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1997  F-150  5.4 liter   4wd .  the water temp will not come up until 5 to 8 miles down the road.  heat in truck is cold,  then it shoots hot for less than a second   temp goes to normal and heater works    any ideas ?

You have a bad thermostat. Drain part of your coolant, Pull the cover over the thermostat (the one the upper hose runs to from the radiator) replaced with new, refill coolant. When was the last time you changed coolant? It might be time to replace that also.

I'm sorry I should have included more detail.  I have flushed system twice, I have installed three new thermostats.  I was told oh  you get bad ones. I replaced the resiovor cap ( 16 psi cap ).   When it fianlly jumps hot for the split second and then goes to normal , it sprays antifreeze from the cap. After it does that you can run it forever and it is fine.  It does this everytime after being cold.    Now I am getting check engine light. 0171    bank one too lean.

Guys here at work swear head gasket  ,  others swear intake manifold gasket    Sprayed carb cleaner around intake ,  no change in idle,   no water in oil ,  adding a small amount of antifreeze weekly but amount the amount it is blowing out of the cap .   After reading about the head gasket and sohc procedure not sure i want to tackle the head gasket.    And   book says  make sure  windor or romeo engine    how do I tell that ?

the eigth letter in the vin number,, on most vehicles will be a letter,, the letter stands for the engine that is in the vehicle,,  the letter will tell you wich engine it is... what I was told

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sevety9

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Mechanic On Wheels LLC