Alright everyone, finally got the stang back to my house today, did a radiator swap in 17 minutes (I was a little rushed) and got her back out on the road, only to find that shes still overheating.... [:@] When I returned home and popped the hood, the overflow bottle was filling quickly, and the top radiator hose had a bunch of pressure in it, water pump was very recently replaced, so my next logical step is t-stat right? This is my first stang, and I just wanted to check with everyone to make sure that this is where I should be looking, unless im looking over something obvious..

Next question, the coolant that came out of the old radiator was an awesome shade of mud brown (no sediment tho), think its about time for a coolant system flush?? about how much should this cost, never had one done before. I am really hoping that no coolant passages are blocked, but the chances that all passages blocked enough to cause such high pressures in the radiator is pretty unlikely right??

and FINALLY- suggestions for what degree t-stat to run. I know I run a 195 in the monte carlo, dont know what the 5.0 likes to run at tho. any help??

sorry about the long post, thanks for any input though.

alex m

 

180* stat works well in 5.0s. Did you burp the system? After it cooled was the level low in the radiator? Was the coolant bubbling in the over flow? I would do a flush and a new stat and go from there.

 

also, how long has it been overheating for?

 

Is there any water in your oil? check your dipstick, and look for any *milkyness* in the oil. Thermostat could be a problem though. It isn't too hard to change, but the muddy looking water doesnt sound good. I would flush the system, and run some fresh coolant in there, and hope you haven't blown a head gasket.

 

i would put the coolant filler in or if u dont have one u can jam a funnel in there and then let it idle and turn on the heat and let ir run for a while and see if there is any bubbles coming out and if the bubbles dont stop ur looking at a head gasket or lower intake gaskets are sucking in air but before u do anything i would just see if there is still traped air in it

 

I did check the oil, didnt see any milkiness, keeping my fingers crossed for the head gasket being intact. It hasnt been overheating for very long, the prev. owner said he parked it with a for sale sign the first time it did it, meant to change the radiator never got to it. I drove it home today, never let it get off the guage before I would stop and let it cool off. I didn't have time to check the radiator after it had cooled down all the way, but when I had the hood open during the overheating, the coolant did seem to be bubbling...im thinking that im going to drop a new t-stat in it, fire her up and hope for the best.

If the headgasket is blown though, sounds like a good excuse to do a cam while I've got her all apart.


any more ideas??

alex m

 

I just had the same problem...bad head gasket. My over flow was bubbling. I would do a stat first, but a cam swap might be comming your way.

 

alright then, worst case scenario-

I am new to the Ford world, but I have taken apart a couple chevy's in my day. I am assuming youre gonna need to do the usual fuel rail, headers, heads removal... anything else on these beasts that would be worth mentioning?

then on the rebuild, torque to specs and should be good right? If the previos owner wasn't 100 truthful and its been doin it for a while, would doing both sides be a prudent idea? I mean, I understand a compression check will tell me which bank needs to get changed, but should I do both just for good measure? Im not really sure if a cam is in the budget right now, so I dont really want to take apart the good side if i dont have to.

alex

 

Full intake removal, alt and power steering pump braket, headers, fuel lines and a buch of vacume lines and plugs. Just replace the head bolts and all gaskets and do both sides. Torque them down to specs and you should be good.

 

one more question on gaskets... Ive always used fel-pro, had good luck with them. any suggestions?? I was surfing on jegs earlier and got a pair of head gaskets, and a pair of intake gaskets, and head bolts all for around $100. Edelbrock made the head gasket and Mr Gasket made the intakes. sound good?

alex