is overheating avoidable?

[LaGrasta]

My car runs great in hot weather. The pump is new, the electric fan works when is supposed to, even the rad cap and stat are newer. The heater core is less than a few years old and the radiator is aluminum. But if it's 100°, it runs really hot, too hot.
Granted it's the stock gauge so how hot is hot? It scares me every time and I can't think of anything to lower the temps. Maybe I need to get a mechanical fan again.

 

[wallaka]

I'd get a real gauge just to see how hot it is actually running. This will give you somewhere to start, and is cheap insurance. I think you will find there isn't really a problem.

EDIT: Hopefully there isn't a problem, at least. I thought I was having problems as well until I got a real gauge. And I don't even run a fan...it gets hot here too.

 

[Harte3]

Ford idiot guages can drive one nuts sometimes. Like wallaka said, get some peace of mind and check temp a real guage.

 

[JOHN G]

Mine gets hotter than I have ever seen it go in twenty years(after the mods). the guage never goes above half and thats hot compared to what I used to. Get a non-contact thermometer. Crafstman makes a decent one-Heck, Harbor Freight even has them now. Once you know the actual temp, you can make a mental note of where the guage sits at a given temp.

 

[BIGREDRASA]

Have you routed the heater hoses away from the exhaust? Got a significant drop in temps with this simple mod.

 

[Williboy]

100* is just too hot to be driving a non-a/c car in So Cal !!!!!

I picked up a VDO Series 1 gauge for around $35. It has a older look and I mounted it under the dash. My car always seemed to run at around 200* no matter if I had a 180* or 160* thermostat or no thermostat. I recently tried a 195* and so far it's staying at 200*. At least it's at where it's suppose to be, but like I said I don't drive it when it's 100* to really put it to the test. The only problem is that my aux elect fan is set for 200* so I've switched it to manual.

 

[Asa]

your electric fan, is it just mounted to the radiator? or did you fab up (or adapt) a fan shroud for it?
that might help things

have you tried water wetter and similar chemicals? my truck almost runs cold now that i have that in the system


only suggestions i can think of for now, i'll come back if i have more

 

[LaGrasta]

BigRedRasa, no i haven't tried that. I've run mostly "hard" lines so it would take some doing to reroute my heater hose that way.

Williboy, I do have a/c.

I drive home yesterday a the same time, same speed, and the weather is the same temp, not a single problem. The needle was almost half which is slightly higher than nomal, btu it never got higher and unlike the day before, i never turned on the heater to help. I don't get it.

As for my fan set-up, it's not perfect. It's a 16" I'm glad to say, but due to space it's set-up as a pusher combined with the a/c condenser. How efficient is it? I'm not sure. I'd rather have it as a puller. There is no shroud.

My trans cooler is mounted in the right wheel well and I know that's not ideal either, but there is no more room up front unless I block the rad and I didn't want to do that.

With my rebuilt head, trans cooler, alum rad, new pump, etc; running hot should not be a problem whatsoever for me. I've flushed the block at least 5 times in the last 5 years so that should be good too.



It didn't overheat yesterday so I'll keep driving, monitoring, and report back with anything new I discover.

 

[fordconvert]

If your fan is one of those that can either be a puller or pusher just by reversing the wires they are not very efficient. An efficient fan blade can not be reversed. Those universal fans are just a compromise to be a one size fits all. On other boars I read about some 90's Lincoln that has some super fans at have an easily modified shroud that fits just about anything.

 

[Asa]

you might want to go back to a mechanical until you can find an electric fan with a shroud
it might not be the problem, but it should do a decent amount to actually alleviate it

 

[salty_monk]

My 16" pusher electric fits right up against the radiator, touches it in fact... it's proving to be a lot more efficient than the stock mechanical.

Dan

 

[LaGrasta]

My 16" pusher electric fits right up against the radiator, touches it in fact... it's proving to be a lot more efficient than the stock mechanical.

Dan

mine touches as well, but not the radiator. I have an a/c condenser between the fan and rad. The condenser site away from the radiator by nearly an inch. Maybe a custom shroud is in order...

 

[salty_monk]

Shroud should make a big difference. The air spreads out pretty quickly once it leaves the fan so you're probably not forcing it all through the rad. I have no AC so nothing in the way of mine.

If you can relocate the condensor you may be able to move the fan right up against the rad & run a separate small fan for the condensor... that would definitely give you a lot more cooling on both units. Just a thought.

Dan

 

[Asa]

My 16" pusher electric fits right up against the radiator, touches it in fact... it's proving to be a lot more efficient than the stock mechanical.

Dan

mine touches as well, but not the radiator. I have an a/c condenser between the fan and rad. The condenser site away from the radiator by nearly an inch. Maybe a custom shroud is in order...

just so everyone is clear, the shroud goes behind the radiator, with the fan mounted to it
not in front of the radiator with the fan mounted to it...

i'm pretty sure you wouldn't make that mistake, but i've learned to never underestimate anyone

seen this yet?
http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... highlight=

 

[LaGrasta]

No, no, I would have! One of the reasons I never pursued it was it didn't make sense to me.
The shroud "funnels" the air through the fan/radiator so I thought I was mistaken. Thanks for clearing that up.

I guess to really help my fan help me, I need to relocate it behind the rad. I'd have to relocate the rad forward to gain clearance or maybe swap to two small fans to help with the clearance issue near the water pump pulley.

I think I'll just leave it all as-is and monitor it on really, really hot days. :roll: 8)