440 overheating ???

[19charger72]

Ok my father and I rebuilt this 440 engine and we are having cooling problems. It sounds great and starts right up no problems it heats up to 180-190 degrees and stays there. About 20 mins after runs the engine temp shoots up to 210 or higher and have to shut it down. So it gets so hot it blows all of the coolant into the overflow. I took the thermostat out and tested it(pan/water/stove/thermometer). It doesnt start to open til 190 and its brand new 180 degree one. So we leave it out and run it and it stays at 155 degrees, 20 mins later same thing. Anybody have an answer? Would much appreciate it.

[FLG]

What are you doing for cooling? Stock rad? Mech or electrical fan? Fan shroud?

[19charger72]

I dont know where we got the rad it is a 3 core and bigger than stock, with a mechanical fan and shroud

[charger Downunder]

check your water pump impellar take of the radiater cap and see if the water is flowing through.Have you got the right radiator cap try a new one.when the car is hot shut it down and feel the radiater core with your hand and see if you feel any cold spots.if there is cold spots the core is blocked.

[FLG]

Also have you "burped" the block? Alot of times air pockets settle in the rear of the engine one way to ensure all air is removed is to elevate the front of the car and remove the cap before warm up and just make sure all the air pockets are bled out. Also what is your timing set at? And have you properly dialed in the idle mixture (make sure your not running too lean).

[y3chargerrt]

Make sure you don't overfill the radiator. Fill it to the top of the cooling tubes. Leave the expansion tank empty or it will puke antifreeze on shutdown.

[firefighter3931]

Ok my father and I rebuilt this 440 engine and we are having cooling problems. It sounds great and starts right up no problems it heats up to 180-190 degrees and stays there. About 20 mins after runs the engine temp shoots up to 210 or higher and have to shut it down. So it gets so hot it blows all of the coolant into the overflow. I took the thermostat out and tested it(pan/water/stove/thermometer). It doesnt start to open til 190 and its brand new 180 degree one. So we leave it out and run it and it stays at 155 degrees, 20 mins later same thing. Anybody have an answer? Would much appreciate it.

Freshly rebuilt engines will run a little hotter because they are tight....after some miles to loosen up the temps will come back to normal.

How hot does it run out on the open road ? when the temps start creeping up is it just idleing in the driveway or is the car moving ?



Ron

[19charger72]

Ok my father and I rebuilt this 440 engine and we are having cooling problems. It sounds great and starts right up no problems it heats up to 180-190 degrees and stays there. About 20 mins after runs the engine temp shoots up to 210 or higher and have to shut it down. So it gets so hot it blows all of the coolant into the overflow. I took the thermostat out and tested it(pan/water/stove/thermometer). It doesnt start to open til 190 and its brand new 180 degree one. So we leave it out and run it and it stays at 155 degrees, 20 mins later same thing. Anybody have an answer? Would much appreciate it.

Freshly rebuilt engines will run a little hotter because they are tight....after some miles to loosen up the temps will come back to normal.

How hot does it run out on the open road ? when the temps start creeping up is it just idleing in the driveway or is the car moving ?



Ron

It does the same thing no matter what your doing after 20 mins or so it just gets really hot driving or idleing.

[19charger72]

check your water pump impellar take of the radiater cap and see if the water is flowing through.Have you got the right radiator cap try a new one.when the car is hot shut it down and feel the radiater core with your hand and see if you feel any cold spots.if there is cold spots the core is blocked.

Water is flowing we checked that all ready. The cap is a locking one. Ill try feeling the core today.

[19charger72]

Also have you "burped" the block? Alot of times air pockets settle in the rear of the engine one way to ensure all air is removed is to elevate the front of the car and remove the cap before warm up and just make sure all the air pockets are bled out. Also what is your timing set at? And have you properly dialed in the idle mixture (make sure your not running too lean).

no we havnt done the burping thing. I have to go out and check the timing. The idle mix isnt lean maybe a little rich. How would the timing and mixture affect it in such a way that it overheats?

