Over heating. Can't figure this one out.

Sounds like a crack in the block near a valve pocket that is pushing hot exhaust gases into the water jacket. Try filling the radiator almost full - start the engine and watch for bubbles. If you see bubbling, you have a cracked block.
 
With overheating unless it is something pretty obvious like leaking hoses or water pump, I literally begin troubleshooting from the front (aka the radiator) and go from there.
 
That overheating with two different engines sure sounds like the radiator. Good luck with that and let us know!
 
I struggled with overheating for a few years. I finally bought a 4 row radiator from Bert's and my A has never gone over 180 degrees. I live in an area where it is quite common to be 95-100 degrees. An overdrive and a good radiator are the best two things you can do for your A.
 
Ok guys, here we are a week or two later. The radiator has been back flushed professionally, and more than 30% was gained in flow. So, Jayson is going to put it together this weekend and see how it does. I'll keep you informed. Thanks for the help!
 
Seabees said:
Ok guys, here we are a week or two later. The radiator has been back flushed professionally, and more than 30% was gained in flow. So, Jayson is going to put it together this weekend and see how it does. I'll keep you informed. Thanks for the help!
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Can Do!!! I spent 22 year USN RET Seabees BUC.. Nice to have other Model A Seabees out there. any status??
 
'Great that the radiator has cleaned up some. Not to be a Debbie Downer here, but you might not be out of the woods yet because with the colder weather descending upon most of the country, a cooler running engine may mislead you into thinking the overheating problem has been solved. Cold weather will only mask a weak radiator. You might get by with a marginal radiator - even after flushing and cleaning - during cold weather, only to have the problem reoccur when the weather turns hot again. The true test of a cooling system is during hot weather.
In 1973 while living in Arizona, I bought a new radiator from J.C. Whitney, one of the few national Model A parts suppliers at the time. It looked nice, but that &%#$* thing wouldn't cool a Model A engine in January in upper Michigan during a sub-zero cold snap - after sitting outside overnight. It was a two-row job and was basically worthless. Not thinking the overheating problem could possibly be the new radiator, I followed all the usual side-stepping "cures", such adding a new water pump, multi-blade fan, anti-freeze, flushing the block and radiator, advancing the ignition timing slightly, backing off the brake adjustment - everything. Nothing worked until I finally replaced that cheap off-shore crap radiator with a good three-row radiator core. Overheating even in Phoenix during the summer was no longer a problem after that.
The point of that little story is that unless your radiator is top notch and has the full capacity for coolant the engine was designed to need, your life will be miserable with a marginal radiator. I hope the 30% additional capacity restoration will solve your overheating problem and get you by until summertime. But don't be surprised if the old problem rears its ugly head again when the temp's reach the mid-80's and the humidity is up. Both are enemies of the Model A cooling system. I'll keep my fingers (guardedly) crossed for you that the now-cleaned radiator turns out to be o.k. But my luck using "cleaned" radiators has not been good. Once they go bad, most attempts to bring them back from death can be frustrating. Start saving up your pop bottle deposit money over the winter for a new radiator in the spring. :)
Marshall
 
I couldn't agree with Marshall more. I went through with just about everything he mentioned and finally bought and installed a new Berg radiator in my '28 roadster and that ended my problem. It was pricey but well worth it. I believe that the car can sit for hours idling without overheating. Unfortunately his radiators are no longer available but hopefully others are just as good.
 
For those with cooling issues, you might want to get an infra red temperature gun and start reading both sides of the radiator looking for cool spots. More than likely, that's were the tubes could be clogged. If it's running cool due to winter weather, enjoy driving it now and take your time finding the issue. You have until mid spring when the weather starts heating up again.

Regards
Bill

Regards
Bill
 
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