If you were asking me if my rig is an auto, c.l.nye, that's affirmative but I have a separate trans cooler.

 

I'm still having a problem, got boiling hot last weekend, about 230-240. It jumped this high within minutes, I was stuck, trying to get out of a hole when i saw it was that high. Shut it off and let it sit. Luckly i didnt do any damage, but WTF?? What now? Ive done it all it seems like and nothing has helped.

 

What does "I was stuck, trying to get out of a hole when i saw it was that high." mean??

John

 

It means I was in the woods, went through a "Mudhole" , almost got stuck and was trying to get out when I overheated...was within about 5 minutes.

 

overheating hummmmm,, Im going to give this a stab>>> first you need to check the thermostat take it out boil some water and see if thermo is opening like it suppose to( many new one will fail right out of the box )should open and close within 2-5 deg of its rating. The second stab >> I would then pull the water pump and replace it with a new one ( had several over the years from advance auto and the likes that went bad within months the impeller spinning on the shaft not at the same speed as motor rpm) The third stab>>> Being the worst case senerio the block might have some rust scale jamming up in the block somewhere slowing down the circulation in parts of the block or thru the head area. Not really known all the minor or major history of this said motor one never knows what has been done with the engine block durning a build I have seen a machinist put that block fill in areas of a block or even in the head to fix a crack etc. This stuff in my book is a big taboo for a street driven motor. Then there is of course the radiator it might not be efficient enought to cool or blocked cores the fan might not be right as in not close to or back enought from rad the shroud plays an important role in cooling if not using a shroud the fan should be within 1/2 from rad surface to ensure a postive air flow thru rad if your using a one (shroud) the fan should not be more that 1/4 - 3/4 in from the front edge of blades to ensure postive air flow thur rad and into the engine area,,, to far in or out would cause a negtive flow. Fourth stab>>> the carb can cause higher engine temps if running too lean even tho it idles great and stays good in temp the higher idle might not draw enought fuel causing a lean condition at higher engine demands. Fifth STAB>>> It might even be possible that there is clearance issues with the engines rotating assemblies causing extra heat build up or tranny issues doing the same (automatic) If this motor has mods done to it it might need to be ideling at 900rpm at idle in gear to run right versus the stock @ 600rpm in gear for automatic and one more STAB>>>> what type of cap are you using on rad 13lbs is mimumn even up to 18 to 20 lbs can and will lower the boiling point of the coolant and I have seen new caps that didnt hold up and failed out of the box. And the very last STAB>>> Are you sure that the sending unit for the coolant temp is working within its rated value or the gauge is reading correct and within value. My advise is to work on the cheapest things first and work from there one at a time until you solve the issue dont do two things at once or you will lose the base line to solving the issue. Im very curious as to this issue with your cooling problem I wish you lived near me Im pretty good at figuring things out like this if Im involved at the start and its in front of me.

Good luck
Tim

 

Thermostat is good, already checked it..Water pump has been replaced with a "high flow", Its a 4-speed tranny, Radiatior is a 4-core, just flushed it. The carb was just rebuilt and tuned, And im not too sure about about the cap, I'll have to look, and the gauge is an aftermarket Sunpro 3 gauge cluster (which I assume is working correctly). Ive also gone trhough and retimed it to 12 BTDC/ I thought that fixed it until last weekend. I just picked up a dual E-Fan setup from a local U-PULL-IT. And you also cought my interest sayin the fan could be the wrong one, it is definatly not the stock one on there now. I was going to copletly remove the Flex-fan and hook these dual E-fans up to come on whenever the ignition is on. Thats about my last option that I can see. Hopefully it works. Thanks for Y'alls help on this

Eric

 

You need to put the fans on a thermo switch so they come on at like 180° to 200°. Otherwise warm up will be extended and beside you will be hurting mpg with the fans running all the time and wear them out early. They aren't necessary when cruising down the highway. Plenty of air flow then.

