Overheating Issue

[wild horse]

Ok so I got my motor back in and running. Heres the problem , As soon as I start driving after a couple minutes of warming up first the temp gauge starts
climbing until it maxes out on the gauge which is only less then 10 blocks. There is a minor leak from the bottem radiator hose but not enough to cause this problem. Now could it be because maybe I got the heatercore hoses mixed up in which one goes where ? I'm at a loss becaus it never did this before I pulled the engine out ? I did leave the motor outside under the eave of my house but I covered the distributor and carb to keep water out.

 

[ab_slack]

I don't know the coolant system well so I can only give some general thoughts.

I don't know what happens if you get heater hoses reversed. What I do recall is someone who does know saying the heater core is the bypass for the water pump so the pump doesn't dead head when the thermostat is closed.

Are you getting good heat by the time the temperature gauge starts moving up? If not maybe you are not seeing any flow thru the heater core.

Did you do anything with the thermostat? Could it be installed backwards?

One known problems with these engines is the heads cracking. Have you checked your oil for any signs of coolant? Not sure how evident it may be with dipstick or oil filler cap early on. May have to let it sit such that the drain plug is a low spot, let it cool completely and any water settle to the bottom, then drain a small amount into a glass jar. It should be evident after what you drain has had opportunity to sit and separate.

 

[JerryC]

HC hoses wouldn't do that. Thermostat backwards or not opening would. A big air bubble in the system might do that. Did you let it burp when you filled it up?

 

[ab_slack]

HC hoses wouldn't do that. Thermostat backwards or not opening would. A big air bubble in the system might do that. Did you let it burp when you filled it up?

Good point, getting air out of the upper heater hose can be an issue.

 

[3rd Petal]

I'd check the thermostat.
Also, does your heater work right now? If it doesn't blow hot when the engine is hot, it probably means there is an air bubble or something in the system and water isn't flowing through

 

[wild horse]

Ok so I pulled the heater core hoses off today and they are bone dry even tho there is water in the radiator. I also remember that last night when I was driving it and it said it was overheating that there was no steam or boiling of the coolint in the overflow tank or anything . I do know that its the original t-stat from 1984 and has never been changed. I also checked the dipstick and no sign off milkshake eather. And no hot air was comming from the vents when hot just ice cold air.

 

[JerryC]

Even with t-stat in backwards or locked up closed you should get flow through the HC.

Sounds like you don't have enough coolant in there and it may be because the water pump is not working.

Didn't shove a rag in the water pump intake way back when did you?

 

[wild horse]

No I recon I never put a rag in it lol . So I ordered a t-stat and gasket today as its an item that is no longer stocked and is special order , And hope that it will take care of the problem. Question is how do I burp the cooling system as I have never done it before ?

 

[JerryC]

You run it with rad cap off until the t-stat opens and you see coolant flowing in the rad. People call it burping because if you fill the rad to the top when the t-stat opens it "burps" and some coolant will overflow as the air pushes into the rad.

If you fill the rad with an inch, inch and half or so left then you probably wont actually burp any out. You'll see the coolant level drop after the t-stat opens and then you add more coolant.

When I changed my HC a couple weeks ago it was so cold the t-stat barely opened and you could only tell because the coolant level dropped a little at a time, I never did get the big burp. So what I did was fill up the rad and add about 3 inches of coolant to the overflow, sealed it all up and drove around and came back and checked it. The whole time I was getting heat from the HC through the vents and you could feel the hoses and know coolant was flowing through them.

Something is keeping you from getting coolant to the HC, and the water pump should be pushing the coolant to the HC if it is pumping and it is getting coolant.

 

[ab_slack]

Thermostats are designed to fail open. Also, if you never took it out, odds are that it isn't backwards.

on the low coolant, odd none in your heater core. I would think water pump would push water thru that right away.

I have never run engine until hot like described above. What I do is fill it as much as it goes into the radiator, wait and it will settle, top it off again, and again. It just seems to keep taking coolant. Once it seems full I start it for 30 seconds, turn it off, repeat the process of filling it. Start again for 30 seconds repeat. I just keep alternating between starting it and filling it till it doesn't go down when I fill it.

At that point, I note that the upper heater hose is easy to squeeze because there is no coolant in it. I find squeezing that caused bubbles to come out of radiator and coolant level to drop when I let go. I guess that in a way it could be called burping.

