[lleno]

Hey now, I put a new thermostat[195 degree]in my car, and it's still overheating. First time, I left the rad cap off, and it eventuallyjust bubbled/gushed out the top of the rad, it should have sucked the water down when the thermo opened, correct???? I let it cool off[I watch the temp gage carefully, I'm not letting the engine get that hot...]and this time fill to top of rad, put cap on, and start it up.eventually the water comes out the overflow tube, down side of rad, onto ground. It eventually steams up, it's hard to tell the source, it it coming from the top of the corearea, engine side.I noticed a little bit of wetness on the corein one spot...All advice and ideas appreciated, thanks, Lenny

 

[johnpro]

First time, I left the rad cap off, and it eventuallyjust bubbled/gushed out the top of the rad, it should have sucked the water down when the thermo opened, correct????

No. With the radiator cap off, as soon as the thermostat opens, coolant will gush out the opening. The water is going to take the path of least resistance. Since it comes in, very fast, above the fins, the path of least resistance is out the fill neck.

 

[kruser]

From your earlier posts, it sounds like everything was ok then you had the intake put on. Either you have a problem related to the intake installation, or you still have a bum t-stat. Even new ones can be bad. BUT....take the t-stat out totally and run it for awhile. If it warms up too much, you can figure it needs to have the intake looked at again. I'm trying to figure out what could've been screwed up on the installation, but I'm drawing a blank; unless something really stupid happened like a dropped rag down the water jacket holes in the head. I'd start with the t-stat first, leave it out and go drive for awhile. From where you are at, you shouldn't have a problem with it heating up because of too fast of a water flow this time of year.

 

[hbar]

Do you know what temp your engine is actually at? The stock gauge is more qualitative than quantitative. I thought I was having overheating issues until I picked up one of those laser temp readers...turns out the P in TEMP is ~180 deg for my setup, and I was in good shape after all. Just saying.

 

[lleno]

I'm not sure what my engin temp is,butI ' definatly having an overheatin problem, it's getting more confusing too.I picked up the car from the shop[new intake,4v,new carb,4100,]drove home[monday night]15 miles, ran fine.Wed. morning I start car[6am] drive 10 miles, steam pouring out from under hood. Let car cool, nurse it home....Like I said, seems to just overflowing out the overflow tube, as It heats up, I see water start to spurt out tube, turns ino a full flow as it gets hotter. Eventually I get lots of steam, from the top aof the rad in general, nothing specific.....I'm going to take thermo out, I'll report back in a while, thanks ...L

 

[lleno]

Well, thermostat is out, car is running fine...Maybe not correct though, the temp gage is staying totally at the cold end, I drove the car a good 20-30 minutes, I turned on my heater, very minimal heat coming out. What gives?? I'm glad she's running , but she's not running righjt. What are the pro's and con's of running with no thermo??? Theory's?? Advice?? Gracias , L

 

[JohnnyK]

Can't you run a 180 thermo?

 

[lleno]

That's what was in here originally, a 180, I replaced it with a 195, car overheated with both. Ihave been driving it with no problem for monthes before this....

 

[mach1ne]

Switching to a 195 would make the situation worse since it would not open until the water temp got even hotter. The 180 will open soooner thus keeping the car cooler.

Also note that you do not want to overfill your radiator.

With no overflow tank, you want to leave the water level at about 1 inch below the top of the radiator in order to leave room for expansion when the water temperature rises.

In regards to why your guage did not move and you had no heat, the water temperature will not go up that much since you are running all water through the radiator thus cooling it down all of them time. Running without a thermostat is not good since the engine will not heat up to the optimum running temperature.

Also make sure that you are not putting the thermostat in upside down.

