1955 ford with a 302 engine

Hello guys and thanks for your help.The new water pump is a clockwise rotation type which is what is called for in this 68 302. The bottom Rad.hose is new and it has a spring in it.The water is circulating cause the heater and top Rad.hose are getting hot.The bottom rad.hose was blowing off the radiator after I shut the engine off but now that I have a new radiator,its not blowing anymore.Yesterday,I bought a Lisle 75500 Block tester ( Compression leak detector) and I am going to run a test this morning.I hope the chemical liquid does not change color cause if it does,Houston,we have a problem! I'll post later this morning on the results. If the test comes out ok ( chemical test does not change color,than the only other thing that is left to do is to put a spacer on the fan to bring it within an inch of the Rad.and also order a shroud for it.After this,I'm out of ideas. Talk to you later this am.
Mando
 
Did you "shave" (true the head to block surface) while it was apart? I had a 390 once that this was the problem on, albeit unusual. Pull each spark plug individually and put air pressure to the cylinder with the radiator cap removed. Listen for the air to gurgle back through the radiator. Mine was so bad that it shot water to the ceiling of the shop. I would not expect yours to do this because yours is taking some run time before it heats up. But you will be able to detect if this is a problem.
 
reman said:
Pull each spark plug individually and put air pressure to the cylinder with the radiator cap removed. Listen for the air to gurgle back through the radiator. Mine was so bad that it shot water to the ceiling of the shop.
Click to expand...


...hmmpf... ;)


That is quicker than a coolant system pressure check (cold & hot).
 
I had trouble posting this morning .Anyway,I was away from my computer cause my sister came in from out of state to visit me.Had a great time. Ok,getting back to work on my 302 overheating engine.I had bought a Lisle 75500 leak detector kit to check and see if the engine might have a bad head or bad gaskets.I tried the test this morning but could not get results cause as soon as the engine warms up,coolant starts to spill out of the radiator.I had drained quite a bit of coolant as required to do the test but still spilled out.The test info says to make sure that no coolant goes in the test tube cause mixing the coolant with the test chemical will not get true results.
Therefore,I was not able to perform the test. I also removed all the spark plugs and performed a compression test on each cylinder.6 cylinders had 140lbs and 2 had 135 lbs.I think this is sufficient compression for this engine.I checked the oil and its nice and clean,not a milky color like when there is water in the oil.The tailpipes are not putting out any white smoke at all. When I put the rad.cap back on and than run the engine for a bout 10 minutes,temp.goes to 210 so than I shut the engine off and when I do that,there is no coolant spill from anywhere,not even coming out of the overflow hose.This is really getting ridiculous.What other test can I do to check for a bad head gasket? The engine runs nice and smooth,not a misfire at all.I am running out of ideas with this problem. What do you guys think I should do next.
Don't tell me to take it to the junk yard cause I already have quite a bit of money invested in this baby.Thanks to all for your help.
Mando
 
You did say this ran fine for a shot time after rebuilding? How far was it driven after overhaul?
 
We overhauled this engine about 15 years ago.It was running great and drove it for about 2500 miles with no problem at all.I than had to park it because I got really busy while running my brothers business. I would start it up like once a month just to keep the engine oiled and ready to go.I started driving it again when I retired in 2015 and it was doing good. I had been driving it around this county and had no problems until the bottom radiator hose came off the rad.I think that was because of the old radiator,it was plugged up pretty bad. Even after replacing the radiator,water pump,thermostat .thermostat housing,and both hoses,temp.still goes to 210 degrees while idling.I have a infra-red temp.gun and it also shows the temp.at different areas to be 205 degrees.Thanks for your reply.
 
When it blew the hose off might have been from older parts and excessive pressure but I have to wonder if something mechanical failed. May be internal collapse of muffler, mouse nest. Can you use infrared to check exhaust temp from side to side or crossover temp?
 
I do have a temp.gun and I will run a test on the exhaust in the morning. Will let you know tomorrow.Thanks for your suggestion.
 
