226 Flathead Overheating

[SonnysKustoms2010]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and looking to get help resolving an issue.

I recently purchased a 226 flathead 6, the guy I had picked up from told me it was a running engine before it had been pulled out. So i slapped into my Ford 49 shoebox and As the engine was running the temp started to raise and eventually over heat. I turned it off and inspected it for any type of leaks in the radiator and the engine block, nothing.... It has a new 4 row aluminum radiator, new hose, also tried it with the thermostat on and off,and the water pump spins freely by hand. So I am at a loss. This week I am going to be trying a couple of tests like the cylinder leak test and a pressure test on the radiator just to be sure. One other thing, when it is smoking it seems to be coming from the radiator area and it's a white smoke. Please let me know if you have any suggestions to help me solve this problem. Thanks!

 

[bubba22349]

Yes by all means do a pressure test on the cooling system and a leak down or compression test on the engine first. I would not fully trust the water pump though with only a spins freely by hand test, I have had water pumps that were bad including a rebuilt unit everything looked like it was good on the exterior yet the engine would overheat. I decided to pull the water pump back off and found that the whole impellor had disintegrated in a short amount of time so it did not move any coolant at all. Cooling system test will help you determine if your head gasket is leaking. Best of luck

 

[SonnysKustoms2010]

Yes by all means do a pressure test on the cooling system and a leak down or compression test on the engine first. I would not fully trust the water pump though with only a spins freely by hand test, I have had water pumps that were bad including a rebuilt everything looked like it was good on the exterior yet the engine would overheat. I decided to pull the water pump back off and found that the whole impellor had disintegrated so it did move any coolant all. Cooling system test will help you determine if your head gasket is leaking. Best of luck

Thank you for that info Bubba I will look into it I ordered my leakdown test kit so it's coming in tomorrow I'll be ready to do some troubleshooting