Overheating problem

FordRacing302

5 Year Member

Oct 1, 2005

384

42

59

Cleveland, TN

Nov 20, 2011

#1

• Nov 20, 2011

• #1

I been having some cooling issues lately so I put a new 180 degree T-stat in and burped the cooling sytem and it seemed to work. The car would heat up to 185 and stay there. But last night a couple miles from my house the heat jumped up to 220 and hovered there. It would cool down to 210 at idle, and any sort of driving would bring it back to 220+. I popped the hood and the radiator and upper hose were warm but not hot at all...Do I have a bad gauge (it's an autometer)??? or is that T-stat already junk (its a $4.99 valuecraft)??

 

FordRacing302

5 Year Member

Oct 1, 2005

384

42

59

Cleveland, TN

Nov 20, 2011

#2

• Nov 20, 2011

• #2

Damn, wrong section

Mods please move...

 

Adams91LX

Active Member

Dec 9, 2003

689

12

29

Plano, TX

Nov 20, 2011

#3

• Nov 20, 2011

• #3

FordRacing302 said:

I been having some cooling issues lately so I put a new 180 degree T-stat in and burped the cooling sytem and it seemed to work. The car would heat up to 185 and stay there. But last night a couple miles from my house the heat jumped up to 220 and hovered there. It would cool down to 210 at idle, and any sort of driving would bring it back to 220+. I popped the hood and the radiator and upper hose were warm but not hot at all...Do I have a bad gauge (it's an autometer)??? or is that T-stat already junk (its a $4.99 valuecraft)??

Click to expand...

How old is the water pump? Electric fan or manual? Pull the T-stat, test it... put it in a pot of hot water on the stove, check the temp at which it opens (should be 180)...

 

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

15 Year Member

Jul 6, 2006

5,232

2,652

223

gainesville

Nov 20, 2011

#4

• Nov 20, 2011

• #4

Did you install the thermostat backwards?

 

Shaolin Crane

Banned

Oct 6, 2008

2,627

7

0

Kommiefornia

Nov 20, 2011

#5

• Nov 20, 2011

• #5

Mine was doing similar things, turns out it was the radiator. Replaced with a spare I had and it was great.

When you burp the system pull the upper hose off and pour boiling water into the thermostat housing, it helps burp the air faster.

 

FordRacing302

5 Year Member

Oct 1, 2005

384

42

59

Cleveland, TN

Nov 20, 2011

#6

• Nov 20, 2011

• #6

I dont think I did, shorter side is facing the radiator

 

Adams91LX

Active Member

Dec 9, 2003

689

12

29

Plano, TX

Nov 20, 2011

#7

• Nov 20, 2011

• #7

FordRacing302 said:

I dont think I did, shorter side is facing the radiator

Click to expand...

Thermostats are free to test...

 

FordRacing302

5 Year Member

Oct 1, 2005

384

42

59

Cleveland, TN

Nov 20, 2011

#8

• Nov 20, 2011

• #8

Ya I guess Ill check it, but If im going through the work to pull it back out Ill just replace it with a failsafe

 

2000xp8

SN Certified Technician

Aug 8, 2003

8,014

1,611

194

NJ

Nov 21, 2011

#9

• Nov 21, 2011

• #9

Replace it with a mr. gaskets 180.

 

aar0s

Founding Member

Dec 20, 1998

1,015

55

69

Nov 21, 2011

#10

• Nov 21, 2011

• #10

How old is your fan and clutch, do you have the diverter in place? I was having a problem running hot as I went down the highway, was alright in town. I changed both of these and added the diverter this summer and fixed the cooling problems I had.

 

FordRacing302

5 Year Member

Oct 1, 2005

384

42

59

Cleveland, TN

Nov 22, 2011

#11

• Nov 22, 2011

• #11

The clutch and fan are good...I just replaced the valuecraft 180 with a failsafe 180, its idling and driving at 185 degrees now. But now I think I have a more serious problem. I drove the car home the other night at 230 degrees for a couple of miles and now I have a little water underneath the oil cap and the coolant looks a little muddy, I guess Ill be buying TF twisted wedge heads sooner than I thought...