running hot

hello to all....

i did clean the rad, i did change the thermostat to a 170, and changed the coolant, but the temp still stays hight on the gauge, and running in cold weather doesnt change anything, where else could i look??

i was thinking about changing plugs for colder ones....

and since i have a super six with bigger exshaut manifold, and kept the old exhaust line, could it be restriction from there??? the super six needs a 2 1/4 and since the the other one was like new...it has 2 inchs...could the 1/4 inch raise the temperature??

bad timing or something around that??? what do you guys think??

any inputs will be apreciated...corrosive

did the van run hot before the exhaust manifofd swap?? i donot think it's the plugs but what are you running?? todays plugs carry more heat ranges such as a 10 , 11 , may be using a 12 now, it maybe the timing or the exhaust pipe, i'm sure someone knowing more than i will chime in.

If your timing is too retarded or the carb is too lean, it can make the engine run hot. Leaky exhaust flange gaskets in the doghouse can do it... or a missing belly pan. Could be a number of issues. (Or more likely, a combination of several.)

the rad was cleanded by a trustworthy shop, he told me he tested it, and everything was fine....

i bought the engine from a guy that pulled it off an aspen, the spark plugs were on the whiter side then the brown, so i figured it wasnt burning oil....

i did put back the original spark plugs,they were on the engine and were new...will look for the numers tomorrow

belly pan is in its place, but the exhaust diameter and the timing could be a hint, so the lean carb...will look at it and keep you posted...crrosive

These guys have you looking in the right directions.
Colder or hotter plugs simply means the tip of the plug is able to shed heat faster or slower. It does NOT affect engine temps!
Try to describe the symptoms better.
Starts cold, how fast does it warm up?
When up to temp, does it get warmer in stop and go, cruising at 30-50 MPH, at highway speeds all of them?
When you say running hot, where on the gauge and what is the actual temp? They sell infrared temp guns cheap now. They are great to diagnose all sorts of things.
Get the temp of the head near the thermostat, the thermostat housing, the top of the radiator, the bottom of the radiator and the lower hose.
Also look at the timing, especially the centrifugal and vacuum advance.
I seriously doubt the exhaust will be the cause.
It's usually operating conditions, cooling system unable to shed enough heat or a combo of both.

I wouldn't think exhaust size has anything to do with it. When i installed my rebuilt 6, i had a big cam, .040 over 10-1 pistons and a offy intake with a 390cfm carb. I was still running the org manifold and 2" exhaust. It slowed it down but never ran hot.

Do you have a shroud around the fan? Like everyone else, timing and/or lean will heat it up. My stock distributor would idle at 12* with no vacuum and at 3k it would reach 32* with no vacuum but with the vacuum hooked up to a ported source and 3k it would reach 56*.

You can buy a "block check" tester that uses a blue fluid that turns yellow with the presence of CO2 in the cooling system. I feel it's the only real way to check a head gasket problem on a running engine. Most shops will (should) have this tester and can check quickly/cheap.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00916147000P?sid=IDx01192011x000001&kispla=00916147000P&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=31-95226303-2

I still would be thinking of a new radiator...

Block check is the absolute only way to diagnose . NAPA sells the replacement fluids for it also. How quickly is the engine overheating?? does it puke hot water when gagues shows hot? Have you checked the water temps with a pyrometer?? Verify all. Head gaskets get old =heads & cylinders crack,Take all into effect?

the reason i brought up the exhaust size was a 318 2 barrel has 1 7/8 manifold and a 340 or 360 4 barrel has 2 1/4 manifold . so if you are adding more gas and air it still needs to breath, thats why i asked the measurements of the exhaust manifold. you can always disconect the pipe and see if it act any differnt,

Yeah dix, i hear yeah, when i switched to an auto, i could fit my header and i couldn't believe how the bad it was corked.

there are lots of little things that can drive a temp up. some already discussed. dix and i had a discussion on manifolds and they made a difference in my 9:5/1 360 engine. saved me almost 20 degrees. and speaking of degrees timing is another that will send temps up as well, both mechanical and vacume advance. rod brought that up. real hard to find anyone nowadays with a distributor test bench to read the curve of these old pieces. and not to llong ago someone asked about the resistance in the wire to the temp auge and i totaly forgot to find the spec as i said i would. if the wire has been changed or altered it will make it look like the vehicle is overheating when actually it isn't. i will have that spec tomorrow as i will measure the wire on my extra harness if it is still intact. the other thing you can do is knock out the back two frost plugs on both sides of the engine and look for sediment. power flushers won't move it!!!. it needs to be scraped out with an old coat hanger and water with some compressed air. dirty mean job with the engine in and starter on but if you need it to run cooler, what elese is there to do. a very rare thing i see in cars also is the impeller spinning on the water pump but that is an extreme case so don't go there just yet. do these other things first and if your rad is as good as your buddy says your cooling system should be fine..... good luck

thanks all...i've notice it get warm when driving highway speed,probably timing ..hey?
i left it idling 40 min yesterday, it was at 190 when i have a 170 degree thermostat,but will check more properly with the laser temp sensor,another thing the gauge is a equus gauge, reliable!? or should i plug back the original one that was working??

will try thoses test tommorow,

by the way i'm selling my house and moving to another province soon(new Brunswick),so very busy with the selling and the building of another house,so i will be needing my van to get there and to live in it for the time to build, so it need to be reliable , feeling like a kid again!!!!

....corrosive

moving to the same province as the Atlantic Nationals in july. hope to meet up there...

