overheating issues

[ryan218]

been battle this for a week now. before it would peg the temp gauge ( no good ) bleed the system and then it shows half on the temp gauge when cruising around. though ok I'm good pulling onto my street it just keeps climbing anf climbing. radiator fluid boiling over in the over flow tank. im at a lose. thermostat is not stuck closed or open. checked it and put a new on in.

 

[asecretfile]

been battle this for a week now. before it would peg the temp gauge ( no good ) bleed the system and then it shows half on the temp gauge when cruising around. though ok I'm good pulling onto my street it just keeps climbing anf climbing. radiator fluid boiling over in the over flow tank. im at a lose. thermostat is not stuck closed or open. checked it and put a new on in.

thermostat isnt in backwards is it? Hey Ive done it before lol

 

[Makdaddymac]

run it with no t-stat see if it gets better/worsens. thermostats never are full proof new or not. its a shame cause they are such a simple piece of equipment..

 

[ryan218]

thermostat isnt in backwards is it? Hey Ive done it before lol

run it with no t-stat see if it gets better/worsens. thermostats never are full proof new or not. its a shame cause they are such a simple piece of equipment..

its in right. that was my first thing ive checked becasue ive done it before too lol.

it only starts to do it now after you get on it. like from like 20-highway speeds then you curise at say 55ish and then come to a stop and it will start to climb in temp its almost like its sticking but idk what to check. im about to throw my mark 8 fan on it. but to do that ill need a 3g.

 

[asecretfile]

its in right. that was my first thing ive checked becasue ive done it before too lol.

it only starts to do it now after you get on it. like from like 20-highway speeds then you curise at say 55ish and then come to a stop and it will start to climb in temp its almost like its sticking but idk what to check. im about to throw my mark 8 fan on it. but to do that ill need a 3g.

did it happen after you put that explorer upper/lower on?

maybe a blocked coolant passage in the lower?

 

[1991notchbackLX]

fan clutch?

 

[ryan218]

fan clutch?

im thinking that. its lose as hell and isnt it supposed to lock up and be hard to spin?

 

[1991notchbackLX]

yes, it sounds like your fan clutch went bad, your fan clutch responds to temperature change and changes the angle of the fan blades as they spin to either draw in more air as coolant temperatures rise, or take in less air as coolant temperatures drop... chances are that's the original fan clutch that came on the car, change it out and i bet it will solve your headaches

the principle behind the fan clutch changing the angle of the blades makes it easy to understand why mechanical fans cause so much parasitic drag and why electric fans are so much more efficient, when your car heats up the angle of the blades changes and therefore the drag on the fan due to friction and air resistance increases, that translates to drag on the crankshaft of the motor...

 

[ryan218]

yes, it sounds like your fan clutch went bad, your fan clutch responds to temperature change and changes the angle of the fan blades as they spin to either draw in more air as coolant temperatures rise, or take in less air as coolant temperatures drop... chances are that's the original fan clutch that came on the car, change it out and i bet it will solve your headaches

the principle behind the fan clutch changing the angle of the blades makes it easy to understand why mechanical fans cause so much parasitic drag and why electric fans are so much more efficient, when your car heats up the angle of the blades changes and therefore the drag on the fan due to friction and air resistance increases, that translates to drag on the crankshaft of the motor...

could explain why the thing seems slower then before all the crap ive done to it.

i have a mark 8 fan but wont that be to much drag on the stock alt?

 

[1991notchbackLX]

yeah, the stock mustang alt is barely powerful enough to keep a stock car alive, an e-fan would draw way too much power on the stock setup

when you factor in the cost of a new 3g alt and wiring, plus a thermostatic controller to control when it kicks on and off... you may just be better off saving some coin and replacing that worn mechanical fan clutch for now if you're on a budget

 

[ryan218]

yeah, the stock mustang alt is barely powerful enough to keep a stock car alive, an e-fan would draw way too much power on the stock setup

when you factor in the cost of a new 3g alt and wiring, plus a thermostatic controller to control when it kicks on and off... you may just be better off saving some coin and replacing that worn mechanical fan clutch for now if you're on a budget

doesnt really matter if it sits for a few weeks to get it done, i got the kia to drive damn thing lol. there was atleast 10 taurs at the junkyard with the 3g's on them, a few with brand new looking ones, for 12 bucks why not try it how do i wire it in? i hae wiring so a very detailed write up to follow would be great.

 

[1991notchbackLX]

extremely simple install ryan, the biggest issue is replacing the flimsy original Ford power wire and ground cable with larger gauge wire to handle the power wthout a fire, here you go... i linked you right to jrichtker's post with the wiring diagrams and how to set it up...


http://forums.stangnet.com/646825-3g-alternator-install-how.html#post6673702

in a nutshell:
run a new havier gauge power wire (4 gauge)
run new heavier gauge ground (chassis to battery, block to chassis)
splice into stator wire and plug it in
clearance stock alt bracket with a dremel or buy the march alt bracket

 

[ryan218]

ok thanks. imma just steal the fan of my old mans car..he is out of town and make sure thats the problem first then go from there.

