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OVERHEATING ISSUE

Started by 73TXRallye440, February 21, 2009, 09:09:41 PM

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FLG

YOWWZZAAA

Thats hotttt. Try not to run her like that, that temps way above the 200* range.

Im thinking you have a stuck thermostat. Even if the fan wasnt enough at highway speeds it probably dosnt do much. I had a problem with a stuck t-stat, higher the RPM's hotter the engine got. Pull the t-stat and run the car and see how it is. 

73TXRallye440

I'm going down to autozone in a bit- should I go 160 or 180 t-stat?

73TXRallye440

got me a 180 t-stat and royal purple royal ice additive. will see what it does. old tstat and gasket took forever to get out/off.

73TXRallye440

alright just got back, still hacked off.

I replaced the thermostat, thinking that could have been it. Took off down the highway, temp needle is sitting straight up at 12 o clock high. I drive 9 miles down the road at 50-60, sucker doesnt move. Im thinking I figured it out. I go to exit and do a u-turn, get caught a light, it starts to creep up. I turn around, get going and there goes the needle, right to the H. No matter what i did it stayed at the H all the way home and died on me twice coming back down my street.

So it's not the thermostat. The radiator was hotter than a firecracker, so it's going thru the radiator, just not cooling.

My auxilary puller fan is pulling 2200 CFM. Does anyone know what the factory fan with a clutch pulled CFM?

I can do 3 things now:

1)Yank the 2200 CFM puller fan and get the SPAHL 6,000 CFM puller fans.

2)Fabricate the stock shroud to fit the aluminum radiator, put the stock fan back on, and try that.

3)Put the 26" radiator that was on there back on, and put the stock shroud and fan with clutch back on.

At this point im stumped.

Challenger340

Don't mean to be chiming in so late, with a bunch of dumb questions,
but,
when did your car "used to" run normal temps ?

Any history as to "when", or after "what", this problem manifested itself ?

What has changed ?
Radiator only ?

Is this a new engine build ?

If it used to run fine with the old Radiator, can't you just put that back in ?
Only wimps wear Bowties !

73TXRallye440

Quote from: Challenger340 on March 07, 2009, 11:36:55 PM
Don't mean to be chiming in so late, with a bunch of dumb questions,
but,
when did your car "used to" run normal temps ?

Any history as to "when", or after "what", this problem manifested itself ?

What has changed ?
Radiator only ?

Is this a new engine build ?

If it used to run fine with the old Radiator, can't you just put that back in ?
1) ran normal before I put the aluminum radiator and puller auxillary fan on there
2) I also put a CH4B intake on there, but that wouldnt make a difference

Yes, Im thinking im just going to go back to the stock setup.

73TXRallye440

Im going back to the stock radiator, going to have it gone thru, then putting the stock shroud and clutch/fan back on.

idahogrumpy

I believe that you have a timing issue. It has already been said I know. Or if you just changed the manifold I would suspect a vacuum leak, or combination of vacuum leak and lean jetting.

Does the bottom hose have a spring in it? If not it could be collapsing while driving. Install a 160 thermostat. Don not remove thermostat completely, the water will flow too fast and not have a chance to cool before returning to the engine. Good luck Kyle
Too much to say
Too much to do
Too tired to get it done
Too stubborn to give up
GRUMPY
Modified 73 440 Charger, 03 Intrepid SXT, 02 Neon and 2001 Ram 1500 .

62 Max

If its running hot,a 160 thermostat will do nothing.Once the engine reaches temperature,the 160 will never close.195* is the ideal temp for overall cooling and engine life.

73TXRallye440

My neighbor just had a good idea- could a clogged heater core cause this?

resq302

A clogged heater core would not really do anything for making a car run hot.  If it is clogged, it is like just having a by pass hose looped in place of it running through the heate core. 

I am leaning towards either a timing issue or that you have a vacuum leak from the intake swap.  Did you adjust your carb at all during changing the parts over?
Brian
1969 Dodge Charger (factory 4 speed, H code 383 engine,  AACA Senior winner, 2008 Concours d'Elegance participant, 2009 Concours d'Elegance award winner)
1970 Challenger Convert. factory #'s matching red inter. w/ white body.  318 car built 9/28/69 (AACA Senior winner)
1969 Plymough GTX convertible - original sheet metal, #'s matching drivetrain, T3 Honey Bronze, 1 of 701 produced, 1 of 362 with 440 4 bbl - auto

Drop Top

If you don't have a vacume leak and timeing is set right, I would go back to the stock set up. You say it gets 100 degrees in your area. Make shure your water pump is an A/C pump. Ive tried the high dollor water pumps and nothing works any better then the stock A/C water pumps. Even if you don't have A/C. There is a differance in the two. Where I live it gets up to 115 for days at a time. I havent had much luck with the electic fans on a 440 on the street. Other then running down the track. If you want to keep the aluminum radiator then put the stock clutch fan and put a shoud on it. The company you bought the radiator from might sell shrouds for it.

The heater core being blocked shouldn't make a differance. You only use it when you have the heat on inside your car. I've had to bypass them altogether just to get home, with no problems.

