Overheating - Out of ideas.......

[t-top 87]

Sorry for the long post, but here it is............
Recently I replaced my P/S pump, during this I noticed my W/P pump had a little leak, so I though might as well replace it. So I did. Started the car and the temp went up to 270(stock gauge). I thought maybe the t-stat was bad replaced it with another 180 from a local chain store, same thing. Then I replaced the temp sending unit, same thing. I noticed the new W/P had a leak toward the back. I ripped it off and got a replacement, reinstalled it, same thing. I though possibly the new t-stat was bad, I went to local dealer this time and got a OEM t-stat with the bleeder relief, still had the same issue. At this point I was running out of ideas, we checked the timing, right on at 10 degrees. I reinstalled the spout connector and went to start the car nothing happened. Dead starter. So today I will be replacing the starter. I checked or replaced all the normal cooling components and it is still overheating. When the car is running you can see coolant circulating, I don't see any hoses, which are collapsed. When the car is hot, probably around 250 degrees, I can test the water in the radiator and it is never more than 160, which tells me the fan is cooling properly. The radiator has about 10,000 miles on it, so I'm thinking thats not the problem. I'm running a 50/50 mix like I have always done. I was wondering if maybe the starter was not disengaging and causing excessive drag on the motor,which is causing my overheating. I didn't hear anything unusal from the starter though. I'm out of ideas over this one. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Rick 91GT]

You could have air in your system which is giving the sensor a false reading.

Jack up the front end of the car, take off the cap and start the car it is best if the system isn't 100% full and you will see the air bubbles come out, burp out. The air gets trapped in the intake or behind the thermostat.

 

[Demented4.6]

i agree with rick. Sometimes on these stangs its a lil harder to "burp" the cooling system

 

[t-top 87]

I will give it a try after I get my starter installed. lol, I wouldn't think there is air in the system since it is circulating. If I rev it a bit with the cap off, coolant will almost shoot out the rad tubes, out of the rad. But a this point I will try almost anything. Thanks for the quick replys. I will let you know what I find out today. Thanks.

 

[Michael Yount]

It's very common on this set up -- getting all the air out can be a pain; and given what you did to the car, the shape of the components you described, and the fact that you had no such problems before - odds are pretty high you simply haven't gotten it completely full.

 

[t-top 87]

Overheating Problem Fixed

As I had mentioned I thought my starter took a dump. It turned out to be the starter cable runnng from the solenoid to the starter. It must have been rubbed through, somewhere. When I would turn the key to the on position, I had voltage on the starter side of the solenoid. Every time I would put a test light on this post my sensors and fuel pump would run. This was with the starter connected, if I disconnected the starter everything seemed fine. I didn't have voltage until the key was in the run position. So today I replaced the cable and fired it up. Temp was fine, right around 200 degrees. Apparently, the short in the cable was messing with some sensors during running or just with the temp gauge. Anyhow, everything seems fine...for now. Thanks.