Yes pressure is normal. It honestly sounds to me that either your radiator is just too small, or you have a faulty water pump.

 

The radiator is an aftermarket 3 core aluminum and bigger than the stock one. Still possible? I really hope it's he water pump... how can I check that

 

still cant figure it out. overheats after 15-25 miles sometimes. as soon as i pull it in the driveway i yank the cap off with a glove get a puff of steam and itll cool down back to 180 pretty quickly and it'll stay there even if im holding the throttle down. im not sure if the cap is bad. i got a napa block tester today and i have no combustion gases in the coolant system. im at a loss someone please help. im in the decatur area of georgia i had to take today off because i cant go to far and im about to start a new job. need to get this figured out sooner than later.

 

If you only get a puff of steam, you don't have enough coolant or its not actually overheating. It should be blasting coolant out when you take the cap off if its overheating.

 

I agree with Lead Head.

If the cap we're bad, that can cause an overheat situation. That's why I only replace my parts with Motorcraft cap and t-stat's.

Need to find out what pump was sold to you. If it's the wrong rotation, the engine is gonna overheat. Hopefully you have looked up the pump that was sold to you and confirmed if it was or not.

And good deal on checking the coolant for bad or blown head.

 

After it overheated again today I brought it in to work. We flushed the system and then pulled vaccum throughout the system. Held pressure then refilled the system to the top. Hasn't overheated yet. I'll know tomorrow after work and report back. But yea. Part number was the same on the one I took off as the one I put on

 

put a overflow bottle on it.

 

Wooooooo guys and gals. It was a massive massive air pocket cause I drove it home on the hey today with ac on most of the way and nothing. So as many times as I "bleed" the system doing it with the vaccum Pino was flawless. I have a misfire now but as for the overheating as of now it's kaput thanks all for your help

 

Is your radiator cap lower than the top of the upper hose or thermostat housing?

 

An overheated motor is Bad stuff, among other things it can also ruin a good thermostat. Use a good Motorcraft, lots of junk thermostats on the shelves these days. Bend up a coil spring out of coat hanger or something like that if you have to, to install in the lower radiator hose too.

 

I've been having overheating issues too and so far I've checked for blockages everywhere and flushed everything, replaced the cap and thermostat, and the guy i bought the truck off of said the motor was rebuilt and the water pump is new, who knows if he is telling the truth, the fan is spinning the right way, and I'm positive I got all of the air out of the system but I'm worried it possibly has the wrong water pump on it now from what you guys have been saying to the original poster. Is there a way to tell visually which rotation pump is on it without removing the pump to look at the impeller?

 

Do a search (google, what ever) for "reverse rotation SBF water pump image"

You'll get plenty pictures & diagrams plus differences from outside regarding timing cover clues.

 

What pump should be on an 89 f250 351? Standard or reverse rotation?

 

As far as I know, serpentine belt is going to be reverse.

Not serpentine or more than one belt, I can't say.

You should be able to compare the timing cover images to decide what you have.

 

According to rock auto, both your 89 and my 97 351s take a Motorcraft PW254 waterpump, which both should be reverse rotation since they are EFI motors.


Is it possible the builder swapped to an incorrect front cover not for use on an EFI motor, I don't even know if it would bolt up...