The Ford Barn

John Gibson · 06-25-2017, 01:55 PM

My 1936 Phaeton pushes the temperature gauge right to the top line on the gauge. It's 91 degrees ambient outside temperature here in coastal Georgia. I have a laser temperature gun from Harbor Freight and the highest reading I am getting is 202 degrees Fahrenheit taking readings six inches away from the heads, etc. I'm thinking that is quite high and should be down in the 190 range. I'm certain that a lot of gearheads on this Forum know a lot more about this issue than I do.

July 1, 2017. Skip Haney water pumps and no thermostats.
Johh

JSeery · 06-25-2017, 02:39 PM

If it's not boiling then it's ok, but doesn't leave a lot of margin. 190 would defiantly be better. There are a lot of factors that can contribute to increased temperatures such as casting sand in block, radiator blockage, fan not moving enough air through the radiator, leakage of combustion gas into the cooling system, etc. It can take a little effort to narrow down the culprit. Is the temperature consistent from one side to the other?

Bored&Stroked · 06-25-2017, 02:46 PM

Give us a little more history on the car and it's past behavior. Is this something new and different . . . or has it always ran hot? Were you sitting at stop lights (idling) and it crept up to this temperature, or going down the road? You get the point - we don't have much to work with at this point.

B&S

alanwoodieman · 06-25-2017, 03:41 PM

assume you are running 50/50 mixture water antifreeze? you can add some "water wetter" about two bottles works in my flatheads and can be good for about 10 to 20 degrees lower temp, but first you may need to clean the cooling system. give us a little more to go on. the 36 I just worked on would run about 180, creeps to 190 under hard load at 55 mph with 3:78 rear gears

supereal · 06-25-2017, 03:53 PM

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When I first got my '47 it wouldn't go around the block without pegging the gauge. I tried most of the easy fixes with no results. Finally, I bought a new radiator. It certainly wasn't cheap. bit I can run in any traffic and highways with the gauge holding steady at the mid point. It has been in the mid 90's here in Iowa for most of the month, and it doesn't affect the engine temp. Have the cooling system pressure checked to eliminate any leakage that would indicate internal gasket leakage.

06-25-2017, 01:55 PM	#1
John Gibson Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Coastal Georgia Posts: 131	Temperatures My 1936 Phaeton pushes the temperature gauge right to the top line on the gauge. It's 91 degrees ambient outside temperature here in coastal Georgia. I have a laser temperature gun from Harbor Freight and the highest reading I am getting is 202 degrees Fahrenheit taking readings six inches away from the heads, etc. I'm thinking that is quite high and should be down in the 190 range. I'm certain that a lot of gearheads on this Forum know a lot more about this issue than I do. July 1, 2017. Skip Haney water pumps and no thermostats. Johh Last edited by John Gibson; 07-01-2017 at 05:36 AM.

06-25-2017, 02:39 PM	#2
JSeery Member Emeritus Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Wichita KS Posts: 16,132	Re: Temperatures If it's not boiling then it's ok, but doesn't leave a lot of margin. 190 would defiantly be better. There are a lot of factors that can contribute to increased temperatures such as casting sand in block, radiator blockage, fan not moving enough air through the radiator, leakage of combustion gas into the cooling system, etc. It can take a little effort to narrow down the culprit. Is the temperature consistent from one side to the other?

06-25-2017, 02:46 PM	#3
Bored&Stroked Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Central Ohio Posts: 5,068	Re: Temperatures Give us a little more history on the car and it's past behavior. Is this something new and different . . . or has it always ran hot? Were you sitting at stop lights (idling) and it crept up to this temperature, or going down the road? You get the point - we don't have much to work with at this point. B&S

06-25-2017, 03:41 PM	#4
alanwoodieman Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: upstate SC Posts: 2,964	Re: Temperatures assume you are running 50/50 mixture water antifreeze? you can add some "water wetter" about two bottles works in my flatheads and can be good for about 10 to 20 degrees lower temp, but first you may need to clean the cooling system. give us a little more to go on. the 36 I just worked on would run about 180, creeps to 190 under hard load at 55 mph with 3:78 rear gears

06-25-2017, 03:53 PM	#5
supereal Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,634	Re: Temperatures Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) When I first got my '47 it wouldn't go around the block without pegging the gauge. I tried most of the easy fixes with no results. Finally, I bought a new radiator. It certainly wasn't cheap. bit I can run in any traffic and highways with the gauge holding steady at the mid point. It has been in the mid 90's here in Iowa for most of the month, and it doesn't affect the engine temp. Have the cooling system pressure checked to eliminate any leakage that would indicate internal gasket leakage.