Hey fellas....

So I took a trip to philly today, and at around 70, my engine started to bog out. It felt like i was taking my foot off the gas, but then it was fine around 65. This happened once before, and I replaced the gas filter and it was fine....I'm gonna check the filter tomorrow, and if its all gunked up again, I guess that just means i have a lot of crap in my tank.

ANYWAY, the real problem that the car was overheating......on a 40 degree day on the highway. The water pump is brand new, the radiator was filled, and the oil was topped off. What the heck could this be?

 

plugged radiator? bad T stat? (or put in backwards)

 

Yup, gas tanks from the old days will very likely have a ton of crap in them. I took one out of a 71 Duster and it had 3/4 inch solid dirt!
As far as the over heating, can you visually see the fluid moving in the radiator?
I an thinking that maybe there is some crap on the block too.
BTW, was this overheating observed on the original gauge or an aftermarket gauge.
Just asking cause the temp gauges were non to accurate sometimes in the A-bodys.

 

maybe the car got nervous because it was heading to Philly. (hahaha) {just a joke}

 

Maybe she was mad because i didn't get her a cheese steak!

Thanks for reminding me to check to see if the water is moving around....I'll take a look at that in the morning. The thermostat definitely isn't in the wrong way around, but maybe stuck....I put it in last summer. Also the old water pump wasn't overly caked up or anything.

 

it was the original temp gauge, but it was definitely getting hot.

 

mmm.........cheese steak..........oh man I think I gotta have one. (I'm originally from Vineland NJ)
You just had to mention that....... now I'm gonna be jonesin' for a cheese steak from Philly.........and darn it, I am in freakin Nebraska....... someone airmail me one!!

 

my 67 Plymputh with 318 had overheating probs. I yanked the motor and popped the freeze plugs out of the side of the block and cleaned out the inside of the water jacket with a coat hanger.and running water. A bit radical I know but it worked.
BTW, cars from sunnier climates more often have more rust in the water jackets due to people not useing anti freeze or anti rust in the coolant. Another tip, make sure you got a shroud.

 

other thing I thought of is maybe the engine was running extremly lean due to the lack of fuel (clogged) Sometimes running lean will make the engine run hot. Especially at highway speeds. ( the engine is struggling to make any power and gets overworked.) Thought #2; might be a cat starting to clog. (did you remove the cat, I wont tell. lol)

 

Man I actually had two cheese stakes today....lunch and dinner. nooooot bad. hahah.

I thought about the engine running too lean! it would be sweet if the two were related.

I didn't take off the cat....yet. Is there a way to tell if its clogged or not before i take it off?

I will report back in the morning after i check that stuff.

 

But yeah, i have a shroud, and i put clean anti freeze in last summer. This never really happened before, not on a cold day anyway.

 

on the converter, there will be not too much flow when placing hand over tailpipe exit if the converter is clogged. This may be hard to tell sometimes when the car is idling. Of course, it is also hard to put your hand over the tail pipe when youre driving down the road also. Have someone follow you with a cell phone. While driving, tell them when you are about to "floor it". They should be able to tell if there is a significant stream of exhaust. Of course do this on a lonely stretch of highway, we wouldn't want to do anything illegal now would we? (advising talking on the cell while driving is bad enough. Advising you to floor it on a state run highway in New York state might be enough to put me in the pokey). So, advice is at you own risk. The only other way that I can think of to test for a bad converter is with a low pressure gauge of some kind. (like a mechanical oil pressure gauge) it would have to be plumbed into the exhaust at some point in front of the cat. Then you could monitor the gauge while driving. Exhaust should not have more than 10 lbs of backpressure. Also hot pipes in front of the cat and cool pipes in back of the cat could be another indication.

 

changed the gas filter....the old one was pretty clogged. this time i got a clear one so i can see when it gunks up.

as for the over heating....i have a small leak from the thermostat housing, but nothing astronomical, and the water DID swish around when the engine warmed up. hopefully you were right about the engine running lean. ill keep you posted!

 

what temp. is the thermostat?

 

its a cool thermostat.....160. I'm gonna go for a long run on the highway today to see if it happens again. Also, how do you guys feel about taking the thermostat out for the summer?

 

Just took the car for a ride. The gas filter did the trick, I was flying.

But still, its 50 degrees here today, and she was running hot on the highway. Not as hot as last night, but still hot.

 

and running it with no thermostat?
you will actually run hotter, because the coolant will quickly flow through the radiator, and not have time to cool
the thermostat gives resistance to the coolant so it has time to cool

 

thats interesting. thanks for the tip!

 

A possible problem I have seen, while not too common, is the fan/clutch assy. If your system has a fan clutch (rather than a direct bolt through) your clutch may be going bad. This can be catastrophic! if it comes apart while driving it will take most everything up front with it. Radiator, water-pump, battery, alternator damage... you get the idea.

Take this as a heads up to everyone out there. We are under our hoods often but did you ever check your fan clutch? Easy check, there should be NO loose play in the shaft area. Grab the fan blade (Engine off DUH!) and push and pull front to back to check for play. There should be none!

Good luck.

 

If the car is overheating on the highway the fan or clutch is not going to be an issue.

It's probably time to get the coolant system flushed out. You'd be surprised at how much crud builds up. A good shop should have a flush system which uses water and compressed air to get the worst of it out. If you can, take a look into the top of the radiator and see if the passages through the core are clear of crud and corrosion. If they are dirty, a radiator shop can rod them out (the tanks are removed, and a metal rod is run through the water passages to clean them out).

I remember my '70 383 Challenger doing the exact same thing. I opened the hood one night to see the exhaust manifold glowing, steam coming from the cap. The next thing I knew, the lower hose blew off, spraying boiling water into my shoes. Not a pleasant experience. It turned out to have a very dirty radiator. I swapped in a 4 row radiator from a New Yorker and it ran wonderfully cool ever after.

 

i think it might be cheaper to just get a new one, rather than having a shop rebuild this one. Advance Autoparts sells one for 170......Ready Rad. anyone haven any experience with that brand?