Overheating and fed up....

philipswanson said:
I suspect that new radiator. You say larger tubes, not necessarily good. How many rows? You need 4. Aluminum or brass? Brass cools better. And clean out that block! Hot just in town or on the road too?

Phil Swanson
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Phil, It overheated with the old radiator also. It's brass similar to the old style. I plan on cleaning out the block. I did flush out the block before the new radiator went in as well as you can. It gets hot where ever I drive it....
 
weemark said:
mike that's not so good to hear about your issues. ive never seen that crud on a water pump like that before. I wouldn't think the casting sand is your issue, I would say it was the crud on the water pumps which ha caused them to move/pump only a small amount of water. sand has been there now for 81 years and never caused any issues previously, now you know about it, its best to get it out though. I would think you will need to get the block out and spend a bit of time with a screwdriver loosening it as you wash it out.
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Hi Mark, How are things? The No Rosin is supposed to prevent corrosion on pumping systems. The sand is now like a sandy rusty mud. Maybe I caused it when I ran Vinegar through the system? I'll have to get it out though. I'm going to try and flush it out but if not successful, I'll just pull the engine. Hope all is well....
 
JSeery said:
The sand had to come from somewhere! It is either getting added to the cooling system somehow or something is causing the original casting to come loose and move about. Almost everyone that takes to time to clean the blocks out (they have a ton of sand and wire in there!) claim much fewer cooling issues. The only other thing I can think of is something is going on with the coolant that just appears to be "sandy". But if it is truly fine sand, casting sand could sure be the source.
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J, I think the original sand is coming loose. It's like beach sand which I think is like casting sand. I'm going to do what ever it takes to get it out so I can enjoy driving the old car without worrying every time I'm stopped at a red light...:o
 
Several years ago when I had to replaced the heads on my '34 I decided to clean out the block as best as I could without removing the engine from the car. With the heads off I scraped the water passages as best as I could with various lengths and thickness of stiff wire like coat hangers. I used various flat tipped screwdrivers as well. I then used extreme high pressure compressed air to blow out every orifice in the block that I could see. I was amazed at the amount of sand and debris that was blown out of that block! After the job was done and having the car out on the road for several months I found that I had to add thermostats for the first time ever because the running temperatures would never get over 140 degrees. I installed a pair of 160 stats and the car has never run better....
 
Wow! What crap. You will have to keep your eye on that in the future.. That may not be the last you will see of that. May have to be run and cleaned out several more times.
 
petehoovie said:
Several years ago when I had to replaced the heads on my '34 I decided to clean out the block as best as I could without removing the engine from the car. With the heads off I scraped the water passages as best as I could with various lengths and thickness of stiff wire like coat hangers. I used various flat tipped screwdrivers as well. I then used extreme high pressure compressed air to blow out every orifice in the block that I could see. I was amazed at the amount of sand and debris that was blown out of that block! After the job was done and having the car out on the road for several months I found that I had to add thermostats for the first time ever because the running temperatures would never get over 140 degrees. I installed a pair of 160 stats and the car has never run better....
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That's what I'm hoping for Pete! I'm going to let it dry up a bit and use a shop vac. with small tubing connected to the nozzle and then give it a good rinsing.....
 
You can also blow out some of it with an extended air nozzle. BUT be aware it will blow a cloud of junk everywhere!!!
 
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Mike, I use both the shop vac method with a rubber hose, and then used a pressure washer with out the sprayer tip on it. Just used the sprayer tube and was able to get a ton of crudola out of it. Also with the heads on, and no thermostat, used a high pressure down the housing and into the block in an effort to wash it out as well.
If you need radiator work, Rick's out in Azusa does excellent work, and knows old Fords.
693 E Arrow Hwy
Azusa, CA 91702
Do you go to the cruise in at Dukes on Wednesday's
 
wga said:
Mike, I use both the shop vac method with a rubber hose, and then used a pressure washer with out the sprayer tip on it. Just used the sprayer tube and was able to get a ton of crudola out of it. Also with the heads on, and no thermostat, used a high pressure down the housing and into the block in an effort to wash it out as well.
If you need radiator work, Rick's out in Azusa does excellent work, and knows old Fords.
693 E Arrow Hwy
Azusa, CA 91702
Do you go to the cruise in at Dukes on Wednesday's
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That's my plan. I had the radiator done at Tom's in Orange. He did a very nice job. I haven't been to Dukes but live 5 minutes away....
 
I just had the heads off a 59AB engine. Lots of rust in the passages, I used a long 1/4" aluminum pipe on the end of an air nozzle to blow out all the crud. It took some time to get it all. The engine runs a lot cooler now.
 
Sal said:
I just had the heads off a 59AB engine. Lots of rust in the passages, I used a long 1/4" aluminum pipe on the end of an air nozzle to blow out all the crud. It took some time to get it all. The engine runs a lot cooler now.
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I think mine will do the same Sal......
 
Mike, it seems you have done all the things to make it run cool. I don't know how to sure; but can't you do a "LEAK DOWN TEST". I believe by brazing/welding a shadrer valve onto a spark plug, so you can blow air into a cylinder. Fill one cylinder at a time to about 90#. Then watch it if holds pressure for a length of time. This hopefully would show which cylinder has a bad head gasket, crack, ??? Maybe other Fordbarners can share info how to do a leakdown test. Any how, I share your frustration. Hard to truly enjoy your car/hobby with it not running correct. Good luck.
 
Thanks guys for all the suggestions and advice. I appreciate all comments. I 'll post photos of what comes out. I'm hoping this is the problem. I'm letting it dry out and will probably get to it in a week or so......wish me luck!
 
OK....got this out of one side....
 

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Wow! That's a lot of crap; getting it out of there should help a lot. About the crack, I'm not so sanguine. I used to run 'em like that in the '60's with no problems, but these days? Good luck to you!

I ran a '52 Ford for several years that had cracks like that in 7 of the 16 valve pockets without a problem. I think I was really lucky.
 
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