Atlantic Nationals??? could you tell me more?
hope to see another vintage vanner JKR, i'll be living north of Moncton,....corrosive

www.atlanticnationals.com
usually about 2000 vehicles for 4 days in and around moncton. not to many earlies there but i think it's a great time and lots of eye candy, both hardware and "software". if you show my prediction will be five early dodges, 4 fords and 4 chevs. last year we had 3 in total and there is supposed to be another early dodge pickup this year if he has it done in time. i've heard that for about 10 years now...

as for the temp gauge wire resistance i cannot locate the section of wire i saved from a van i scrapped but memory tells me it is between 350 - 400 ohms.it's main purpose is to "slow" the gauge down and it also keeps it from a constant high reading. by adding resistance it keeps the gauge from wild swings and a constant higher than normal reading. anyone could add a resistor between the sending unit and gauge to obtain the same result as the resistance wire. i will measure mine the next time i can get to it to be sure but that won't happen for a few days.

[quote="jkr"]www.atlanticnationals.com
usually about 2000 vehicles for 4 days in and around moncton. not to many earlies there but i think it's a great time and lots of eye candy, both hardware and "software". if you show my prediction will be five early dodges, 4 fords and 4 chevs. last year we had 3 in total and there is supposed to be another early dodge pickup this year if he has it done in time. i've heard that for about 10 years now..."

yep definetly my kind of "going out", i will probably take a few days off to go see that national,thanks for the info, will go with van...

as for the wire, the gage i'm using is the equus model, with a very little wire, i think i should use the original to see the reading before doing anything else, mayby the reading is wrong,will try with laser sensor as rod says, but waiting for another snow storm soon so...shoveling on the way....thanks .....corrosive

i actually run the original (dash) and a mechanical aftermarket gauges. the mechanical one is ALWAYS the best as they have the tube and line and it is not removable, and it does not come apart. no wires to hook up.the biggest problem with them is the line isn't long enough to reach the dash for good viewing, so i put mine on the e-brake bracket.good ones like an autometer are cheap if they show that you have a problem, and expensive if they just hang off the dash showing normal readings. i see no reason not to spend good money for a couple of item for my antique vehicle that might save me a breakdown over frivioulis items such as chrome and paint. but thats just me...

mine was running really hot it turned out to be the timeing. i had set it up to spec's using a timming light. this was way off- use a vaccum gauge thier is a post on this site with instructions my van is running cooler and more power to

delraydoug wrote:mine was running really hot it turned out to be the timeing. i had set it up to spec's using a timming light. this was way off- use a vaccum gauge thier is a post on this site with instructions my van is running cooler and more power to

i find my super six a bit anemic at hight rpm, what did you do do? retard or advance the timing? if it gets warm i think it should be advance is it? ...corrosive

Don't remember . my exhaust got really hot it melted the hanger between tail pipe & muffler

jkr wrote:there are lots of little things that can drive a temp up. some already discussed. dix and i had a discussion on manifolds and they made a difference in my 9:5/1 360 engine. saved me almost 20 degrees. and speaking of degrees timing is another that will send temps up as well, both mechanical and vacume advance. rod brought that up. real hard to find anyone nowadays with a distributor test bench to read the curve of these old pieces. and not to llong ago someone asked about the resistance in the wire to the temp auge and i totaly forgot to find the spec as i said i would. if the wire has been changed or altered it will make it look like the vehicle is overheating when actually it isn't. i will have that spec tomorrow as i will measure the wire on my extra harness if it is still intact. the other thing you can do is knock out the back two frost plugs on both sides of the engine and look for sediment. power flushers won't move it!!!. it needs to be scraped out with an old coat hanger and water with some compressed air. dirty mean job with the engine in and starter on but if you need it to run cooler, what elese is there to do. a very rare thing i see in cars also is the impeller spinning on the water pump but that is an extreme case so don't go there just yet. do these other things first and if your rad is as good as your buddy says your cooling system should be fine..... good luck

that was me askin about the resistance wire ( from sender to gauge) what is the OHM value?? my factory schematic mentions this resistance wire but does not give the spec!!!!!and have the wrong year sender will cause the gauge show wrong too. in any case im having mine rebuilt and recalibrated. good luck

I battled with the same thing you describe, even had a new radiator core put in, timing was set correct, water pump flowed, 160 thermostat, correct coolant ratio, fan shroud in, tried it without, belly pan in place....didn't matter and it actually got hotter when running down the interstate! Ended up switching to an aluminum radiator: problem solved once and for all. Mind you, I also rebuilt the motor and ended up having to use a different block. That may have had something to do with the heat, I'll never know. But an aluminum rad is a good investment.

as reading all this again, the manifold is'nt the original one, as muffler, as carb,as air breather, and since its from 1979, is it possible they used to run hotter in thoses days to save fuels??? and i did disconneted alot of hoses, mayby the timing should be diferent cause of all that?? i think i will retarded it to try( retard about 5 digits each time???) and go wild on the highway......how about that???.....will keep you posted..( will try not to run into potholes we're famous for )...corrosive

i did changed the ignition timing and went for a ride on the highway, did a big diference, it run smoother looks like more power and torque, but the engine run at the same temp, i will fix the idle mixture on the richer side tomorrow and see about the temp,..... the timing tab was a bit confusing, my fault. greatly apreciated all inputs ....thanks to all of you......corrosive

something else that happens alot to old vehicles is the outside ring on the vibration dampner sometimes moves as the rubber deteriorates. then your timings off if you use a light.