73TXRallye440

Quote from: resq302 on March 08, 2009, 01:25:52 PM
A clogged heater core would not really do anything for making a car run hot.  If it is clogged, it is like just having a by pass hose looped in place of it running through the heate core. 

I am leaning towards either a timing issue or that you have a vacuum leak from the intake swap.  Did you adjust your carb at all during changing the parts over?

adjusted timing yesterday. did a vacuum test, vacuum was a tad low, but used WD40 to test for a vacuum leak and we couldnt find one. sprayed it all around the carb, around the intake, etc.

Yes, carb was re-adjusted.

73TXRallye440

Quote from: Drop Top on March 08, 2009, 01:32:56 PM
If you don't have a vacume leak and timeing is set right, I would go back to the stock set up. You say it gets 100 degrees in your area. Make shure your water pump is an A/C pump. Ive tried the high dollor water pumps and nothing works any better then the stock A/C water pumps. Even if you don't have A/C. There is a differance in the two. Where I live it gets up to 115 for days at a time. I havent had much luck with the electic fans on a 440 on the street. Other then running down the track. If you want to keep the aluminum radiator then put the stock clutch fan and put a shoud on it. The company you bought the radiator from might sell shrouds for it.

The heater core being blocked shouldn't make a differance. You only use it when you have the heat on inside your car. I've had to bypass them altogether just to get home, with no problems.

yes, water pump is next.

resq302

If you adjusted the carb, you could have made it too lean while you are cruising or at idle which would cause the increase in temps. 
Brian
1969 Dodge Charger (factory 4 speed, H code 383 engine,  AACA Senior winner, 2008 Concours d'Elegance participant, 2009 Concours d'Elegance award winner)
1970 Challenger Convert. factory #'s matching red inter. w/ white body.  318 car built 9/28/69 (AACA Senior winner)
1969 Plymough GTX convertible - original sheet metal, #'s matching drivetrain, T3 Honey Bronze, 1 of 701 produced, 1 of 362 with 440 4 bbl - auto

NHCharger

I had an overheating problem with my 72 several years ago. I installed a new water pump and solved the problem. The old water pump seemed to work fine but the vanes were quite corroded. All I can think is that the roughness of the vanes possibly caused cavitation or air bubbles and disrupted the water flow.
I also think the moparts member has a possible point about the blockage of air flow with all that other stuff in front of the radiator.
72 Charger- Base Model
68 Charger-R/T Clone
69 Charger Daytona clone
79 Lil Red Express - future money pit
88 Ramcharger 4x4- current money pit
55 Dodge Royal 2 door - wife's money pit
2014 RAM 2500HD Diesel

flyinlow

I have seen corroded water pump fins cause this problem. Your picture shows a crossflow radiator. Run engine untill warm with cap off. watch water flow in radiator with engine at a fast idle. you should see it circulating at a  good rate after thermostat opens. It will flow out of the cooling tubes and dump into the tank with the intake (lower) hose. If no/low flow check waterpump /thermostat.

rad. hoses will be firm with the cooling system at normal temp. with a preasure cap installed. Squishy when cold.

I can run my alunimum radiator with the cap loose and it won't overheat. The preasure raises the boiling point of the coolant. Water/prestone boil at about 235 deg. at sea level with no preasure cap. about 30degs. higher with 15 lbs. cap.

I have two 14 inch puller fans. 5800 cfm.  If i run just one in a traffic jam it can get warm after while.

Plugged heater won't make car run hot unless you are using the heater core as an auxilary radiator.

do you have a suction spring in the lower hose? Keeps hose from constricting from waterpump suction.

Matthan

I have been working on some of the samething what does it mean is i have coolent coming out of my overflow hose and i do not have my radiator over full? Could it be a something else going on?

flyinlow

Is your a/c condenser clean?  Can air flow through it and the radiator?


flyinlow

Quote from: Matthan on March 09, 2009, 12:45:38 PM
I have been working on some of the samething what does it mean is i have coolent coming out of my overflow hose and i do not have my radiator over full? Could it be a something else going on?


Most engines are hotter 15mins. after shut down. While running the radiator,oil and exhuast system are all getting rid of heat. After shutdown the residual heat in the engine heats the coolant to a higher temp and makes it expand. If you keep your radiator full and do not have an expansion tank you can sometimes you can get coolant out of the overflow. A small amount. This is assuming a good preasure cap and proper coolant in the engine.

when and how much overflow?

73TXRallye440

***MAY 8th UPDATE****

Just wanted to give an update. Made some headway on tracking down the overheating issue I am having. Took one of those infrared heat guns, measured temps at radiator, that was as it should be. Then measured the temperature on each side of the head at the headers and found my right head/headers were 100 degrees hotter than the left side. So the car was cooled down, next day tested again and found the right head/header were 100 degrees again hotter than the left side. So it appears ive got a hot spot. Going to check the valves, rockers, shims, head gasket, etc tomorrow. Good to know it isnt a water flow issue (ie- water pump) or radiator/air flow problem.


1969chargerrtse

Wow, great thinking.  I have a heat gun and never thought of that.  Good Luck.
This car was sold many years ago to somebody in Wisconsin. I now am retired and living in Florida.