upgrades (and thus the market) is almost non-existant.

A couple of guys have mentioned you could run a cooler thermostat, but I'd be careful with that. I don't believe that's going to be an effective fix for anything but a brief transient condition. Myself, I'm running a 180F thermostat instead of the stock 192, as I like to keep the average temp closer to the middle of the "normal" range. But if I ever found myself in a condition where cooling demand continually exceeds actual cooling capacity, the temperature is still going to climb above normal. The only difference is it will start climbing from 180, versus 192. This might buy me a little time if climbing a short steep grade in the middle of the summer, and will soon be coasting down the other side. But for a prolonged slog through the desert? Not so much.

 

If the cooling system is fine and the fluid is clean, full, and the radiator not clogged up, and functioning to keep it cooler try 75% full strength coolant and 25% distilled water instead of 50% and 50%. To avoid extreme heat it's a lot cooler at night, if night time driving doesn't bother you.

 

😆 You realize plain distilled water cools better than antifreeze ? If anything reducing antifreeze and increasing water ratio will help in cooling if climate allows...