creepster

I have a new radiator, water pump, thermostat, and hoses... and still the car over heats in less that a mile of driving. I have pressure tested the radiator and the system hold 9 lbs. of pressure. I did notice a very small leak between the timing chain cover and the block. A small bead of coolant was forming. But what would make the car overheat like this? What else can I check?

Thanks from Hawaii!
Kyle

SHESA64

is the car physicaly overheating? or are you going by the temp. gage? if your going by temp gage check sending unit on top of intake. If it is physicaly overheating did you have the engine rebuilt? if so possiably your head gasket may be 180 degree off. To check the tabs on the head gasket on should be behind & one in front of the motor. The have to be like that because the hole for the water flow is smaller on the front then the rear

creepster

Im going by the temp gauge, but the coolant does also over flow from the over flow tube. So I'm guessing that the temp gauge is correct. I don't think the head gasket is on backwards because I bought the car from the first owner, and the car doesn't look like they changed anything on it. Is there anyway to clean out any blockage in the flow of the motor beside just flushing it out? Somebody said the timing could be off. I'm going to check that as well.

SHESA64

I had a simular problem with my 70 mustang it would run hot.I change the radiator, water pump, thermostat, & it it ended up being the sending unit. if you can go out & buy an external temp gage. plug it in & let the car run to see what the actual temp is. You might only need to replace the sending unit it was only about a $5 part

creepster

Thanks, I'll try that.

68GEETEE

Mine was caused by a timing problem. Car always ran hot, and I changed every coolant part you can think of! By accident , I discovered that when the #1 cylinder was at top dead center, the rotor was pointing to #7, way way off. The previous owner compensated for this by jumping the ignition wires to different terminals, which was stupid.

I pulled the distributor, got the #1 cylinder positioned at TDC, re-installed the distributor, set the timing, and she runs like a champ, and does not get hot anymore. Get your engine to #1 tdc, pull your dist cap and see where your rotor is pointing, if it aint pointing to #1, thats the problem. Hope this helps.

Dave

creepster

I'll do that! This probelm is really frustrating me. How long would it normally take for bad timing to make the car heat? I was looking at the wire and I don't know if they are in right sequence. From changing other things on this car, the previous owners mechanic wasn't exactly professional. So it's a good possibility with the timing. Does any one have a diagram of the firing sequence I could folllow? If you do could you email it to me at creepster3@hotmail.com. I was also told by a parts guy at a car shop to check for a blown head gasket. I'm going to check the cylinder pressure once I put my plumbing back together.

Thank you everyone for the response and suggestions!
Aloha from Hawaii,

Kyle

68GEETEE

The firing order is 15426378 . THe number 1 cylinder will be the first cylinder on your left if you are standing in front of the car. Locate the #1 on your distributor cap, and see if it connects to that cylinder. Mine Didnt, thats how I knew something was wrong.

To get the engine to top dead center, remove your number one spark plug, disconnect your coil wire. Stick your finger in the spark plug hole. and se a screwdriver to make the engine crank until you feel the piston touch your finger. Look at your harmonic balancer to see if the timing mark shows 0, this would be top dead center. Then take off the distributor cap , making a note of where #1 terminal is, and see if your rotor is pointing to it. . IF not, you found your problem.

Timing will make a car run hot shortly after you start it up. It affects your engine temp, and fuel economy, and overall performance.

My engine hesitated when I would punch it, now it accelerates smooth and crisp. Hope this helps.

Dave

creepster

okay, I'm going to try that out.
thanks so much again.

K.

69FECoupe

Before you pull the distributor, check the timing with a light. Even if the wires have been moved in the cap, as long as they are in the correct firing sequence and the timing is set correctly, it does not matter. As long as you use the terminal that the rotor is pointing to as #1, the motor won't know the difference. Running with the timing severly retarded will cause high operating temperatures.