Unusual Overheating Problem!!!

When you find out let me know.. I am having kind of the same problem. Are you still using a stock radiator?? I am thinking about a Fluidyne. Or I am taking the blower off. I have had nothing but problems

My guess is an air bubble. I had a huge overheating problem a month ago that took a week to figure out. My problem was part air bubble, part faulty stock temp gauge.

Some tips that I received on removing air were:

1. jack up the left front corner of the car so that the radiator opening is the highest part of the car. This will allow for air to move from the block/heater area to the radiator and hopefully get out of the system.

2. If you have the radiator cap with the pressure relief lever, let the car get to operating temperature, shut the car down and then lift the lever. This is supposed to let air out and suck in coolant from the overflow.

3. While the car is still warm, crack open the ECT sensor. This may let a little more air hiding in the intake to get out.

4. While the car is still running and the radiator cap is off, squeeze the upper hose really good. Sometimes I would squeeze it halfway and hold it and bubbles would come up. Sometimes it also helped when I worked my way from the middle of the upper hose to the ends of it.

5. Similar to the above suggestion, work the air out of the heater hoses by squeezing them while the cap is off.

6. Drill a 1/8" hole or two in the thermostat near the edge but not so far that it is covered by silicone or the thermostat housing.

It would be nice if they just made a tool that would create negative pressure in the coolant system to suck the air out....

Hope this helps.
Chris

Bryce'sStang said:

When you find out let me know.. I am having kind of the same problem. Are you still using a stock radiator?? I am thinking about a Fluidyne. Or I am taking the blower off. I have had nothing but problems

Click to expand...

With the age of our cars,


NOBODY should be running a blower with the stock radiator

RC

i would also say air bubble in the system...i have a fluidyne radiator in my car. very nice radiator a little expensive though. i am stil running stock 195 thermostat and it gets up to about the m and when thermostat opens it cools off quick to the point that the thermostat closes and builds up and opens again.

Well, I've had the same problem with my 95GT. The temp gauge has never gone past the "A" in NORMAL though. At first I didn't believe the temp. gauge, so I went out and bought an infrared temperature reader and took a series of measurements right at the block side of the elbow where the thermostat is located. What I found was that the thermostat opened up pretty close to 180*, the electric fan kicked on at about 212*. The PCM would then use the fan to regulate the temp to about 220*. Now here's what else I did; went to Advanced Auto Parts, bought a gallon of that water wetter additive and tried that. The only real difference that I could tell is that the engine seemed to cool more quickly after the fan came on then it did with the 50/50 antifreeze mix. Now, here's what else I did, followed the advice of some other Stangnet forum folks and installed a switch to the fan. It works like a champ. One real factor here is airflow. I did notice that the engine did not seem to cool as quickly when I had the bra installed. I do like the idea of the air bubble though. Might try the air bubble purge techniques myself. Oh, if you decide to install the switch, make sure you use some fairly beefy wires like 12 gauge or so. Thinner wire has higher resistance and will get real hot when you turn the fan on. The fan in my car draws more than 20A on high speed. I know this because the 20A fuse I put in series with my newly installed switch blew out. Got a 30A in there now.

My problem with the two most popular "fixes" to overheating problems is that they seem to be used blindly as bandaids. When someone overheats, the first two things I normally see is get a bigger radiator and try the fan switch. Although these may help cool the car, the problem could still exist. If it does and the situation causing it gets worse, you could be in a ton of trouble later on even with your nice $400 radiator or cool fan switch.

He says the fan works fine, so i dont see how the fan switch would be anything more than a bandaid. If the fan didnt turn on I might would agree that would be a good solution but the actual problem seems to be somewhere else.

The air bubble is often times the culprit and the best part is, the fix is free! Doesnt cost a thing. I would definetly try the easy, free things first that seem most logical and then if need be, go the bandaid route and just do something that will guarantee you temporary relief from the overheating until you can find the actual problem.

Good luck!