No... I'm thinking I might have to buy some of this anti-corrosive stuff though.

I have a feeling that once I do the flush there will be a lot of floating shit in there, though. So just pick up an OEM Ford 195* tstat? Should my temp needle be straight up and down?

The gauge on the dash means SQUAT... Get a gauge in there or a scanner and see what the real temp is.

I cant for the life of me remember what the additive is right now...

FW16... Your local Ford shop can get it for you, as well as the test strips.

I run a filter with the additive in it already.

Thanks for the input... can a basic reader at autozone read the temp? Or probably not...

not that i know of, they are just a reader not a diagnostic tool

So who would have a diagnostic tool? Besides the super-expensive local diesel shop?

We have one at the shop come on over :D but any repair shop should be able to tell u the real temp in about 5 mins with their reader

This is good thinking... then I can kill two birds with one stone; get mah truck fixed, plus meet the famous Rattler:w2:

I had this issue with my 96 and in hindsight, I realized it was accompanied by a quirky temperature control knob on the dash. I found a pen and a few other things that had fallen through the defroster grill and were preventing proper operation of the temperature blend door.

Well I know my fan speed only works on full blast.. but those thigns that fell thru caused your temp control to not work right??

The control knob seamed to work, but the door wasn't shutting (or opening) all the way allowing too much outside cold air to be introduced.

When the blend door is fully open (or closed, I forget which), (cold position on the control knob), the blend door directs the air flow to by-pass the heater core. When the blend door is fully in the other position (hot position on the control knob), all the airflow must go through the heater core. A middle position on the knob maintains a partially open blend door, thus the name "blend door". My blend door was jammed and would only allow partial airflow to go through the heater core, the rest went around. The blend door is independant from the fan and the blend door does not affect the quantity of air coming out, only the temperature.