Ok guys,I have the overheating problem solved.Eventhough I had already bled the coolant system off,I decided to remove the temp.gauge capillary tube from the intake manifold to see if I could see any air coming out of the intake.As I removed the tube,I heard this loud rush of air coming out of the intake.So,I guess I did had not done a good job of bleeding the system before.I put the tube back in the intake and than topped off the coolant in the radiator and tried again.I ran it here at the house for about 20 minutes and the gauge never went over 190 degrees.
That was the problem,needed to be burped some more.Just for safety I went ahead and put a fan spacer to get it within 1 inch from the Radiator.
I took it for a drive this morning and was doing ok for about 5 miles and than the engine shut off again,like it used to.I can wait 15 minutes and it will start up again and will drive for a couple of miles and than shut off.It drives nice but shuts off.
I have a new fuel pump,new fuel filter,new fuel hoses and isolated the fuel line that comes off the pump to the carb. The main line from the pump to the tank is all metal and its not close to any heat.I still think its vapor lock.The only thing I have not replaced is the carb. I might try a phenolic spacer on the carb. and see if that helps.
At least I have one problem solved.Thanks guys for all the tips and suggestions that you all gave me on the overheating problem.
If the fuel in the carb.is boiling and thus causing vapor lock,is it a fault within the carb. or too much heat from the intake? Just wondering.Thanks.
 
I ran quickly thru this post, but not in detail. Every vapor lock problem I’ve had started with missing, catching, and running out of power. Every “just quits” cools and restarts has been either a coil, ballast resistor, or ignition module. Heat causing an open condition of some sort.
 
My 302 still uses the old type distributer that has points, no ignition module at all. I do have a new coil and a new condenser.I have not changed out the ballast resistor.
I think before I order the carb.spacer,I will replace the ballast resistor and see if that's the problem.Do you think that If I put a heat gun up to the resistor,it might break down and show its true colors (shut the engine off)? Thanks for your quick reply Mike R.
 
There’s a lot of problems reported with new condensers, and some about the new coils. Offshore production, poor QC. I’d put the old condenser back in and go for a drive, and maybe take a back up coil. Be nice to change out 1 part and solve the problem, then you’d know.
 
PP..............I went thru 4 NAPA coils and finally got one that wouldnt fail with heat. Just saying new anymore doesnt mean good from offshore!!
 
miker98038 said:
4 in a row? Guess along with the old condenser, you’d better take an old coil for sure.
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About drove me nuts for sure trying to find why car would die and restart after cooling off for 20 minutes or so ! NAPA dealer said he was giving me their best Chinese coil.........told him they dont make a "best" coil for sure.
 
Ok guys,thanks for the good advice.I will put in the old condenser and see what happens. Will let you know. By the way,where can I get a diagram of the electrical wiring going to the ignition switch.I would like to trace all the wiring in that circuit and see if there is anything there that may raise a flag.Also,do any of you know the resistance value of the ballast resistor that is used in the 302 engine?
 
Here's a link to a '57 wiring diagram that should be good for looking at oem Ignition switch wiring...
http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/tOCMP/wiring/5765wiring diagrams/Ford/MWire5765-195.jpg

A '55 ignition switch is pretty basic.
There's a terminal for Battery power input.
An IGN terminal with 2 wires on it: a red/green wire for the ballast resistor & coil, the other wire to power the Oil & Gen lights in the dash.
And an Accessory terminal for most everything else except the parking and headlights.
The center Start terminal has one red/blue wire that goes thru the neutral safety switch if the car has an auto trans, to the 'S' terminal of the starter solenoid.

I've got a few spare ballast resistors on the shelf I can measure if you want the actual resistance in Ohms, but if the voltage to the ign coil thru the resistor you have is approx 7v to 8v it's 'normal'.
 

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Thanks a lot dmsfrr for your help here.This is really going to help me tomorrow when I check all the wiring on the back of the ign.switch. I'm going to check the voltage drop after the ballast resistor to make sure I am getting only the 7 to 8 volts that you mention. So I guess the reason for dropping the voltage from 12v to 7 or 8 is to protect the points from burning premature,right? Or,is it because the coil is not actually a 12v coil. Just wondering and wanting to learn from the Pros.
 
poolplayer1 said:
. . . So I guess the reason for dropping the voltage from 12v to 7 or 8 is to protect the points from burning premature,right? Or,is it because the coil is not actually a 12v coil. Just wondering . . .
Click to expand...
You are correct on both counts.

As ignition systems progressed ballast resistors were replaced with a piece of 'resistor wire'.
Newer '12v' ignition coils were made with internal resistors and external resistors were eliminated.
And a fair amount of confusion as individual vehicle manufacturers did different things at different times. The few 70's Fords I owned used a resistor wire, not sure when all that changed.

"12v" ignition coils can be marked 'Use with external resistor' and others are labeled 'Internal Resistor'.
You wouldn't use an internal resistor ignition coil on a car with an external resistor in the ignition wiring, the voltage to the coil would be too low to create a good spark.

.
 
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