Can a kinked trans cooler line cause engine overheating?

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Righty Tighty

Righty Tighty

Blame it on the dog
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I’m trying to think about this, and it doesn’t make sense that a hot transmission would be related to an engine running hot. But I found that one of my transmission cooler lines is kinked. I don’t think the flow is completely obstructed, but it’s definitely being choked.
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Obviously I’ll replace it, but I’m just curious as to whether this would affect engine temp at all, or just the transmission?
 
That kink shouldn't might affect the cooling of the transmission, but not the engine. It probably won't have that much affect on the transmission unless you are running a high stall converter with a lot of HP.
 
Thanks. Just a stock-ish converter which I believe is around 1800? And definitely not crazy horsepower, just a mild 318 build. Well that makes me feel better, but I also need to figure out what was making my engine run hot. Back to the drawing board!
 
Have you tried using a temp gun to see what the actual temp is when running? Start with the basics, timing fuel mixture & so forth.
 
Haven’t tried a temp gun yet, but that’s a good idea. It just so happens that I flattened the cam before I could diagnose the overheating issue, so I’ll get to it once the car is back together. I will say that when I went to reset the idle mixture screws, I was running very lean. Timing was about 12* initial and 34* total. We’ll see what I can do when I start her up again pretty soon.
 
Coolant flow has alot to do with cooling. I might suggest a hi flow water to pump over a stock pump. 65'
 
I think the flow through the cooler lubes the trans, I would sure fix that kink
 
Plymouth 65 said:
Coolant flow has alot to do with cooling. I might suggest a hi flow water to pump over a stock pump. 65'
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When I rebuilt the engine, I swapped out the stock pump for a high flow Milodon.
CudaFactHackJob said:
Does it get hot sitting or rolling?
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It would warm up and sit around 200, then after driving on the interstate about 25 minutes, the temp would be around 210-220, I saw it get as hot as 230 on a very hot day. I thought there was air in the system, so I tried burping it and found pieces of RTV floating in the radiator. Unfortunately that was the same day I flattened the cam, so obviously I had bigger problems at that point.
jas0162 said:
I think the flow through the cooler lubes the trans, I would sure fix that kink
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I agree, I'm ordering a replacement set soon. Unless there's a way to fix it? I've never had great luck fixing kink in tubing like that.
 
Sometimes if you remove the thermostat it will cause overheating because the coolant flows through the radiator too quickly; not allowing it to cool down.
 
CudaFactHackJob said:
Sometimes if you remove the thermostat it will cause overheating because the coolant flows through the radiator too quickly; not allowing it to cool down.
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I disagree on this. And I’ve heard it a lot. Because what is being said is that water cannot be cooled down at the same rate as it is heated up. If the idea were true and the thermostat was removed, the water would be flowing through the engine faster as well. Then the water cannot be heated because it’s flowing too fast.

the reality is this: overheating car has its thermostat taken out because “it’s overheating and there isn’t a cheap enough solution.” The owner does this because they do not understand that the thermostat controls the lowest operating temperature, not the highest.
 
The absence of the thermostat is definitely it my problem, because the thermostat has always been installed. In fact, I was wondering if maybe a piece of that RTV I found at the filler neck was stuck somewhere in the thermostat, preventing it to open all the way.

I was squeezing the upper radiator hose trying to burp it when it appeared. I’m thinking the squeezing may have freed it from the thermostat.
 
Im gonna dissent on running without a stat. I think the controlled flow rate the stat provides through the radiator is important to the efficiency of the system. You need the motor to get to operating temperature ASAP to reduce cylinder wear and for general driveablilty. An open stat is plenty of flow to cool a stock 318 motor with a functional radiator and water pump (impellers can rust off old pumps). Water in the block can only get so hot as it is a closed system up to the blow off pressure of the cap. Id feel the rad in all 4 corners to make sure its getting flow through it, could be a plugged rad. A lean carb will elevate temps too. Id lean toward the RTV propping the stat open before keeping it closed.
 
The radiator had just gotten back from the shop after a small leak repair. I don’t know for sure that he flushed or cleaned it, but I hope he did.

I should able to test it again this week when I start it after the rebuild. We shall see if the temperature issue is still there.
 
That kink is not folded enough to affect transmission fluid flow very much, if any.

And running without a thermostat doesn't cause over heating? My big old butt it doesn't. That's why it's there. To regulate flow and for quick warm up. Somebody needs to relearn how a cooling system operates. The radiator needs to be given a chance to do its job and running constant, unimpeded flow through it ain't how it works.
 
RustyRatRod said:
That kink is not folded enough to affect transmission fluid flow very much, if any.

And running without a thermostat doesn't cause over heating? My big old butt it doesn't. That's why it's there. To regulate flow and for quick warm up. Somebody needs to relearn how a cooling system operates. The radiator needs to be given a chance to do its job and running constant, unimpeded flow through it ain't how it works.
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Why doesn’t the engine need to be given a chance to heat water up, since the radiator needs a chance to cool it down?
 
T56MaxTorq said:
Why doesn’t the engine need to be given a chance to heat water up, since the radiator needs a chance to cool it down?
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The engine is given a chance to heat water up. It's called a closed thermostat.
 
T56MaxTorq said:
“in a system without a thermostat”
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It's not my job to school you in thermodynamics. If there is no restriction and the radiator cannot shed heat from the water, the water will exceed it's limit for keeping the engine cool since the radiator is not allowed to do its job. If you cannot understand that, I cannot help you.
 
I don't get it either, but I don't care...I just wanna know how to fix stuff. Like with automatics...I don't care about the why...just the how.
 
RustyRatRod said:
It's not my job to school you in thermodynamics. If there is no restriction and the radiator cannot shed heat from the water, the water will exceed it's limit for keeping the engine cool since the radiator is not allowed to do its job. If you cannot understand that, I cannot help you.
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Your argument comes from a place where you’re saying “and the radiator cannot shed heat.” That’s a big “and”

there isn’t any reason the radiator cannot shed the heat while the engine can generate the heat, while the thermostat is removed. Only if there is another factor causing the overheating in the first place.

Lol @ “school me on thermodynamics”
- this comes from a guy who sees a kink in a hardline that appears to be close to 50%, inside of a bend, and calls it “not folded enough”. Dude that tube is trash! That tube could barely drain a/c condensation
 
T56MaxTorq said:
Your argument comes from a place where you’re saying “and the radiator cannot shed heat.” That’s a big “and”

there isn’t any reason the radiator cannot shed the heat while the engine can generate the heat, while the thermostat is removed. Only if there is another factor causing the overheating in the first place.

Lol @ “school me on thermodynamics”
- this comes from a guy who sees a kink in a hardline that appears to be close to 50%, inside of a bend, and calls it “not folded enough”. Dude that tube is trash! That tube could barely drain a/c condensation
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Read post 21.
 
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