Over heating

F

Fred Hanks

Member
I took my '49 F-1 239 out for its 1st road run yesterday and the temp gauge went all the way up to H... got home & put temp gauge on rad. & got 194 degrees and got 214 degrees 0n heads, water pumps , temp senders .. I have no t-stats...what is my problem??:confused:
 
I am NO expert, nor a mechanic. But 20 some years ago I read that with no t-stats water will tend to go too fast through the radiator to properly cool. Not sure, and I never tested it. Just something to consider.
 
Has the engine been rebuild recently? If so, it might be a little tight. Keep driving it for a while and see if things cool off. In the meantime do a search on 'running hot' or "thermostats" and you will find tons of info. as many folks have their opinions re; radiators, waterpumps. thermostats, ambiant temperatures, cylinder wall thickness, compression, impellers, washers, radiators and radiator hose contraction, sediment in the engine block etc.
 
Just went through this myself. My '35 was demonstrating the same issue after rebuilt engine. Check the obvious you know are pumps working, belts not slipping, I found regardless of criticism that mine ran cooler with no stats. Mine was advanced a bit too much so I retarded the timing a bit. All helped but installing a shroud really worked, get one from Walker, I got one without a fan hole and cut the fan hole myself so it's in the right place that resolved the problem for me.
 
Fred Hanks said:
I took my '49 F-1 239 out for its 1st road run yesterday and the temp gauge went all the way up to H... got home & put temp gauge on rad. & got 194 degrees and got 214 degrees 0n heads, water pumps , temp senders .. I have no t-stats...what is my problem??:confused:
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19Fordy mentioned several key things that could lead to the problem but I wanted to zero-in on the radiator-what shape is it in? A few years ago, my 46 was behaving the same way and after getting the radiator cleaned and fins straightened, it made a world of difference. Hope you are able to resolve the problem. Steve
 
When it is idling, open the rad cap and look in. If you see a lot of bubbles or foaming in there you could have a leaking head gasket or possibly a crack in the block. I have a 8BA engine that did the same thing, head gasket was leaking exhaust gases into the water jacket.
 
The Holley Load-A-Matic was not the best design distributor. If the vacuum canister leaks or the carburetor vacuum line or vacuum control circuit have defects or leakage then it won't work right even if it is timed correctly. This is one of the most overlooked causes of overheating. If you run dual carbs and still have a Load-A-Matic distributor, you need to find a better ignition system.

Old radiators need to be opened up & rodded out to insure flow. There is no other way to detect flow problems. Coolant systems leaks can leak coolant out or air in and neither is good for proper cooling. If you detect any coolant leakage/seepage at all, it can lead to overheating problems.
 
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