Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

I am dealing with a 1953 Merc - 255. But I am wondering if there is a side of a flathead that seems to run hotter.

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

The FH cars I have, and also past cars, the engines always seem to run a little hotter on they right side. Tom

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

tblossom:

Thank you. Maybe I am jumping back in this too soon (only one response to my question) but from prior posts re: engines overheating, this seem to be the case.....now does anyone know why? Is it possible that one side of the carb would lean out under load?

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

Merc, The only reason I can think of as to why an engine would run hotter on one side or the other would be if one side had more sand than the other. If fairly consistent among many blocks (I've not heard of), it could be a shift of the sand during casting.

The intake manifold splits off 2 & 2 from each bank for each barrel, so that eliminates fuel delivery as a cause for an imbalance in relative heat per bank.

In a perfect world, everything is equal, but water flow in the radiator may favor one side or the other, and one or the other thermostat may not open fully.

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

Differences between left and right exhaust manifolds?

Jack E/NJ

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

ford38V8: Yes a possible cause but this is a new block that I personally spent many hours ridding it of the sand and rust to include rods, brushes, acid ect..so I am eliminating that as a cause for now.

Jack E/NJ: I have attached pictures to show the current exhaust configuration...

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

If I had to guess by comparing the exhaust manifolds, I'd hafta guess the passenger side would get hotter.

Jack E/NJ

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

I have ran twin gauges on our 53 Flatty ( one on each head) and they always have ran the same..

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

The engine in the avitar is a 59ab in a 41 pickup. It has the same manifold set up as yours. It also runs hotter on the right side by about 10°. I think it may have something to do with the flow out the center block port. The right side needs to make 90° turn. The left dumps directly into the extension pipe.

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

I run 2 gauges on my 50 Flathead and it seems the right side always runs a few degrees hotter on the right side of motor.

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

i wonder if the exhaust does have something to do with the passenger side running hotter....not sure about the '53, but with the driver's side exhaust passing to the passenger side exhaust header on the earlier models, perhaps that might be a contributing factor??....just noodling...lol....Mike

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

Or headers and extension pipes from Red's Headers.

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

Merc, We have found with Skips high volume pumps the temperatures run less then 4 degrees difference on both sides on all the ones we tested and reports back from at least a 100 users. The temperatures have been taken using a laser pointed thermometer. You are using the same instrument on both sides BUT you need to point the laser dot at the same spot and hold the gun the same distance and angle from the item being tested and at the same distance every time a temperature is tested. On 32 to 48 engines on the water pump near the hose connection, On 49 to 53 engines on the goose neck water outlets. temperatures at the radiator, tank or other areas don't mean much these spot show the total cooling results of both sides. Temperatures in the center of the heads and at the rear of the heads are useful in finding hot spots which are in both of these areas. These are caused by small bubbles that form in the block in these spots. These are like the bubbles you see in in a glass tea kettle and they keep the water from comming in contact wiith the metal surface and don't cool these areas. Products like Purple Ice treat the metal surface and allow the water to make contact with the surface. I mention P.I. as a product because we used that in tests and SAW the results. Take temperature measurements at the mentioned areas and watch as the temperature at the outlets get up to the 190 plus range. Let the engine cool to 125 or lower and add the proper amount of P.I. for the system capacity, start the engine and let it go up in the the 190 range watching the hot spots that were found on the heads. The temperature will raise up to where it was before, sit there for a while and slowly start to drop as the teatment starts and run at that lower temperature for years as long as the P.I. is in the system. Run these tests at an engine speed of about 20 MPH with a LARGE house type fan (Lasko box fan $14.00 at Wal-Mart) right againt the center of the grill. The fan is needed because the stock Ford fans do not supply enough for long idle periods. This simulates the temperatures the engine will run at driving down the road with the air from forward motion being forced through the radiator. Also all the concern about sand and dirt is mostly of no concern. This dirt is laying down at the bottom of the block on the pan rail where there is no heat generated and oil spashing around from the crank counter weights will disperse the heat in that area. A good flushing will get rid of most the loose rust and crud. G.M.

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

G.M.

So bottom line, what you are saying is to ignore the other reading on the heads (to including the readings from the temperature sending units in the top center) and to use the readings on the thermostat housings?

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

I run Skips pumps & have an electric gauge on each head & the right is almost always 10 degrees hotter than the left.

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

butchbov:

Thank you for the confirmation. You know the original temperature gauge configuration really only read the temperature from the right side of the engine....maybe the ford engineers already knew the right side ran hotter and that if your temperature gauge in the dash was close to the center then you were good to go, because the left side was always cooler.

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

My flathead , a 50 8 BA runs a couple degrees hotter on the right then the left. I run two temp gauges, one on the left head and one on the right.but it's a couple of degrees not 10 though .

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

It is interesting to watch all the guesswork done on this forum. The technical reason for one bank to put more heat into the coolant is because the exhaust ports, within the block, are longer from one bank to the other. Conversely, the block intake ports are longer on the opposite bank. This combination of intake cooling and exhaust heating is the technical reason why one bank can run slightly hotter than the other. Obviously there are dozens of other causes for general engine overheating. But, if everything is perfect and equal the engine block design is not.

Re: Which side of you engine runs hotter
 

I have duel temp. gauges on my AV8(8RT)with lake style headers and get about a 8 degree difference (passenger side higher)so I don't think it's headers.I would think that JWL is correct.(I believe he would be one of the top authorities on the subject).
Menno