65 stang running hot

Rorschach · Nov 1, 2008

I've had overheating problems since I got my 65 Stang. Has a '71 302 in it, and about 4 radiators over the last year. For the first 4 months or so the car runs great and it never gets about 210, thenafter that it will start to raise up to 220, and if I hit a few red lights in a row it will go to 240. It has an electric fan, water pump doesn't leak, but it gets old having to take it down to the shop for them to put in a new radiator every time. Do you have any ideas of something other than the radiator? Or any suggestions about new modern technology that might be better suited for it? I live in Arizona so in the summer it gets in the 110's, so I can't afford to keep it the way it is.

RUSTYNUT · Nov 1, 2008

I bet you already checked the thermostat, anti- freeze and radiator cap, the basic stuff. If it were my car, I would put the largest radiator and fan I could fit. Then I would you have a fan shroud to force the air through and not around the radiator. You do have it set up bring air into the engine compartment and not out. Sitting at a light in the summer you could be still suckinging in 140 degree air off the black top. It's going take a lot of radiator and air to keep it cool. One other thought is your fan thermostat maybe set to high to keep it cool. I think I would want to have it kick in at about 190 degrees.

RagHead · Nov 1, 2008

Do a chemcial flush of the entire cooling system. Sounds like when you put in a new radiator it runs great until whatever slug buildup in the engine makes it to the radiator and start plugging it up.

mcclelland21 · Nov 1, 2008

Have you thought of putting in a gano filter??? It will prevent you from having to replace the radiator and you can see if there is junk in the coolant system. I would first flush the system as mentioned above and make sure your rad is not plugged. Here is a pick of it installed in my upper rad hose.

<a href="http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/mcclelland21/?action=view&current=enginecompartment_.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/mcclelland21/enginecompartment_.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Hg80Design · Nov 3, 2008

I went through the same thing. I have a 65 Coupe with a 71' 302 in it. I could not keep it cool for anything, at a stop light or idle I would spike upwards of 220 to 230. I checked everything from top to bottom flushed the system nothing worked. I ended up replacing most of cooling system, with all new components.

Installed a Flexalite fan with a fitted shroud from Dallas Mustang not the factory one, Edelrock waterpump and Intake Manifold, all new hoses, and 180 thermostat and housing. Even with this I was running upwards of 220 at a stoplight.

In the end I broke down and put on a Northern aluminum radiator from summit. Fixed my problem right up. I can drive all around and idle at a stoplight and don't break 190.

68dustin · Nov 3, 2008

when i first got my 68 it started overheating right away...
-i changed the radiator to a 4 core (didnt fix it)
-high vol. water pump (didnt fix it)
-160 thermo (didnt fix it)
-flex fan (didnt fix it)
so i was out of ideas, then one day my motor mount broke and sent my fan into my radiator. i went down and bought a 2 core aftermarket aluminum radiator and my car wouldnt get over 190. i later bought a ford taurs electric fan out of the junk yard with an aftermarket adjustable theromstat. Now my car temp is in my control, on a 110 day my car will run at 160 if i want.
** if you dont go with an aluminum radiator -fan shrouds are a key with cooling**

mcclelland21 · Nov 3, 2008

Hg80Design said:
I went through the same thing. I have a 65 Coupe with a 71' 302 in it. I could not keep it cool for anything, at a stop light or idle I would spike upwards of 220 to 230. I checked everything from top to bottom flushed the system nothing worked. I ended up replacing most of cooling system, with all new components.

Installed a Flexalite fan with a fitted shroud from Dallas Mustang not the factory one, Edelrock waterpump and Intake Manifold, all new hoses, and 180 thermostat and housing. Even with this I was running upwards of 220 at a stoplight.

In the end I broke down and put on a Northern aluminum radiator from summit. Fixed my problem right up. I can drive all around and idle at a stoplight and don't break 190.

2 core (1") high flow Northern aluminum rad is the way to go with a flexalite electric fan.

65 stang running hot

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