Hey guys,

Ive just purchased an FJ45 Ute, with a 351 Cleveland in it, shes having a few issues and im wondering if you guys could give me a few ideas.

First of all, she has just had both headgaskets done, because she was over heating, now she has a cheap autogauge gauge in it, connected to the front temp sensor.

I took her for a quick 5-10 minute drive today, and once I got back, the gauge was reading 100-105 C. Which is bloody warm, she reached as high as 112 before she started going back down. Checking on a few american sites - I think the range for them is 180F, which is about 82.2C..... I suppose my first point of call for this is the Radiator flush, followed by thermostat etc, any other ideas specific to these engines? Ive also heard that they should have a Brass water restrictor in the thermo Housing, Is this true etc?

Second of all, to fire her over today, I had to throw the jumper leads on, and once she came back from her little overheating tizzy drive, I tryed to fire her up again without leads, No go. she would crank very slowly, no way near enough guts.

Batterys are showing 13.2ish (fluctuating) which I think is a little low. She is running a duel battery system which is also a little strange to me. But its also in the tray of the ute with no cover, so the weather may be damaging to the batterys, and im not sure how old they are - I suppose my first point of call is replacing both with a large 700CCA single battery (im not going to be camping / using the batterys for other stuff), she is just going to be running the car, foggies etc. all while the engine is running.

After the battery I suppose then its the output of the alternator etc...

Oh also, the starter motor drive doesnt always engage, although this is generally due to a poor battery setup isnt it? She just spins, without pushing the plunger out to the flywheel etc.

Anyway, sorry about such a long post but yes, Im looking to you all for advice . Thanks guys!

Im also in Brisbane, Australia So parts from America will be a little harder to obtain for me.

 

Well, first thing is that this is in the Windsor Forum, it should be in the Cleveland Forum. Windsors typically use 195 degree thermostats.

It's hard to know if your temperature gauge is reading wrong or the engine is too hot. Are there other indications of overheating? Is this the stock gauge or an aftermarket one?

You should be able to get parts locally just fine, especially Ute specific parts! Not many over here.

You can buy the starter drive separately if you shop around. Probably no need for a complete starter.

 

While running, you should be around 14V. Engine off after sitting a bit, usually between 12.0v and 12.5v. Is your temp gauge electric or mechanical?
Sounds like your starting issue is unrelated unless your belt is slipping really bad.

 

Moved to 335 forum

 

Cozmo,

maybe you`ll need a new thermostat. Look at the 2nd sticky at the top of this forum, there is a link to "Robertshaw thermostat".

This is a special thermostat that closes a small orifice in the block under the thermostat when opening at temp. This orifice -when not closed - allows water to run back into the block without being cooled down by the radiator.

Had the same problem with a wrong thermostat and ever wondered why the engine overheated. I took a 180F and everything is fine.

Would love to see a pic of your FJ45 with the 351C ..... I´m an old T@%&@a parts man ... :-)

 

Hey, don't worry too much about parts. They may be a little more expensive in some cases than the US, but there is a truckload of stuff available for a 351 cleveland in aussie. The 302 closed chamber heads being arguably one of the best low cost upgrades for a milder rebuild at low cost. There are a hell of a lot of guys in the US that would give their right arm for a set of hese heads for their 400's for the price we can get them for. I am in Newcastle by the way. I have a 400 in a galaxie, and that is a slightly different animal but don't feel under priveleged being in aussie and needing cleveland bits. Remember that the fasted four door sedan in the world in 1972 (GTHO phase 3 falcon) had a 351 clevo in it. Just keep your eye on the internet and with the aussie/US dollar the way it is you can possibly get some good bargains especially with stuff that doesn't get smashed by freight. After all that i am on this forum all the time as they generally have good advice and I am new to this as well. Good luck

 

A few pictures

 

It was definitely identified as the head gaskets causing the over heating? Did you get to see them when the heads were removed?

 

Nah, did a co2 test on the radiator, nothing there. Theres still bubbles in the radiator. Mechanic rekons its an air gap somewhere, round the waterpump perhaps.

How hard is it to replace the waterpump in these engines? She might be a contributor to the overheating.

 

Not too bad just a pain in the..... approx $100 but you can get it for less. Continued bubbles in the water is a worry. It should stop sometime. Just remember that an engine will run hotter than the thermostat at some stage otherwise they'd never open. It's how quick it cools down once it opes is the thing. I put a nice new stat in my rebuilt 400 that was a spec for the clevelands (around the 180f mark) but cant for the life of me find the details. I have had no probs with overheating but i also had a new radiator and water pump too. Belts tight? fan around right way? Did the head installer put the head gaskets around the right way? all stupid questions but?? radiator flush and a new thermostat would be a good start and really easy.

 

I took the thermo out, to check if it was the cause. She still cooked to 100+, Radiator is new, and Id imagine he put them in the right way, he did seem to know a bit about them. No Water in the Oil and no Oil in the water, anyway to check the headgaskets without pulling them off and doing them again?

shes running a thermo electric fan, yeah its pulling the right way, I might chuck another on the front of the radiator and push air through.

One large worry is the Brass button is solid... theres no hole in her... I dont know how or why they did this, or what its sealed with. The chap I took it to to get tested said if its blocked theyved just tryed to remove the recirculation point to keep her cooler, so it shouldnt be causing overheating issues. Although im wondering... I cant just drill a hole in it and hope for the best

 

HI FLOW THERMOSTAT TO SUIT FALCON & FORD CLEVELAND V8 | eBay

see attached thermostat off evil bay. This looks awfully like the one I used. No way to check gaskets without removing head. Fan should be no problem once you are moving over 30-40kmh anyway just checking. What brass button? Are you referring to the restrictor under the thermostat? That could be a drama. Nice fourby.

 

Yeah, the restrictor under the thermo.....

Im not sure what thermo she had in it, it did have 82c on the bottom.... The ute is not here right now, its down getting the battery leads swapped so when I get it back ill have another play.

Sadly I just lost my job (no biggie, another will be along shortly) so its going to be on hold for a few weeks I think.. No point spending money when you need it to live

 

that restricter under the stat is a pretty important thing and not to hard to do. It could be your prob. At least if you supprted Queensland in the state of origin last night you'd be happy! sorry to all the n/american and canadians reading this that have no idea of what i've just said.

 

Haha, Im a Queensland Supporter mate . (Although Im a bloody Kiwi hahaha!).

how does one go about replacing it? when I had a look at it she seems to be fairly stuck in there, and all ive read about removing them is it destroys the block.....