Overheating

F

Fred Hanks

Member
I just spent the last 2 days trying to get my '49 8ba in my F-1 to run cooler, I tried everything u folks said to do .... I treated w/evaporust and it came out nice and clean, I installed new 160* stats, I replaced the fan w/ the stock 4 blade truck fan, the belts r to spec 1/2'' deflection. filled w/50/50 anti freeze and new 4# rad cap... Fired her up and took off down the road temp went up to the 3/4 mark on the gauge and stayed there, the temp outside is 88*, I ran 50 /65 mph.. Got home and put the infra-red thermo on it @ temp senders 213* @ water pumps 196*,inlets & outlets 193*!! oh yes the rad was boiled and is good cond...
Any ideas as to WHATS NEXT
 
you have coolant going into radiator at 196 and coming out into waterpumps at 193??....sounds like your radiator isn't cooling down your coolant as it should.....good luck....Mike
 
You need to make sure that your vacuum canister on the distributor is working. If it is not the timing will not advance properly and will cause overheating. Disconnect the line and use a vacuum pump to see if the breaker plate rotates.
 
I don't think your timing should be 3 degrees advanced I have a 1950 and the timing is to be at 0 degrees make sure when you set it to disc. the advance line to be sure of your mark
 
I agree that boiling out the rad may not be good enough, unless the cores are open and clean enough to let the solution flow all the way thru them it will do no good, rodding is the only way to really clean rad cores, if it was mine I would spend the money and have the rad rodded, if that doesn't cure your problem you have a more serious problem
 
There is no substitute for a new radiator. Having said that it is also important the mechanical tuning and function be correct as suggested by several above.

In this case I would be suspicious of combustion gas entering the cooling system.
 
Take your thermometer and point it at different parts of the radiator and see if it has hot/cold spots.

Another cause of overheating is exhaust getting into the cooling system through cracks in the block. Usually the cracks go both ways, meaning that coolant will also get into the exhaust. You can get one of those kits and test the coolant for hydrocarbons and you can also look through the rad inlet for bubbling while revving the engine.
 
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Fred Hanks said:
I just spent the last 2 days trying to get my '49 8ba in my F-1 to run cooler, I tried everything u folks said to do .... I treated w/evaporust and it came out nice and clean, I installed new 160* stats, I replaced the fan w/ the stock 4 blade truck fan, the belts r to spec 1/2'' deflection. filled w/50/50 anti freeze and new 4# rad cap... Fired her up and took off down the road temp went up to the 3/4 mark on the gauge and stayed there, the temp outside is 88*, I ran 50 /65 mph.. Got home and put the infra-red thermo on it @ temp senders 213* @ water pumps 196*,inlets & outlets 193*!! oh yes the rad was boiled and is good cond...
Any ideas as to WHATS NEXT
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First of all take the thermostats out. Make sure the 4lb cap is seating down on the seat at the bottom of the radiator. Most don't seat and you don't have a working pressure cap. I find most need a rubber washer down on the seat in the bottom of the filler neck. Put a large house type fan against the front of the grill. With the cap off start the engine and as it warms up top off the coolant so it is up in the filler neck and put the cap on. Run the engine at about a speed of 20 MPH. Check the temperature at the goose necks on the heads every 5 minutes for a 1/2 hour writing down the temperatures. This is the only important temperature I'm interested in at this time. G.M.
 
Fred Hanks said:
I just spent the last 2 days trying to get my '49 8ba in my F-1 to run cooler, I tried everything u folks said to do .... I treated w/evaporust and it came out nice and clean, I installed new 160* stats, I replaced the fan w/ the stock 4 blade truck fan, the belts r to spec 1/2'' deflection. filled w/50/50 anti freeze and new 4# rad cap... Fired her up and took off down the road temp went up to the 3/4 mark on the gauge and stayed there, the temp outside is 88*, I ran 50 /65 mph.. Got home and put the infra-red thermo on it @ temp senders 213* @ water pumps 196*,inlets & outlets 193*!! oh yes the rad was boiled and is good cond...
Any ideas as to WHATS NEXT
Click to expand...

Those readings of engine block, head, and pump temperatures are not as important as the temperature of the water inside all of that. The water's going to boil out way before any of the metal melts down.

If you don't have a mechanical temperature gauge the best reading of the temperature of the water inside of all of those hot metal surfaces is the top of the radiator as the water just comes out of the engine block before it goes through the radiator to cool. That reading will most accurately tell the temperature of the water which is really all there is to be concerned about.

I got so concerned about the water temperature I installed a mechanical temperature gauge in place of the electric gauge sending unit on the left head (left that unit out since the right one really runs the gauge) and hid it in my glove box. Very simple installation and now I always know the true water temperature. Details here: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88541
 
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Just for a reference point, here is a copy of a post I made on the Ford V8 site a while ago :

"Today I had the occasion to move my stock '51 around readying my shop for conversion to a winter storage facility. Just as a test, I let the old girl sit and idle with the heater off for 20 minutes. I then shot several areas of the engine with my infrared heat gun. I recorded the results. I then turned on the heater and let it run another 10 minutes. The results were as follow :



  • Top of Radiator, Bottom of radiator, Front of Driver's Head, Back of driver's head, Front of other head Back of other head

    Heater Off 175 157 173 175 182 174
    Heater On 175 174 176 177 184 184

My engine has 180 thermostats and the only engine work I have performed on it since I got it in 1987 was to recore the radiator. I have never had any kind of overheating problems with this car.

This was not at all a rigidly controlled experiment, but I really tried to be consistant. For example, I tried to shoot both heads right between the 2 bolts in the middle on each end."

I think the interesting thing here is that I had an 18 degree drop through the radiator (without the heater), while you got 3 degrees. I have to agree with the guys that suggest the radiator may need attention (unless you had the heater on).
 
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Has anyone mention a bad thermometer? My nephew got one to show how cool is model A was running it showed 160 and it was boiling. John
 
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