Cooler Thermostat causing fan to not kick on but car to slightly overheat?

replaced my thermostat with a 165 degree one i believe then repaced the rad cap also, then the radiator started leaking, put some sealer in it to try to correct the prob. It didnt, got a new radiator. the fan doesnt kick on every time and the car Still gets semi overheeated. Could the sealer i put it have clogged the system and if it had is there any kind of flush that might unclog it. The car got flooded when Hurr Ivan hit, and I am almost ready to send for the Rconstructed title but jus need to work a few more bugs out of it. Its been sitting for almost a year and a half, drove and ran it a couple times but hopefully its ok.

I wouldn't recommend a thermostat that cool even if you can reprogram the fan to kick on earlier. I've always run the stock 197 with no problems. If you can reprogram the fan temps you can run a 180 with no issues. What kind of sealer did you put in?

I didnt know i had to reprogram the fan, maybe thats why it doesnt run right, I am gonna replace the thermostat with the stock one just to see what happens, and Im not sure what kind of sealer it was but the one mechanic at work put it in after I had him do a pressure test to the radiator and it started leakin even more, but it didnt help the leak, so i replaced the radiator.

If your fan doesn't come on then the IRCM could be faulty. Unfortunately I'm not 100% sure how to test it. I know the EEC cycles the fan during the KOEO code scan. Perhaps you could try running that real quick and see if the fans comes on or not. What do you mean by semi-overheats? All of my cars usually get to "M" in NORM (sorry I don't have any gauges but the stock ones) before the fan kicks on.

whats the IRCM stand for, semi-overheats means it gets up just past the L in Normal. Will basically go up 3/4 of the way to hot on the guage, before would never go up past 1/4 of the way. Ando one more thing I just remebered. when I went to replace the thermostat, it was in backwards. When I had pretty much my whole power steering system replaced from faulty motor mounts, the mechanic that was doing the job had noticed the thermostat housing was leaking, I told him to put a new gasket on it and he told me that the one bolt hole was stripped so he had to address that problem as well. So im guessing when he put it back together he put it in backwards by mistake cause that is the last time anything had been done with the thermostat. Luckily the SC's have the coolant bypass around the thermostat housing so i must have ran it on that bypass for about a year, which prob wore something else out. ARRGGG.

IRCM (Integrated Relay Control Module). It's on the passenger side behind the head light, has about 5000 wires running in and out of it. It contains the relay for the cooling fan. Your gauge reads "NORMAL"? Mine only says "NORM". If my car is sitting idling the gauge will go up to the "M" (about 3/4 of the way) before the fans switches on. Can't remember what temp the low speed fan comes on at but 214F comes to mind. If the car is moving I never get above about 1/4 of the gauge sweep. For what it's worth all of my cars heat up when sitting idling in traffic/drivethrough/sitting in the driveway. The fan comes on at "M" on all of them.

thought it says normal maybe it does say norm, I swear every one of my fords have cooling problems at some point, lol. Although it isnt really funny according to my wallet. I'll try a new thermostat and flush kit first cause it prob needs it after sittin. Does the IRCM all one module or is the fan relay seperate alond with the other relays? Baically can i just replace the Fan relay or do i have to replace the whole IRCM? I havent been able to do anything to the car lately but let it sit in the garage and collect dust but as soon as income tax comes in, It is gettin fixed. I cant stand it anymore. It drives me nuts sitting or driving, lol. Thanks for the info, ttyl

I would not use anything cooler than a 180 thermostat. I don't know how you would put the thermostat in backwards, it won't fit. But even so, if that was the case then it wouldn't open very well for sure.

The fan is programmed to come on at 210 deg and if you have a 160 thermostat that means that the whole system will be totally heat soaked before the fan ever comes on.

If you want to check if the fan works just do a code test on the car. The testing process will kick the fan on. Listen for it to reach both speeds. I've seen some fans burn out only one speed. If the low speed fan burns out then it will not come on until 228 deg and it will burn out the high speed in short order if the low speed is not working.

If you want to control just the fan speed you can install an adjustable aftermarket fan controller and rewire the fan. If you want to fix the problem the "best way" you need a chip.

Thanks to everyone for the usefull info, I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks, Brandon