And thank all of you for your help.

[19charger72]

This is not the first time it is overheating, about a year ago it overheated and warped the heads and got coolant in one of the cylinders. My dad sent in the heads got them resurfaced. It might be the same problem I dont know.

[firefighter3931]

How would the timing and mixture affect it in such a way that it overheats?

If the timing is too retarded the fuel will not ignite in the chamber. Raw fuel goes out the exhaust and the hot pipes ignite it in the header/exhaust manifold. Proper timing is crucial. The correct timing depends on the engine combination.

Lean mixture will also create the same conditions...too much air and not enough fuel creates a lot of heat. Look at the plugs for some color....they should be tan > light brown. If not adjust the idle mixture and jet up.



Ron

[firefighter3931]

This is not the first time it is overheating, about a year ago it overheated and warped the heads and got coolant in one of the cylinders. My dad sent in the heads got them resurfaced. It might be the same problem I dont know.

You could have a leaking or blown head gasket. Inspect the plugs for signs of water entering the chamber....plugs will look steam cleaned.

Also run compression & leakdown tests to see what's happening.



Ron

[19charger72]

This is not the first time it is overheating, about a year ago it overheated and warped the heads and got coolant in one of the cylinders. My dad sent in the heads got them resurfaced. It might be the same problem I dont know.

You could have a leaking or blown head gasket. Inspect the plugs for signs of water entering the chamber....plugs will look steam cleaned.

Also run compression & leakdown tests to see what's happening.



Ron

We pulled the plugs the look like they should, havnt checked the compression yet ill do that tomorrow.

Thanks for the input.

[craigandlynda]

you mentioned you were uncertain about original(?) radiator,,,many of these cars have been pieced together so many times, original combo of pulleys, fans, shrouds and radiators have been lost...in any event, check to see that fan blade is close enough to radiator core- no more than an inch back from the core...this assures sufficient air is pulled thru cooling fins...justy one more thing to check

[firefighter3931]

check to see that fan blade is close enough to radiator core- no more than an inch back from the core...this assures sufficient air is pulled thru cooling fins...justy one more thing to check

Good points....the fan should be close enough to the rad to pull sufficient air through. What type of fan are you using ? Fan clutch ?



Ron

[19charger72]

Ok so we change the thermostat and we changed the fan. Burped the block. And started it up with the radiator cap off. Almost immediatly coolant started gushing out of the radiator. My dad then reved the engine and the coolant shot out like a mini old faithful. So my dad says that the block could be cracked. Or could the water pump be turning the wrong way. I dont really want to pull the engine but it looks like we might half to.

Any advice about this now. Its overheating because its blowing all of the coolant into the over flow. But why is it doing that?

Thanks

A.K.

[FLG]

Seems like something might be clogged, possibly the radiator or block itself...maybe the heads. When idling from a cold you should see SOME movement in the rad (since you have no t-stat), when revved it should be LESS not more. Something is clogged solid and causing it to back up in the radiator. If you take lower hose off the rad, does the water start to gush out of it?

[19charger72]

Seems like something might be clogged, possibly the radiator or block itself...maybe the heads. When idling from a cold you should see SOME movement in the rad (since you have no t-stat), when revved it should be LESS not more. Something is clogged solid and causing it to back up in the radiator. If you take lower hose off the rad, does the water start to gush out of it?

The rad isnt clogged when you take the bottom hose off it gushes water out. It has a thermostat in it now. Could it be possible that the water pump is going the wrong way?

[charger Downunder]

Which way is your fan turning if your looking at it from the front of the car. You wouldnt happen to have a marine engine by chance i thought they ran the opposite way.Some pics of your set up would be helpful for the rest of us to diagnose the problem.

[19charger72]

Well we pulled the heads and the head gasket is blown. So now begins the process of fixing it. Thanks for all the tips and advice.

A.K.