I then top off coolant, repeat the hose squeezing till I can't get any more air to bubble out, top off with coolant, squeeze again. Just keep repeating till I get no more air out. I put the cap on at this port, start it for 30 seconds. Pull cap off, top off coolant, squeeze upper radiator hose again to see if any air comes out. Repeat the process of squeezing and filling and starting with cap on. Eventually I get to point where when I squeeze upper rad hose it feels pretty solid and I can tell I am moving fluid rather than pushing air.

And when I can't get any more air out, I put rad cap back on, some coolant in overflow and call it done temporarily.

In this process, since I never run the engine long it never gets particularly warm.


I either then drive it or idle it till it is hot, or just let it sit till next time I need to go out. Anyways, next time it is fully warmed up I make sure I get heat and after it has cooled down I check the cold level in the overflow tank, add coolant if needed to overflow.

It probably seems more complex described than it really is.


I think close it up. Put some in the overflow to the line.

 

[wild horse]

Well I got the problem fixed. Turns out that the bottom radiator hose clamp broke so the system wasent sealing , But now I got heat and its not maxing out anymore. Now the new problem is the reason I pulled the motor in the first place. It's grinding again when I try to start it, I had a new ring gear installed on the flywheel and had it resurfased , Put in new clutch kit and installed a new starter. Now I dont even have a dozen startes on it and its grinding again . What am i doing wrong ? I'm about at the point of selling the P.O.S

 

[JerryC]

I haven't done much starter work since high school shop ( a long time ago). Back then it this type of thing would typically be an alignment/depth issue.

I've not worked on one of these so i may be way off.
Was there a plate between the block and bell housing that got left off?

 

[wild horse]

Yes it does and Its in there.

 

[3rd Petal]

Is it grinding and not engaging or turning the engine over, or is it just loud during cranking. Cause ever since I got mine, the starter seemed abnormally loud, but its been doing it for over a year now and its not eating teeth up or anything, so I guess its fine.

Also, I've never seen ford starters that that are adjustable or shim-able, so in theory there shouldn't be any issues with adjustment, it only fits in one place

 

[JerryC]

I was thinking that if the plate was left out the depth would be wrong, but its in there.

 

[wild horse]

So is there anypossable way to shim the starter out ? This thig is me and my moms only means of getting around and its already been down a month and a half. I'm at my wits end and have no more money to put into it And will half to sell it if I can't get it fixed.

 

[3rd Petal]

Well does it make a grinding noise but still turn over, or does it just grind?

If the starter does engage into the flywheel, you could probably take the starter out and cover the gear on the starter in gear making paint, like you use when you set a ring and pinion, then crank it over a few times, then take the starter back out and you might be able to get a view of how the gears are meshing.

If you find it is engaging too deep, it may be possible to "shim" the starter out a bit with a washer or two between the starter and bellhousing on the bolts. Maybe. Would be pretty sketchy though, if you space it out too much it will push the starter out from where the body of it seats into its hole in the bellhousing. Then it might want to just bust the ears off the starter where it bolts.

If it is meshing too tight with the flywheel, I dunno what you could you do to adjust it that direction. Maybe oval out the holes a little, but I don't think you could get much cause the started seats into its hole through that metal plate and into the bellhousing, so its trapped in place pretty good.

But like I said earlier, these starters are supposed to just bolt in and work, not adjustment necessary. Only starters I've worked with before that were adjustable were chevy starter, but they bolt different than ford starters, they bolt perpendicular to the starter.

I have also seen racing starters that are adjustable, but I doubt they make one that fits a 2.9.

Also, do you have a good battery? I've seen starters grind before because the battery didn't have enough power to make the starter engage fast enough to fully engage

 

[ab_slack]

Maybe the starter isn't extending fully into position? Not just low battery as suggested above but maybe there is an issue mechanically with it.

Teeth on the starter in good condition?

 

[wild horse]

Well the problem is gone. I put a brand new starter in it and no more grinding. But my new problem is the fuel gauge quit working. It seams like I get one thing fixed just to have something else go out ' what is more common to go out the gauge or sending unit ?

 

[JerryC]

Murphy's law, whichever is more difficult to replace. The sending unit

Does it not work at all or the reading is off?

If not at all I would think wiring first. I remember that there is real good post or tech article on this somewhere on the net.

edit: here it is: http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131852