Baffled

[1931 flamingo]

40 Ford, 59AB, hi-comp heads,97's. Have had car 5 1/2 years, never overheated. No on the highway gauge goes up all the way. New anti-freeze, pumps working, electronic ign. This just started.


Ideas anyone??
Paul in CT

[19Fordy]

Some things to check.
Have you checked engine temperature using an infrared hand held unit?
Bad sending unit that screws into the head.
Remove thermostats and see if they are working properly.
Also, look for collapsed radiator hose .
Can you see coolant flowing inside the radiator with the cap off?

[flatford8]

I’m with 19Fordy….you have to make sure it’s actually getting that hot first….then t-stats, sending units, gauge…..let us know what you find……Mark

[1931 flamingo]

No stats, hoses not collapsed, fluid moving.
Paul

[Flathead Fever]

You need to get an infrared gauge and check the engine on both sides and see what the actual temperature is. Is it actually getting hot or is the gauge just saying it is. If it is hot, which side of the engine is getting hot. After it sits, does it have a little misfire that goes away when you first start it, indicating a head gasket is leaking. You can pull the plugs and look for one that is really clean indicating that's the cylinder where the coolant is going. Is it loosing coolant, check the oil and make sure it doesn't have coolant in it.

[Ggmac]

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If you have dual senders , try eliminating the one with dual terminals. That one is just an on off switch . If it goes bad it’ll send your gauge to hot .

[drolston]

Originally Posted by Ggmac

If you have dual senders , try eliminating the one with dual terminals. That one is just an on off switch . If it goes bad it’ll send your gauge to hot .

To do that, simply connect the wire from the gauge to the driver side sender/switch and the wire that crosses over to the other side to the one (either one) of the terminals on the dirver side sender/switch.

[1931 flamingo]

No crossover wire, both pumps pumping. Hot, humid here today. Went for a 10 mile ride on the highway, gauge just above the middle. Temp gun shows right head 181*, left head 190*, radiator drops 20*.
Could have the radiato4er being way overfilled caused this??


Still baffled.


Paul in CT

[Ggmac]

So is it back to its usual temps ? And to make sure do you only have one temp sending unit ?

[19Fordy]

1931: Your 181 and 190 temps are sensible. I don't think an overfilled radiator would cause high temps BUT, an air pocket in the system may inhibit coolant flow until the air pocket "goes away".
Is your cooling system pressurized?
Just for the heck of it drive your car with the radiator cap "loose" and record the
temperature. Then do the same with the cap tight.

[1931 flamingo]

One sender. An air bubble makes sense.Original radiator cap.


Thanks everybody.


Paul in CT