over heats in Texas

1

123finboy

Member
My '58 Skyliner runs cool on even the hottest Texas days as long as I'm moving, but when waiting at a stop light, the temp gauge starts zooming to the right. I've got a 352 FE with a Cruise O Matic and power steering, and can't find a fan shroud that will fit. Concours Parts has a shroud, but it won't fit with power steering. So my plan is to change out the mechanical fan to a six blade and install a pusher electric in front of the radiator, with a manual switch to engage when stuck in traffic. I want to keep a stock look, which is why I don't want to install a puller. Will the pusher restrict enough airflow when the car is moving to cause it to run hot if it's not on? Any other thoughts on this over all plan? Thanks
 
Forget the electric pusher. Remove the four blade original fan, and install one from a car with Air. I bought a fan from a six cylinder Granada with air and used it for years. No more cooling problems.
 
yes I would forget the pusher too.
And I would keep searching for a shroud for the Fan that Ole Don recs.
I use a seven blade flex fan that has always worked well, with a shroud.
 
If you do a search here under Greenbird56, (or over at y-blocksforever) he's given some Hayden part numbers for fan clutches and fans that might be helpful. While I'm a big believer in shrouds and bigger fans, we also solved a similar problem on an OT 56 by adding the electric fan one of us had sitting around. Just enough to cool when stopped, and did not effect cooling while driving. It was sitting around because it didn't work as a stand alone.
 
Well, one thing's for sure; that old 3-blade fan on a '55 y-block is fine for runnin down the highway. But if you get bottlenecked, have to stop for a train or a long traffic light, you can get in trouble real fast. Needle moves to H like lightning on a hot day.
 
When I bought my '57 Skyliner, it came with a modern flex fan on it. It did the same overheating as yours while it was stopped for very long. Even on a cool day it would overheat while stopped. I put the stock 4 blade Ford fan back on and it has never overheated since. That was two years ago.
 
A quick update on what I've done. I did find an after market shroud, but was cautioned against it as it's made of ABS plastic and can deform or even melt at high under hood temps. In south Texas, this is a real risk, so I passed. But I did two other things which have helped: 1.] Installed a pusher fan in front of the radiator with a manual switch under the dash to engage when stuck in traffic, and 2.] Flushed the coolant, and replaced it with a 25% antifreeze and 75% distilled water mix, boosted with WaterWetter. I have freeze protection down to 10 degrees F, and boil over to about 250F with a 15 pound cap. The ten degrees freeze protection is fine down here in south Tx, as it rarely gets below 20F in the winter, and on the coldest days, it's never below freezing in my attached garage where the car is stored in the winter. Any way, this has helped. It runs much cooler than before, as the wetter coolant mix is doing a better job of displacing heat. And I only engage the pusher when stuck in traffic if it's 90F or hotter, which still happens down here in the fall. Thanks for all your advice as it really helped me sort through my options.
 
Anyway you should check and clean your radiator, hoses, heater radiator and so forth.
 
i had a professional flush and pressure test , a new 14 pound cap, new hoses a new thermostat, carb tune, reset timing checking the new timing gear alignment, new largest that would fit, pusher electric fan on my original equipment radiator with after market overflow expansion resevor and couldn't get my 332 to run less than 195 degrees soooooo i added wet water and ran it for a good mix with 50% anti freeze mix> the next day i went out to the garage hoping i might have tried the right thing and all my coolant was a lake on the floor escaped from the core thru lower radiator welds........ i orderd a new 460 dollar radiator and it works wonderful no leaks no excessive heat runs hottest at 182 up hill and idle and looks good too ......... just saying
 
Unclevinny: What radiator did you buy, and did you have any trouble with fan clearance? I'm told that the '58's are unique in that the fan nestles right up to the radiator on the FE's.
 
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