Overheated tonight: Related to prior issue?

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my5thmopar

my5thmopar

Life Long MOPAR Owner
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Well the engine finally overheated tonight 250-260 and boiling. :banghead:

I guess I'm ranting because I think I've done everything I can think of to fix hot issue.

I took a 300 mile trip last week and the engine ran 205 and gets to 220 if I push to 75mph. 2.76 gears. Slow down to 65mph and it drops to under 200 degrees. I'm afraid to even use the AC at this point.

This car has wanted to run hot since I've owned it. "Seems OK" around town 180-200.

Setup:72 Swinger rebuilt 318 flat tops .030 over and XE256 factory AC. Timing 14 idle and 34 max and running vacuum. Kinda new (5K miles) 6 blade water pump and 2 core brass/copper radiator with on it. Mr Gasket high flow 180 TS. New fan clutch with 7 blade fan. Lower hose has spring. Factory shroud and hood seals. Ive adjusted the carb a few different times. New gauges.

I changed the TS 3-4 times to a 180 and 195, used water wetter and tried another radiator prior to tonight's issue.

I think the TS stuck tonight, I'll check it tomorrow and I'm waiting on my 3 core Champion CC526.

I don't know what else to do...I'm stumped again! Any suggestions.



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Sounds like radiator trouble.
 
What is the entire makeup of your cooling system?

Hotter at freeway speeds is limited airflow, or circulation issue's (Flow volume)
Could even be a lot of crap in the block that could cause it.
 
TrailBeast said:
What is the entire makeup of your cooling system?

Hotter at freeway speeds is limited airflow, or circulation issue's (Flow volume)
Could even be a lot of crap in the block that could cause it.
Click to expand...

Makeup meaning...not sue what you're asking?

Engine was hot tanked. I flushed system out when all this started months ago. I use either 50/50 or distilled water.
 
If you are overheating at speed, it's not a fan or shroud issue. My money is on capacity (not enough radiator) or flow (clogged cooling system, radiator or block) and/or tuning.
 
Could even be sucking the bottom hose closed at speed.

Sorry for the confusion.
I meant what parts make up your cooling system?

What pump, hoses, shroud, fan,
 
Apart from the above I would be also looking at Faulty Thermostat, I have had brand new ones fail on me , so now I test them before I install them.:burnout:
 
Shot in the dark.. Do you have an overflow bottle?

I use a infrared temp sensor as the motor warms up to check if the thermostat is working at the correct temperature.. Also to confirm that motor temp is what the guage says.

Make sure it does not open prior to 180, but opening for sure.
 
Everything's fine. He has a Ready Rad.
 
Had a vehicle that ran fine at low speeds, hotter than a ***** at higher speeds. Had a discussion with an older guy that built radiators for a living, he felt that it was a water flow issue. He built me a radiator with the biggest tubes he had, problem solved. He said people will always throw a thicker (more rows) core at a problem when normally a bigger (1 inch vs 3/4 inch tube) will solve the problem. More fin count is not necessarily better either. Pretty good read of cooling system info can be found at http://www.woodyg.com/fairlane/finfo/coolingsystem1.html

Good luck
 
I had a guy here that had a over heating problem when driving at speeds. He had the wrong fan blade and clutch. It was for a serpetine belt and was spinning in the wrong direction.

Also had one here that had a re cored rad. they over pressure tested it and swelled the tubes. It would not flow air but it flowed plenty of water.
My rad frooze and did the same thing.

Make sure you have the right direction water pump and fan they make both and can easily be wrong parts. . and check the rad air flow. Steve
 
The Mr Gasket 180 high flow TS was bad. Would not open. Air and water flow direction through radiator is correct. Visually I think I have good water flow through radiator and temp gun shows about 25-30 degree drop across radiator. I idled engine in the driveway for 30 minutes with A/C on max. The temp never got over 200. I'm not surprised since the engine never had a hot issue at idle or around town. Only hot at highway speeds. I haven't had a chance to road test again.
Auto trans using rad cooler.
Yes small 16oz overflow.
I have a good Gates hose with spring.

The radiator has a lifetime warranty so I may exchange it until my Champion CC526 comes in.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
Read up on water pumps and pulleys and compare to what you have. As I recall discussions here, people were confused why the water pump for AC cars had more blades than non-AC cars. Wouldn't they want the best water flow for both, and what is the cost of 2 more blades? The conclusion was that the difference was not because AC cars need more cooling (though they do), but that they have a different diameter pulley on the water pump,(smaller?) so the pump spins at a different speed (faster?) and might cavitate at high rpm. Your symptoms suggest that could be your problem.
 
At highway speed the fan is only along for the ride. At this point I would try to jet the carb up. Might be running to lean
 
fklskv said:
At highway speed the fan is only along for the ride. At this point I would try to jet the carb up. Might be running to lean
Click to expand...


Unless the fan is trying to push the air the opposite way. Or the water is flowing in the wrong direction
 
I had a similar problem. My car would start to heat up around 3000rpm on tach. I had a flex-a-lite fan that flattens out at higher revs and a shround. The fan blades were flattening out at highway speeds. If I backed off where the blades were not flat the temp would come down. The fan was blocking air flow at 3000rpm and above. I changed the fan to a fixed blade and the problem was fixed.
 
7 blade factory fan installed correctly. I checked the crank pulley and Yes my a/c has smaller "about" a 5 1/2 inch wp pulley, non a/c uses a 6 7/8 pulley. 6 Blade A/C WP. Condenser covers all of radiator and it is clear. Put in Champion CC526 tonight. Will test tomorrow then may rich up one step on the Edelbrock.
 
Results are in. :cheers: The Champion CC526 3-core installed with factory shroud. Outside temp was 88-90 degrees F.

I ran the interstate for a 25 mile non-stop stretch at a constant 78-80 without A/C. I did several full throttle bursts to...well use your imagination. The temp hung around 188. It got up to a max of 192 after the bursts. If I slowed to 70 for traffic, the temp dropped to 182. Pulled off highway to cruise around a mall in traffic, the temp dropped to 178-180.

The way back home I used the A/C. Cruising around the mall the temp got to 185 in traffic. On the return with the A/C going I saw the same results as with no A/C. It never got above 192 even with full throttle bursts.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Someone should do a detailed write up for a sticky on basic cooling issue troubleshooting.
 
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