So I bought an 89 puckup last year 22re new rebuilt motor. Ran fine all winter. Now with the temp rising outside the temp rises on the engine too. When the temp gauge reads higher then normal when I go into a coast it will die. I would say it does this about 50 percent of the time. It did this last summer as well. I recently installed a flex a lite electric fan hoping that I could cool it enough to solve the problem. But still dies when temp gets too high. It's not overheating though! I'm stumped any help would be appreciated thanks in advance on what I should do.

 

?????

 

This is a long shot but I've heard of this problem before years ago. The area of interest is the signal generator which can be found inside of your distributor. The problem could be when the engine is up to operating temperature the resistance of the sensor rises above spec which will cause the symptom you are describing.

Check the resistance of the signal generator when the truck is cold and then again when it is hot, it should be within range in both cases, if not replace.

 

a slightly warmer condition might affect the fuel mixture? but the o2 sensor should regulate that, if its not off too much... not seeing how it'll cause the engine to die.

i wonder if there are a couple of problems there.

how old is the thermostat?

 

I actually replaced the thermostat recently maybe two months ago

 

Replace the fan clutch. Easy and cheap. I bet at idle your fans not working properly because of this. causing the temp to rise. Probably didn't notice it when the temp outside was colder.

 

I would consider that but it has an electric fan not the stock one anymore

 

clogged radiator? With the radiator cap off and the engine running does the coolant flow steadily from left to right as you look down in the hole? Be sure to do this with the engine cold. Start it up then take the radiator cap off before it warms up.