OVERHEATING!! I did 2 mods today, which one did it?

[84convertablegt]

OK, today it was a nice day outside so i completed a few projects. I replaced my crank and water pump pulleys with aluminum march pieces and also replaced my Pertronix Ignitor and added the Flamethrower coil.. i started the car and let it idle. i was preparing to check the timing when all of a sudden my whole "freshly detailed" engine compartment got a blast of 220' rusty water. The darn car was seriously overheating and its never ever broke 180' degrees before today. so it was one of the 2 things... ive thought it out and lets see if you guys and gals concur. I cant see how the pertronix and flame thrower would cause overheating, but i guess u never know, my guess is that the new pulleys (ebay used) are under drives and 2 things, belt is slipping without really knowing it and water pump is turning too slow. i can only imagine that the pulleys must be causing this problem. help, i may just have to put the stockers back on there, which would suck, but i hate overheating more.

 

[bnickel]

definitely the pulleys, unless you seriously retarded the timing when you installed the pertronix.

 

[mxmattd]

see if you can turn the pulley by hand, this might tell you if the belt is slipping

 

[golf4283]

Yea I would say that the overheating is caused by the belt slipping and not running through the engine very well.

 

[Jester67]

definitely the pulleys, unless you seriously retarded the timing when you installed the pertronix.

What he said.

 

[12sec67]

the pulley set makes the alternator and the waterpump spin slower. the only part of the pulley kit that is absolutly needed is the crank pulley. the waterpump and the alternator pulley is to take up the slack of the extra belt.

 

[84convertablegt]

well i was tired last night so i parked her and went to bed, but ill go back out there today and put the old pulleys back on. Im sure that will fix it. also, i dont see how retarding the timing will make and engine overheat, i thought over advancing is what caused it to overheat?

 

[gjz30075]

Yeah, certainly the pulleys but when you said 'rusty water', I'd consider a flush job. You might have been borderline before and any small change that might hamper cooling would put it over the top.

 

[Rollinns]

Did you use a timing light to reset the timing after the Ignitor install?
It may be a combo of the rusty antifreeze, the pulleys and incorrect timing.

 

[Tubo(2-bo)]

The stock size radiator is notorious, for being insufficent to handle cooling of a V-8. Add any performance goodies, slower pump speed and it'll really overheat. Origionality is probably not a comcern, so now is a good opportunity to up grade to a higher efficency aluminum cross flow radiator. Avaliable from many sources including AFCO, Summit Racing, JEGS, Northern Aluminum Radiators. Prices from $175 up. Problem solved!!

 

[unluckyengineer]

OR even do the electric conversion on top of the new radiator.. then problem should really be solved and you get some more horsepower and it looks sicker.. I am assuming that is what you want because you got the whole chromed out thing trying to work for you..

 

[84convertablegt]

yeah, actually i already added the electric fans, i am starting to think with the newer performance upgrades to this motor that the cooling system just isnt up to par. i put the stock pulleys back on and it helped out a lot, but it still boiled over a bit at only 210 degrees. ive decided to upgrade to an aluminum radiator and a matching electric fan and shroud.... i need recommendations now, proven things, i want to go way overboard here, i never want to have a overheating problem again. pretend im cooling a 460 big block. so post away about your aluminum radiators and where to get them and for how much. ive found a few but they are like 1 thousand dollars and thats a little too out of range. im looking for a radiator and fan combo for around 500 or less. thanks!

 

[84convertablegt]

its kinda weird that the water is rusty too considering its a brand new motor. makes me wonder if they didnt recycle the coolant after the rebuild

 

[bnickel]

i'd start by having your current radiator cleaned and rodded. if the coolant is rusty they probably just used straight water. try flushing the block, upgrading to a hi-flow water pump like a flow-kooler, if you're running electric fans you may also need to upgrade your alternator/charging system. personally i would use a good 7 blade clutch fan and a shroud and use the electric fan as an auxillary pusher fan. also change your thermostat to a high flow unit, not just a standard parts store unit. another thing is to make sure your lower radiator hose isn't collapsing, make sure it has the spring in it, if it doesn't have the spring get a new one that does. i'd do the cheaper stuff first before you go spending a bunch of money on an aluminum radiator that may or may not fix your problem. if you do all of the above and it still runs hot then swap to the aluminum radiator. the idea is to make the entire cooling system as efficient as possible before spending the big bucks, even with the aluminum radiator i'd still recommend all of the above

 

[84convertablegt]

hummm, good points, but i still want an aluminum radiator. theres no comparison really between brass and aluminum. its gonna be a hot summer, and peace of mind it worth $$$$ to me

 

[84convertablegt]

OK, good news! I tried some of the ideas posted on here. I skipped the aluminum radiator for now and went ahead and replaced the fan with a Perma Cool 16" super high velocity electric fan that pulls 2950 cfm of air. I also upgraded to a High Flow balanced Mr. Gasket 180' thermostat. I flushed the entire cooling system, added all new 15% coolant 85% water with a bottle of Royal Purple super cooler additive. I added a recirculating reservoir that holds a pint, and finally just for looks changed to the SVO chrome water outlet and a 16lb. chrome Jegs radiator cap. Took it for a long drive, its 85 degrees out today, and the gauge never moved past 180, except once it went to 190 when i was playing around alot. I was so happy, i think ive taken care of my cooling problems. also, i put on a timing tape on the balancer (nice) and the timing is set at 10'. Ran great! Thanks again for all the help!

 

[bnickel]

OK, good news! I tried some of the ideas posted on here. I skipped the aluminum radiator for now and went ahead and replaced the fan with a Perma Cool 16" super high velocity electric fan that pulls 2950 cfm of air. I also upgraded to a High Flow balanced Mr. Gasket 180' thermostat. I flushed the entire cooling system, added all new 15% coolant 85% water with a bottle of Royal Purple super cooler additive. I added a recirculating reservoir that holds a pint, and finally just for looks changed to the SVO chrome water outlet and a 16lb. chrome Jegs radiator cap. Took it for a long drive, its 85 degrees out today, and the gauge never moved past 180, except once it went to 190 when i was playing around alot. I was so happy, i think ive taken care of my cooling problems. also, i put on a timing tape on the balancer (nice) and the timing is set at 10'. Ran great! Thanks again for all the help!

you could easily bump the timing up another 2-4 degrees and get even better power out of it, shouldn't effect the cooling either as long as it doesn't detonate

 

[D.Hearne]

Better get ready for another overheating episode after installing that chrome T-Stat housing. The only thing those are good for is leaks. Watch your coolant level everytime you start it. Chrome, coolant additiives, and antifreeze just don't work well together.

 

[84convertablegt]

Better get ready for another overheating episode after installing that chrome T-Stat housing. The only thing those are good for is leaks. Watch your coolant level everytime you start it. Chrome, coolant additiives, and antifreeze just don't work well together.

I have also heard this theory about the chrome waternecks, but ive owned 9 mustangs now, all with 5.0 engines, and they have all had chrome waternecks installed for many years and not a single one has ever leaked or caused me any problems. so i guess we will see. im not saying it doesnt happen, but so far in my experience, this is an urban legend

 

[bnickel]

I have also heard this theory about the chrome waternecks, but ive owned 9 mustangs now, all with 5.0 engines, and they have all had chrome waternecks installed for many years and not a single one has ever leaked or caused me any problems. so i guess we will see. im not saying it doesnt happen, but so far in my experience, this is an urban legend

i think it depends more on which style you have, the one with a gasket warps like crazy the one that uses the o-ring seal seems to work better. i've had both styles and haven't had any probs with the o-ring style