Stupid Question, Cooling System

yogi4476 · May 19, 2016

So I noticed the other day when trying to figure out why my car isn't passing smog (gotta love Cali) that the upper radiator hose dosent look right.
It actually comes up higher than the radiator before dropping back down. I'm trying to confirm that's wrong. On a side note I'm pretty sure I need to replace my thermostat seeing as how the car never gets hot unless at a dead stop for like 35 min.
That's after I drove 40 miles on the highway going home from work last nite.

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Don A · May 20, 2016

yogi4476 said:
So I noticed the other day when trying to figure out why my car isn't passing smog (gotta love Cali) that the upper radiator hose dosent look right.
It actually comes up higher than the radiator before dropping back down. I'm trying to confirm that's wrong. On a side note I'm pretty sure I need to replace my thermostat seeing as how the car never gets hot unless at a dead stop for like 35 min.
That's after I drove 40 miles on the highway going home from work last nite.

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Your right on both counts.. Air rises in the (closed) cooling system and if it can't get to the cap the system can't eliminate it. The cap, which moves hot coolant to the overflow bottle when it expands and returns it to the radiator when it cools and contracts, needs to be the highest point in the system.

Sounds like the thermostat is stuck in the open position (or non-existent) which is rare but I guess it happens. Change the oil while your at it because long heat up periods allow condensation on the cylinder walls to drop to the oil pan, not to mention uneven warm up on moving parts and forever to use the heater...

yogi4476 · May 21, 2016

Don A said:
Your right on both counts.. Air rises in the (closed) cooling system and if it can't get to the cap the system can't eliminate it. The cap, which moves hot coolant to the overflow bottle when it expands and returns it to the radiator when it cools and contracts, needs to be the highest point in the system.

Sounds like the thermostat is stuck in the open position (or non-existent) which is rare but I guess it happens. Change the oil while your at it because long heat up periods allow condensation on the cylinder walls to drop to the oil pan, not to mention uneven warm up on moving parts and forever to use the heater...

Yea the thermostat is there I checked a while back and after all the SMOG issues I'm having with the car I figured it might be bad and causing some issues. Guess I'll double down on the tune up and change the plugs again. Thanks for confirming that the hose is the wrong one.

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Adieu · May 21, 2016

When you change the plugs, don't cheap out, and don't let the parts guy try to talk you into something stupid like E3 or Bosch +4s. Just put the factory Motorcraft plugs back in (all three of the major parts chains sell them relatively cheap) and be done with that. They were designed for the car, and they're what's going to work correctly.

As far as the upper radiator hose, if it's in good shape, you could loosen both clamps, and rotate the hose to level it out with minimal coolant loss.

yogi4476 · May 21, 2016

74stang2togo said:
When you change the plugs, don't cheap out, and don't let the parts guy try to talk you into something stupid like E3 or Bosch +4s. Just put the factory Motorcraft plugs back in (all three of the major parts chains sell them relatively cheap) and be done with that. They were designed for the car, and they're what's going to work correctly.

As far as the upper radiator hose, if it's in good shape, you could loosen both clamps, and rotate the hose to level it out with minimal coolant loss.

The hose is just the complete wrong shape for the car. Spark plugs to me seem to be personal preference. I've tried almost all of them and gotten pretty much the same result.

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Matt01 · Feb 11, 2017

every 2.3 n/a owner complains of heating issues. Mine has it too, new rad, multiple t-stats including motorcraft, gates, stant (and the upgraded focus t-stat) and still no heat.

Adieu · Feb 11, 2017

Matt01 said:
every 2.3 n/a owner complains of heating issues. Mine has it too, new rad, multiple t-stats including motorcraft, gates, stant (and the upgraded focus t-stat) and still no heat.

2.3s don't get hot unless they're beaten like a rented mule or have problems. I've had two, a 74 Mustang II 2.3 with a carb and an 88 LX vert 2.3 with EFI. Coolant never got above 180, and took all day to get there, in both engines. The 2.3 is just ridiculously overbuilt in every way, including cooling system design, and this is a side effect of it.

Mustang5L5 · Feb 13, 2017

Yes, the hose is incorrect. It actually looks like a 5.0 hose, twisted around in a weird shape

Pick up a new one and replace

Noobz347 · Feb 13, 2017

Don't do this though.

So cobwebs in the engine bay. How old is the fuel?

Stupid Question, Cooling System

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