engine temp observance

B

bk53

Senior Member
I've got about 150 miles on a fresh built 276. Had been worried about temps in the 206 range (laser checked). Took the truck on a cruise this am at 60 mph for an hour. Temp on guage were high + then began to drop. dropped into normal range and stayed there. I boosted her to 65 and temps hung in normal. I hit 70 for a short bit and temps stayed normal. Got home after an hour and 1/2 and measured 186 on both water necks. woo hoo! I'm sure there is a reason, normal break in etc. but I couldn't be more pleased. I'm starting to fall for this old gal of an f100 all over again, and it ain't just all the curves.

fresh built 276, single 94 on stock manifold, skips pumps, 160degree carpenter thermos, 50/50 coolant, 100degrees ambient temp.

I forgot to mention the new death shimmey at 70. Guess I need to get an alignment and tire balance. The big Bang I heard was my torque wrench bouncing off the seat and hitting the door.

Bill
 
It sounds like the thermostats didn't have water flowing through them and the water in the block got real hot and in time the stats opened. If you checked the temperature on the necks as soon as you stopped driving 186 is starting to get high. If the engine was idling for a few minutes or shut off for a few minutes the temperature would have got hotter. Try it again but jump right out as soon as you stop and check it. The Goose neck temps is all you have to do, this is the outlet temperatures of both sides of the block. The left and right side of the cooling system are not connected in the block the water only mixes in the radiator. You want to check the size flow openings in the stats if they are like all small modern stats they restrict the flow. The best stats for your engine are Robertshaw #330-160, -170 or -180. Robertshaw was sold several a few times and were being made in Mexico last time I heard. They changed materials and quality isn't as good. The originals were all copper and brass with large flow openings that don't restrict the flow in the old Fords. Bob Shewman bought 400 original Robertshaw stats that were military surplus. These were subject to military specs and inspections and packed in separate special boxes. They were spares for trucks. Bob modifies and checks the opening temperature of every one before shipping. He also drills 3 pre flow holes in each which prevents the delayed opening you seemed to have experienced. His stats are 180's and hold all of my engines at 178 to 182 on both sides. He also modifies them to fit in the hoses of 32 to 48 Ford engines. Contact Bob at 1-610-933-6637 or gadgiteer@aol.com G.M.
 
Thanks, That makes sense to me. I've emailed Bob and hopefully will send a little business his way. I've read most of the discussions here on stats and pumps etc. but it didn't dawn on me that the stats weren't opening.

bill
 
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