Just curious why you went to a 4 bbl then back to a 2 bbl.

 

I am going to guess that you have a360/390, if so you may have an intake gasket that be on reversed and the water passage in the front is blocked.

 

The intake gasket has holes on both ends that would match up to the water passage, it is the head gasket that will block the passage if reversed.

From another one of his threads, he had removed this intake and carb because of "problems" with it and installed a 4bbl intake and carb. Now he has gone back to the 2bbl but has not addressed the prior problem?

If in fact you removed tge heads and put on new head gaskets this time, then yes, you probably put the gasket on wrong.

I think there is part of the story that you are not saying, but you are wanting confirmation that the intake is bad. Maybe the passages in the intake are mucked up, only you would be able to determine that.

 

The engine is a 390 I swapped the 2bbl intake back due to carburetor problems. I could not get the engine to run properly with the 4 Barrel so I went back with the 2 barrel for fuel mileage. I was tired of getting 5 to 7 miles to the gallon with the 4 Barrel I took the truck out and it ran cool. normal operating temperature. the same with the four barrel intake. but I still don't know and I can't figure out why it gets hot at idle maybe there's a problem with the carburetor maybe the truck is running lean or the timing is off I have not checked that yet I have to get a timing light I have never taken the heads off and change the head gaskets the only thing I've ever done is swap the intakes

 

Believe it or not a 4 barrel carburetor will typically provide better fuel mileage than a 2 barrel (if the operator keeps his foot out of it.) The reason is because in normal driving only two of the four barrels are employed.

I brought up ignition timing assuming you removed it (distributor) as part of swapping out the intake manifold.

 

When all else fails, go back to basics with fuel , air, air spark and.timing.

The issue sounds self-inflicted since a 4V to 2v downgrade shouldn't create such problems... there is something amiss in troubleshooting. Unless of course additional pertinent information has been omitted for whatever reason.

 

Running Hot so is it puking out coolant. No then what's the temp gauge reading??'

Many guys who think they know everything or don't know zip don't bother to buy auto books or a manual for a vehicle they own.

And many times these same guys over fill the radiators and not leveling a 2" air space for the coolant expansion!
So when motor gets warmed up it may push out coolant.

With a cool motor, I'd remove cap and start the motor let it warm up and see if coolant is circulating and yes let it push out any extra coolant/water.

So you'll have the coolant air space then recheck your temp gauge.

And not by the feeling of your hoses read the Temp gauge.
Orich

 

I haven't gotten air pockets on my FE but have on other cars after draining/refilling the coolant which caused overheating. Is it possible your intake needs "burped"? I think someone here asked if your hoses were getting hot....a cool top hose might mean you have an air pocket in the intake.

 

Both hoses get hot. Temp gauge will if let idle long enough climb to almost to the H on my gauge and I never checked to see if it would go any further. When I drove it stayed cool almost a halfway in the middle of C and H. Before I could let it idle forever and would just stay in the the middle of C and H and never go above that and when driven ran cooler. Also noticed my oil pressure isn't as high as it was before the swap but that probably because I had 20/50 in it and changed it to 10/40.

 

Did you reinstall your shroud? I know that I forgot to put the shroud back on my '79, and it would boil over on the way home if i idled in traffic

 

There are so many things it could be.

I had cooling problems with my FE ever since I bought it.
The same problem existed with a 360 then with the 428.

Performance 3 row radiator, new.
I even installed a fan shroud and fiberglass flex fan.
NOTHING seemed to work UNTIL.........

I did some research and decided that it was Timing. These motors were designed for LEADED fuels which do a better job cooling the combustion chambers with the Lead.
When set to 4 or 6 BTDC the engine would overheat after time with unleaded and ping like mad under load. The lower I set the timing the faster it overheated. At 6 degrees the engine hated running.
So...
I found (on this board...thank you) a pointer to a web site that outlined how to fix the timing issue, get better fuel economy, run cooler, more mid range power and no more PING due to over advance using unleaded fuels.


My guess is a timing issue if the head job was done properly.

Try this.
Set the timing to 12 BTDC, lower the curb idle to 700 rpm, and see if it overheats. (it will PING like crazy set at 10 or 12 degrees. stay off the road set like that)
If it just sits there and purrs, PM me and I'll put you in touch with the VERY BEST timing modification for the FE motor ever outlined.

Bill

P.S. I have written about this in the past. My FE is set at 13 degrees BTDC, runs fantastic, never overheats and never pings even under heavy load at low speeds.

 

I never did ha a shroud for the truck. But I have one that I think might work

 

Are you using the same Coolant Temp sender in both the intakes ?

If not that could be the problem showing a higher reading.

And now that it's almost the middle of a Hot summer day and may be just showing a higher for the day.

Orich

 

Yes same thermostat. Its a fail safe OEM required temp. The weather could have something to do with it. I didn't have the truck last summer so I don't know how it does in summer weather

 

If you have not had the radiator service then I'd give it some thought of having it done.
Rads start slowly plugging up in the lower tank end of the tubes first. Where it can't be seen until tank is removed push rods through one end & out the other cleaning the built up of crap from hard water mostly. Rust & scale build up.

Then you'll know once it cleaned it's not the rad causing it.