 

[ryan218]

any more ideas?

 

[Foxfan88]

if the car cools correctly at highway speeds (more than enough airflow) but heats up at lower speeds. you have an airflow issue.

if your car gets hot even at highway speeds. you have a coolant flow problem. whether it be the Tstat or a blockage or something.

did you do something to the car and then noticed the overheating?? or did it just start over heating all of a sudden with no real change to the the setup??

if you had something apart and had the cooling system opened and air was able to get back into the system. then you may have a bunch of air trapped in the engine. try burping it real good by jacking the front end of the car up real high and running the engine with the cap off and watch for big air pockets. if it does then there was air in the system.

if it just happened out of the blue first thing i would try is the tstat or fan clutch.

 

[strtrcr50]

yes, it sounds like your fan clutch went bad, your fan clutch responds to temperature change and changes the angle of the fan blades as they spin to either draw in more air as coolant temperatures rise, or take in less air as coolant temperatures drop... chances are that's the original fan clutch that came on the car, change it out and i bet it will solve your headaches

the principle behind the fan clutch changing the angle of the blades makes it easy to understand why mechanical fans cause so much parasitic drag and why electric fans are so much more efficient, when your car heats up the angle of the blades changes and therefore the drag on the fan due to friction and air resistance increases, that translates to drag on the crankshaft of the motor...

Umm.. No. Not even close. Depending on temp/rpm, the fan clutch will allow the fan to freewheel. The blades DO NOT change angles. You are thinking of a flex fan. Here's a better description. BTW, when my fan clutch went bad, it was very easy to check. I grabbed the blades and found a large amount of free play.

The fan clutch is an automatic device that is often used in a vehicle’s cooling system. So, when the engine is cool or even when it is at a normal operating temperature, the fan clutch will partially disengage the engine’s radiator cooling fan (which is mechanically driven).

This is normally found at the front of the water pump and it is driven by a belt and pulley that is connected to the engine’s crankshaft. This process will then save power because the engine won’t have to fully drive the fan.

But, if the engine’s temperature gets hotter than what the settings for the clutch are, the fan will then become fully engaged, this will then maintain or even lower the temperature of the engine.

You will find that most fan clutches are viscous or “fluid” (the internal friction of a fluid that is produced by movement of its molecules against each other. It is what causes the fluid to resist flowing) couplings that are combined with a bi-metallic (it’s a strip that is used to convert a temperature change into mechanical displacement and it usually consists of two layers of iron and copper) sensory system that is similar to that in a thermostat.

Sometimes fan clutches will fail on you but they are normally quite reliable so this doesn’t often happen. You will find though that a common symptom of the clutch fan failure is the car overheating when idling.

If you have a bad fan clutch, it can also cause very poor performance in the vehicle’s air conditioning system. The reason for this is because the fan also cools the air conditioner’s condenser and that is found directly in front of the radiator.

The other potential symptom if the fan clutch fails is that it will draw the air at a very high rate, so in the cold weather the heating system will blow out lukewarm air and it won’t ever deliver enough sufficient hot air.

It is best to leave the replacing of the fan clutch up to a professional mechanic, unless of course you know what you are doing. But if you are finding that the vehicle is fine on the highway, yet when you are in traffic or you are stuck at a red light and the heat gauge immediately goes up and gets too hot, then it may be time for you to get it replaced.

It is quite a simply process as the fan clutch is simply sandwiched between the can and the connecting shaft. All that would have to be done is to unbolt the fan and remove the clutch. The new one is then installed and the fan re-attached and you will then be on your way. It is advisable to may be do a coolant flush and put in a new thermostat at the same time.

 

[1991notchbackLX]

well, i suppose i was misinformed... i've changed out fan clutches (mostly on 67-72 GM A Bodies) for years and that's what I was taught... sorry for the bad information

 

[strtrcr50]

well, i suppose i was misinformed... i've changed out fan clutches (mostly on 67-72 GM A Bodies) for years and that's what I was taught... sorry for the bad information

Sorry to come across like a jerk. Was in the middle of an arguement on the phone. What you described is a flex fan. You can feel a fan clutch work when you spin a fan with the engine off.

 

[1991notchbackLX]

no problem at all man, we've all had one of those days... your post was informative, thanks for setting my story straight!

 

[ryan218]

Sorry to come across like a jerk. Was in the middle of an arguement on the phone. What you described is a flex fan. You can feel a fan clutch work when you spin a fan with the engine off.

mine just spind very easily. and my old mans gt is kinda stiff to move around. i also have a flex a ligth fan i just dont know what size spacer it takes.