HD Fan Clutch might be overkill now, but fast forward a few months when climbing those mountain passes and you'll want the HD Fan Clutch. Cover the radiator some and then simply remove it when the hard winter weather is over.

 

All this risky manipulation to make something work...and it still doesnt solve the problem.

Put the proper parts on it.

 

Blocking part of the radiator takes about 30 seconds with a piece of cardboard. Truckers have been doing it forever in extreme climates. They can't have a lot of downtime sitting in a garage going from a summer setup to a winter setup, so when their Diesels start running cool they use radiator covers. Takes just minutes to install and they're on their way.

I really don't see the point on tearing off the fan clutch or swapping the thermostat out when all you need to do is block off some of the radiator air flow until the extreme cold weather passes.

 

I think that your temp sender is off. I have the dorman hayden (heavy) setup on 2 separate rigs with ultragauges and the 180 inline mod. I hump over Vail pass on a regular basis and they run at about 188 going up and about 179 going down.

I can't imagine getting down to 105. Something is not right.

 

Yeah 105F seems impossible to me. I mean if you’re going down the pass yes you’ll have less throttle input/load, but you should be in a lower gear with higher RPM’s for engine braking so the temps wouldn’t plummet that far IMHO.

I haven’t been up in that cold of weather in years, but the last time I was in my 91 Mitsubishi Montero (ran cool anyways) and I had to block some airflow thru the radiator to get any decent heat output thru the heater.

 

Blocking the one thing you rely on to cool the thing is a little redundant. Yes they block radiators on school buses and big trucks here, I get the whole reasoning, but the reason I say nay is due to the fact that hes got issues with parts on his truck and if he is hitting 105 there are other issues...

If he sits for awhile somewhere do we know the temp wont skyrocket due to the blocked radiator? If something fails...boom.
The lower temps is also because he doesnt have it blocked, once he blocks it, it wont act the same, the lower threshold will increase, but most likely, so will the upper.

Power loss = lower gas mileage. Plus he's probably pulling more air which is a good thing...for running cool.

I guess you could try though.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is using common sense/good judgement you could block "some" air flow to the radiator to increase engine temps down this mountain pass. I'm not saying slap it on and cover it 100% then cruise all winter long with it (depends on how cold of environment you are in).



The radiator covers on big rigs/buses/F150/F250/F350's allow you to pick n choose the amount of air flow. As the pic above shows the radiator is not 100% covered.

To the OP did you have decent heat output from the heater during this recorded 105F engine temp? If so I highly doubt the 105F is accurate.

 

This is the lowest I have ever seen driving on the western slope towards Dillion. 105 is way to cold, something isn’t right

https://i.imgur.com/dYdlPo8.jpg

 

I totally agree with you...the only thing that kills it, is it's a Rover. Its like a roadside IED, it just goes, you dont know who it's going to hit or when it's going to blow.

 

My aftermarket gauge said 105, and my stuck gauge got in to the blue almost all the way. I have a 180 thermostat too.
My my thought is that both of those gauges would rely on the thermostat to be open for their temperature to increase. perhaps since it is cold the thermostat is closed so no fresh water gets to those gauges?