another cooling question sorry guys

karfer67

Well-known member
ok here is my set up. 63 falcon wagon with a 2 speed, 200 and the dreaded load - o - matic dizzy. however the dizzy seems to run amazingly well engine is well tuned i have it set to what i think is 12 btc at idle with the vac disconnected. currently i am running the stock gauge but a few questions. first what is the range of the stock gauge anyways what is hot when the needle is peged? mine has not done this just wondering. also i notice that when i am on the freeway it seems to run hotter and will kreep up. my commute is 25 miles of driving it at 65 mph i know because of the 2 speed it is turning more rpm than my old ranchero that had a stick trans. my temp when going to work in say 70 degree weather it shows about half. when coming home it is over half. i just changed the lower hose to one with the wire in it but the top is still the one with out should i change that too? i also put a 160 degree t stat in it because previously there was none. and the rad is new as well. i keep reading about "make sure your ballancer mark is right but how do i do that? just bring it to tdc and remove #1 plug and feel for the piston to top out then mark the ballancer where tdc is? thanks sorry for all the questions i searched and searched with not much luck for my particular problem.
 
8) a few things, first the upper hose in generally under pressure thus the spring that is used in the lower hose to prevent collapse from suction is not needed. however if the upper hose needs changing, by all mean change it.

as for the stock gauge, from the factory they are not all that accurate, they only let you know in general terms what kind of temperatures your engine is seeing. before you decide the engine is truly overheating, understand that sending units fail, instrument voltage regulators fail, and even the gauge fails. the first thing you want to do is put a real gauge, a good aftermarket gauge is best so you can get a real indication of how hot the engine is running. as for the gauge creeping up, is another gauge, usually the oil pressure gauge, showing weird readings also? if so then i suspect the IVR is going south.
 
IVR? thats what i figured i just know like on old flat head fords when it is reading hot that is only because they were low pressure and at that time used water so when it is hot actually it is normal :lol: as for mine do you think switching to a heavier weight oil would help? right now i run 10w 30
 
8) 10w30 is fine for most conditions, but i wouldnt change oil weights until i determined if the problem is the IVR, or a sensor, or if you really do have a heating problem.
 
8) IVR=

Instrument
Voltage
Regulator

if you look on the back of the instrument cluster, you will find a small box that has one wire going in and two to three wires coming out. these wires feed the gauges a steady 5.5volts in theory to provide accurate readings. when the IVR goes bad the voltage to the gauges fluctuates, and gives you weird readings.
 
verified my timing and what do you know at TDC it was off 8 degrees retarded. it still feels like i could advance it more in fact i ironically it feels a bit more flat now. but there is no pinging and it does idle better. as far as did it make a difference in cooling yes some it does not sky rocket up like it did before or at least it did not this morning. makes me wonder if the vac advance is working, i assume that if the mech or vac advance was not functioning right it would cause it to heat up as well
 
8) its possible that the vacuum advance is not working, or not working properly. i would push the ignition timing to get the highest vacuum reading you can get, short of detonation, and see how that works for you.
 
I drove from Rockingham, NC to my then home in Toledo OH without any advance in the original LoM dizzy when I bought my car. The dizzy was set at 10* and it stayed there the whole time. Now, it was me and the logging trucks running a whopping 35 mph up the mountains of WV in the right hand lane on I-77 :oops: .

Anyway, you can test the dizzy's vac advance even if its a LoM. Start the car and get it up to temp. Disconnect the tube from the carb to the dizzy at the carb. I personally use a Mity-Vac and put vac on the end of the tube. Use a timing light and see if the timing mark on the balancer changes. Then test to see if the vac advance is leak free. Go ahead and put some vac on the tube and then see if the advance backs off. Again use the timing light for this. If the vac can is tight then it will hold the vac and the timing advance will not change. For these simple tests don't worry about plugging the hole in the dizzy. It shouldn't affect the test results.
 
interesting i will try that. last night i put in the mech temp setup and in 70 degree air over 25 miles it got up to about 178. i am not currently running a thermostat as the one i got was not working right it stuck closed i checked it in water. and i also checked the temp guage in boiling water and it was spot on so now at least i know what it is really reading. the test will be later going home as this is when it seems to heat up more. another stupid question i did change the fan to another 4 blade i had off another 200. the one that was in there was weird the tips actually curved forwards a bit rather than keeping a straight edge all the way to the end. it did not look bent it looked like it was made that way. i searched for the differences in stock fans with no luck. i assume that if everything is in good working order i should not have to swap to an electric fan and at highway speed an electric fan is not really needed right?
 
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