 

Bear is correct! You'll be putting alot of draw on the alternator/charging system as well. It doesnt hurt to put an extra override switch inside the truck for the fan when your stuck in traffic for long periods too. That aftermarket flex fan might be the problem too there not alway designed for alot of flow and usally a smaller blade area thus less air drawen thru the rad.

 

Tin, it would seem that you had things figured out back on post #48 'perhaps I have overreacted somewhat' . It doesn't sound to me like you have ever had a 'major overheating problem'. Overheating, to me, means when the engine stalls because it is too hot to run or when the coolant is boiling over and spewing out from under the radiator cap. There are lots of folks out there who don't really understand just how you engine is supposed to run. Thousands have been duped into thinking that 'runs cooler' is a good thing. It isn't. Aluminum pistons on a cast iron bore has its lowest coefficient of friction at something close to 225*, but the curve starts flattening at 180*. Running cooler than 180 just isn't a good idea. If your engine gets to 230-240 when its working hard, so what ? If you want to see some heat, sit in a mustang with an FE with the air on idling in traffic...goes up to 245* sometimes. As soon as you start going down the road the temp drops back to whatever the stat calls for. If your engine isn't going up to 285* and puking coolant, you're not overheating. You are worrying yourself for nothing. If you are going down the road 45 mph or faster and still running over 215 or so, then you might have an issue. FWIW, I put a 205 'stat in all of my stuff. DinosaurFan, on work's old 'puter

 

Maybe I am....I just really wouldnt think that running at 230-245 would be very good for it. Like I said, last weekend my gauge was just about buried and I about S hit my pants when I seen it. (It goes up to 250)I am not really to familiar with these FE's, but I'm still going to to hook up these fans since Ive already got em and its nothing but time now.

 

8 guage battery cables? I dont recall ever seeing smaller than 6g wires,usually 4g. temp doesnt seem to be a problem on any of the 3 FE powered fords ive owned,and if it was,i dont think id go with 8G battery cables soaked in motor oil as a solution....and by the way "they were as electrically as perfect as new",have you got proper testing facilities to test this claim,and have you tried different brands/weights of oil,synthetic/conventional? please accept my humble appologies,but i couldnt resist poking a little fun at what seemed to be a little off the orig topic........

 

please either disregard or just laugh along with my post responding to the "battery cable" topic morph,but on your heating issue TheTinian, pulling yourself outta mud isnt exactly a downhill cruise on the expressway,depending on what axle gears your running with 38" tires your engine is likely working pretty hard under normal circumstances. as i can recall being stuck in mud a few times,you are probably back and forth between 1st and reverse a lot,you really arent moving through the air at all,mud has a lot of resistance,if the mud is deep enough your not getting any airflow underneath the truck for cooling,etc,etc. if you already have some cooling problems anyway,be it timing,clogged radiator tubes,whatever,the mudhole just might be the proverbial straw causing the spinal fracture of that famous desert creature.....Red Line has/had a product called "WaterWetter"(i think thats the name) that supposedly allowed coolant to transfer heat more efficiently,if it or another similar product is available,it might at least help.......Bob

 

Well i still was having a big problem. A couple times it got so hot it shut itself off. Really started to worry me that I would really hurt something then. I went to the junkyard and found a dual e-fan set up for $40. Its Mopar but it actaully fits perfect. Hooked it up with a thermo- switch and it works perfect. Also wired a over-ride switch incase I get into some deep water I can shut them off. I think my problem was my with my flex fan. I noticed it wasnt stock, and I think it was too far away from the rad.

Well it is definatly fixed now. I got the fan set to some on about 180, and they shut off about 150. It sat idle for about 55 min and did not get hot.

 

I'm glad you found the answer to your overheat troubles. It drove me absolutely bat-shoot crazy for nearly 2 years till I found the answer to mine. These FEs WILL NOT over heat under load so long as lots of air is going through the radiator and the system is in half-way decent shape. But at idle, when they start having heat issues, it's always the last thing of many that ends up doing it. Congrats!

 

Of course it is always the last thing you try. There would be no point in continuing to troubleshoot a problem you just fixed.