302 Geting overheated

Steve S · May 1, 2009

Hi folks,

I thought you might be able to assist with my latest problem;

I have a 66 2+2 with a ford racing 345HP crate motor, this was instaled about a year ago now and over time i have been ironing out problems here and there.

I am running the old gauge and the old temp sender, tonight i went out for a little drive and the gauge started to read much hotter than usual. Nothing has changed since the last time i went out for a drive.

Any ideas where to start looking, i don't like try and buy.

Thanks for any help in advance.

Steve

Rusty67 · May 1, 2009

One thing you can buy that is a cheap tool to help you diagnose this is one of those IR temperature gauges. They are hand held and you can point them at something to get a temperature reading off of it. I think they sell them at Kragen.

Since everything was working fine and now its not, I would expect that something now not working that was. Check your lower radiator hose to see if it collapsed when the car is running hot. Does it have a spring in it to prevent that ? The thermostat may have gone bad and isn't opening all the way. You can remove it and put it in a pot of boiling water to see if it opens all the way. Your radiator may have a bunch of junk in it, you can try back flushing it to clear it out.

What kind of fan/shroud setup do you have ?

Cobain03 · May 1, 2009

go to northern radiator's website. they had a radiator,shroud,electric fan combo for mine, and its the best investment i've ever made.

2+2GT · May 1, 2009

Taping a digital thermometer to the upper radiator hose is surprisingly accurate, and you probably already have one in the kitchen.

2nd Mustang · May 1, 2009

http://forums.stangnet.com/783908-temperature-gauge-reads-extremely-high-new-302-a.html

Check out free/cheap stuff first such as mentioned before. Check radiator cap, fan belts, hoses, coolant leaks on the ground or heater core area, etc. Just the slightest leak will raise the temperature because of pressure loss.
BTW, this is just my opinion, but the lack of a fan shroud shouldn't cause your temperature to increase after it has been running good. I don't have a shroud on my mild 302, just a flex fan, and it has never overheated past 190 degrees, even with a small radiator leak.

Good luck.

Steve S · May 3, 2009

Thanks folks,

Turns out Rusty67 was on the money, the thermostat was stuck closed, the cap was also cracked a bit so I got a new one of each and she's back to running cool as a cucumber.

Thanks for the input.

Steve

2+2GT · May 3, 2009

The simplest explanation is often the best.

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