OVERHEATING!! STILL!!

[Born2Lose]

No flex fan on the car. The antifreeze is about 50/50 or a little less..car is garaged and lives in SoCal. Will add water wetter when i'm done draining and refilling rad.
I used the radiator flush by prestone a while back. Even took it out of car and ran about 50 gallons through it

Heater doesn't work anyways. can't turn it on. Heater in San Diego..huh..warmest coat i own is a hooded sweatshirt.

 

[Born2Lose]

Both hoses listed from napa say they don't have a steel coil
http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPag...Number=7267&Description=Hose+-+Radiator+Lower
http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPag...umber=FF248&Description=Hose+-+Radiator+Lower

 

[ludwig]

Check a Mustang Vendor: California Mustangs, Mustangs Plus, Mustangs Etc (in Van Nuys) or NPD (in Ventura). If no spring hose, go with the stoutest from a regular supplier.

Simplify the coolant issue and loop the heater hose(s) back to the pump and bypass the heater core until you get the temp thing sorted out.

 

[66 Fastback]

I would not kill yourself trying to find a hose with a spring in it. Most hoses do not have them anymore. I imagine hoses were weaker back in the day. Time and temp eventually weaken the hose but you should be OK with a new hose without a spring. When you think about it, the lower hose will have as much or more pressure on it as the upper hose. So if the radiator is pressured up to 10 psig, there should be 10+ psig working to keep the the lower hose open. These water pumps don't move that much water and don't have tight clearances that would pull a vacuum. If the hose is collapsing, it is because there are other flow restrictions and fluid is not getting to the bottom tank of the radiator.
Doug

 

[Born2Lose]

One says get it the other says don't! SO CONFUSING!
The hose is pretty old looking. Filled with water i can easily pinch it shut with two fingers.

 

[addo]

Well, it's cheap enough to replace that hose. But remember the block is as capable of holding constricting junk as any radiator. Just replacing one doesn't fix defects in the other.

 

[grocery getter]

Well, it's cheap enough to replace that hose. But remember the block is as capable of holding constricting junk as any radiator. Just replacing one doesn't fix defects in the other.

What he said...

get what you can in a new hose. if it has a spring, great. if the radiator is free flowing any new hose will be o.k. a restriction in the radiator will cause a vacuum effect on the lower hose as it tries to pull coolant through.
at least try for one with the spring. it won't hurt and you can rule it out. if the problem doesn't go away.

 

[mugsy]

Had the same problem in my '68 Catalina, overheated at highway speed, but was OK around town. I pulled the radiator and found a shop that would flow test it. Found out it was 60% plugged.

Call around and see if any radiator shops will flow test. My guess is that you will be buying a new radiator soon. Remember, cooling systems are the number one "mechanical" system that fail on cars.. If the radiator is old I'd just buy a new one for the peace of mind. Get new hoses and clamps too.

 

[JackFish]

Since you mentioned "heater core", I thought perhaps it could be that it sludged up a bit, restricting flow.

 

[addo]

Ah yes, heater core, too.

The muck which blocks radiators and heater cores, is made in the block. So, it stands to reason there's more where it came from. I still think Mr Butler should flush the block before any radiator service. There's Jack's picture he posts now and then, of a large pile of junk that he knocked out of a used block's water passages.

 

[MustangSix]

this is the crap that came out of the block when I was doing the crossflow conversion. It'll kill a radiator or heater core if it comes loose.

http://fordsix.com/blockmods.htm

 

[Born2Lose]

I still think Mr Butler should flush the block before any radiator service.

With a name like Rhett either people know exactly where its from or have never heard of it. Its never in between. If i had a nickel for everytime someone called me Brett i'd be a rich man!

I'm going to do the thermostat hole and the new lower rad hose first. I'll probably do it in the next few days. I should know by next week if it helped at all.

 

[69.5Mav]

All

Drilling a hole in the thermostat is a MYTH. If you hold a thermostat up to the light and try to look thru it in a darkend room you will see one spot where light is shineing thru. Closer examinatio will reveal that there already is a blead hole in the thermostat. This blead hole should be positioned so that it is "up" or rotated so it is at the top of the housing.

You can get a spring from any hardware store. If the spring is too short buy two and insert one from each end.

Reverse flush the block. With the radiator and thermostat out, connect a garden hose up to the upper radiator hose, still connected to the block, and turn on the hose. You should see some crud come out the water pump/lower radiator hose.

Check to see if your cowl to hood seal is in good condition. Air will only flow thru the radiator if pressure from behind it is lower then the pressure in front of it. The cowl/windshield area at highway speeds is a high pressure area. If the seal is bad air can leak into the under hood area reducing flow of air thru the radiator.

 

[MustangSix]

I'm going to do the thermostat hole and the new lower rad hose first. I'll probably do it in the next few days. I should know by next week if it helped at all.

It's a low cost option, but I wouldn't bet on great results. It's not likely that the lower hose is getting sucked shut unless it has the consistency of chewing gum. And a hole in the T-stat isn't really necessary since any air in the system will bleed off into the radiator (the highest point) anyway.

I'd bet on a blocked rad or tons-o-junk in the block.

 

[ludwig]

Ditto.

 

[flatford6]

I make my own lower radiator hose springs out of 1/16th brazing rod. It doesn't rust. Some of my springs have been inside 3 different radiator hoses on the same vehicle over the years. I don't even try to use the galvanized springs included with new hoses, they rust out even with proper levels of antifreeze and rust preventer.