 

[kruser]

OK, from what you're saying here, the t-stat is still the culprit. Without the t-stat, the engine temp SHOULD be low, and maybe not even a good register on the gauge. Normal. No heat from the heater would be normal, also - No warm water to generate the heat. So, you are back to Square 1, and get a new t-stat. Stay with the 180* is my opinion. The 195* will aggravate the problem. One of 2 things happened. Either you have 2 faulty t-stats, or they were both in backwards. The 15 mile trip the first night kinda rules that out, but I've seen stranger things happen. If you do not drive your car in the winter, as is the case with me, another option is to simply run a restrictor, like race cars do. It slows the rate of water flow to allow the water to dissipate the heat like it should, but you will not build enough water temp to run the heater. I simply did not want antifreeze to blow all over the chrome engine in mine if the t-stat ever stuck. Stick your new t-stat in a pan of water on the stove with a meat thermometer to make sure it works/opens at the correct temp -180*. Good luck.

 

[Woodchuck]

are you putting the t-stat in with the bulb in the manifold? They don't work too well when put in backwards.

 

[lleno]

Which end do you mean by bulb???The end with the exposed spring goes in the manifold???

 

[lleno]

Well, I tok t-stat out, car is running fine, albeit cold...What would make it run fine without t-stat, and overheat with t-stat?? I put a new t-stat in , maybe it was bad also???

 

[c6fastback]

Was the radiator filled all the way to the top ? Possibly too full . Factory tstat is 195* but 180* should work fine . Does the car have an overflow/recovery bottle ?

 

[VictorII]

Sorta sounds like a defective T-stat, new or otherwise. I've had new ones not operate correctly.

You might try a new 180 from Napa. 180 or 195 is what's spec'd for the SBF; I like how my engine runs using the 180. I highly recomment testing it with a meat thermometer and pot on the stove. You can also test those that you already have. Not only should they open but open all the way. Heat the water until it opens and check the temp. Because of the quality of offshore stuff, I check each one before I put it in. And it is not always obvious when something is imported.

Sounds like you've isolated the problem -- runs cold with no T-stat and hot with one. I'm sure you know this, but remember that the pellet goes towards the intake manifold so it can sense engine coolant temp. and open to include the radiator. I've made that mistake and make sure about it each and every time I replace one. I also drill a couple of 1/8" holes in the T-stat plate so the engine can burp.

Also, do you have a spring in the bottom radiator hose to prevent it from collapsing when warmed up and at highway speed?

Lastly, if you don't have a coolant recovery bottle, do you have an overflow hose that goes far enough down so it doesn't exhaust on the engine? If you don't have a form of coolant recovery, you need to leave about 1" of air in there when you fill the radiator. If you do have coolant recovery, filling all the way up is fine, just make sure that the overflow from that tank exhausts away from the engine.

 

[lleno]

Victor, I have an overflow hose, it drains at the bottom of the car. There are things I'm learning here I wasn't aware of, such as leaving an inch at top of rad. I have been filling it to the top, the starting engine, then the water stars gushing out when it warms up.A 180 was in ther eto start with, and I purchased a 180 from napa. I do'not have an oven therm so I can't test it.I dropped my car at the shop,hopefully randy can fix it. think I may have just been doing something real basic incorrectly....L

 

[dodgestang]

What temp is the car reading when you 'overheat'?

 

[lleno]

I just have the stock gage, it usually stays at the midpoint, but it has been 3/4th's +, I do not let it get very hot....The thing is I get steam pouring out the top of the rad, I cannot tell exactly where, no holes in the core, it justt starts pumping out theoverflow, and eventually starts steaming....L

 

[cmayna]

I would remove the Tstat and if you have a kitchen thermometer, put the stat in a pot of hot water and turn the heat on. Watch the thermostat and the thermometer. You should see the stat open at around 195+. If it doesn't, hmmmmm.

I would do this test for any new stat I plan to install. Cheap insurance.

Another item you might consider splurging on is a digital infared temp gauge gun. For $70+ I have this gun which I point to the top of the radiator after I shut the engine off to see what it reads and typically it reads within 2-3 degrees of what the Mustang temp gauge reads. This is actually more important if you Mustang does not have an actual temp gauge but instead one of those early stock idiot gauges reading Low to High.

 

[JohnnyK]

I tried the stat with my 180 and I couldn t' tell much at 180... Eventually it started to open up real good, but, i was using a meat thermometer in a bowl of water.. I don't know if thats accurate, or I need a different type of thermometer. Think it would work though.. Do they pop instantly open at that temp, or how does it work?