Overheating, Part 2

[Old Henry]

I have water only and just got home and goes up the 230 on gauge in 10 minutes idling.
Do you think its safer to boil over with water only,I have a 15 lb cap.
I have been running it few weeks now with water no thermiatats.
Its a new SW electric gauge may be wrong.

You're good to 250 degrees with a 15 lb. pressure cap at your elevation, i.e. you water won't boil out until that temperature, so 230 that you're hitting at idle should not be a worry. But, I wouldn't recommend that pressure for a stock system. You might be OK with your Walker radiator, but I still wonder about water pump seals and some other stock equipment that wasn't made to take that kind of pressure.

 

[G.M.]

I have no expansion tank or recovery system.. A small bottle with the over flow hose going in will show you if your loseing coolant out the over flow which I used when looking for the source of lost coolant years ago. A few of my cars may still have the bottle but I don't ever look at it. My old Fords never get to 200 and run at 180 with gadgiteers 180 stats. The collant stays fill all the time with the radiator filled up to the filler neck. I doubt if there is 1/2" of air in the top tank. Any expansion of coolant is taken up by the small air space and expansion of the LONG 1-3/4" ID radiator hoses. And remember at 180 I don't get that much expansion. Even the few times in heavy traffic on 100 plus days when the coolant got a little over 200 there was no lose of coolant. I did have fuel vapor problems with then new gas under those conditions which I have since fixed. One thing none of you seem to be aware of is the small air bubbles that form in very hot coolant areas. You can see them with a heat gun in the center and rear of the heads. These are bubbles like what you see in a glass tea kettle and contain oxygen. These were discovered in diesel engines and produce small rust holes in the cylinders. A $10,000 plus repair cost and NOT covered by warrantee If a specific additive like Purple Ice or in the case of Fords their M-16. Go to some of the Ford diesel forums and see some problemsand unhappy people. I suspected this to be the case of the hot spots in the flathead and watched the temperatures of the hot spots. Everytime I tested my 33 years ago after 25 minutes it would go to 229 and puke at least a gallon of water. I tested it at least 10 times with the same results everytime. I installed 2 bottles of P.I. and it went to 217 and stopped, sat there about 10 minutes and started slowly comming down to 207. Everytime I ran it after that it would ony go to 207. The P.I. coated the internal metal of the cooling system which allowed the coolant to come in contact with the metal and not be insulated by the bubbles. I could see this take place with the heat gun as the temperature dropped after installing the P.I. I'm sure there were other hot areas I didn't see with the heat gun. That being to hot for me we developed an improved impeller that moved 92 gallons in 5 minutes on a water pump test machine compaired to a stock impellers 55 gallons. This pump was put on the right head and that side of the engine came down to 180 and the left stayed at 207. Since both sides of the block are independent of each other this was the results. We then put the pump with improved impeller on the left side and it came down to 180 and the right went back up to 207. This was the start of Skips high volume pumps. I know this is repetitive but some "guessperts" don't get how these engines function and are misleading. Problems need to be systematicly tested one area or part at a time to find and correct a problem. Thowing new expensive parts like new radiators on will help improve cooling some but not fix the real problem. If you have a resonably good looking radiator, good flow of coolant, good air flow through the radiator, a WORKING 4 lb pressure cap or Skips 3 lb valve on radiators with the over flow comming off the tank, P.I., a good sealing cap and NO compression leaks and the system rinced with strong cleaners these engines will all run in the 170-180 range driving at 25 to 60 MPH on a 90 degree day. Idle and stop and go traffic on hot days is another problem due to poor air flow from the poorly designed fans, if the temperature starts to rise you need to get moving. Skip has provided 3 or 4 thousand old Ford owners with his high volume pumps and I would say 99% saw a 20 to 30 degree cooling improvement if they followed his instructions or called him if they still had a problems. G.M.

 

[Flat Ernie]

You're good to 250 degrees with a 15 lb. pressure cap at your elevation, i.e. you water won't boil out until that temperature, so 230 that you're hitting at idle should not be a worry. But, I wouldn't recommend that pressure for a stock system. You might be OK with your Walker radiator, but I still wonder about water pump seals and some other stock equipment that wasn't made to take that kind of pressure.

If you're hitting 230 or 250, something is seriously wrong. It's not about keeping the water in at elevated temperatures (ie - pressure caps to 230*), it's about keeping the temperature normal (180-200).