Overheating 1995 5.0

[Michael Flores]

Hello I recently bought a 1995 mustang gt 5.0 5 speed . The car ran great but recently it's been overheating, I live in phx az so It gets pretty hot. I noticed the temp gauge goes a little bit above the middle at times but it constantly goes up and down little by little but when I floor it the car slowly starts to heat up bad just a little bit before the red line. I'm not sure if I have a bad water pump or radiator. The car is fairly stock. It has a cobra 5.0 manifold, it is tuned and it has 4 inch mufflers that's about it so I find it pretty strange for it to overheat. I need help plz anything helps

 

[Michael Flores]

My car

 

[Dan_Soprano]

How does the antifreeze look?

 

[Michael Flores]

How does the antifreeze look?

It's not full, would putting water effect it in anyway?

 

[jozsefsz]

Is the fan running at high-speed as it's overheating?

 

[Michael Flores]

Is the fan running at high-speed as it's overheating?

Yes

 

[jozsefsz]

Since you're fan's working, water pump, radiator, thermostat, or blown head gasket are your usual suspects for overheating. It may not hurt to check the actual radiator temperature (using a laser thermometer - they're really cheap these days ~$10 at Walmart) just to make sure it's not just your gauge or its sensor acting up.

 

[Michael Flores]

Since you're fan's working, water pump, radiator, thermostat, or blown head gasket are your usual suspects for overheating. It may not hurt to check the actual radiator temperature (using a laser thermometer - they're really cheap these days ~$10 at Walmart) just to make sure it's not just your gauge or its sensor acting up.

I think it might just be the sensor messed up because the car will ride normal for about 5 minutes then it goes up to about midway the M and A in NORMAL then after about a couple minutes it falls back down to normal, all while driving calmly, it happens when it's 98 degrees outside and it happens when it's 75 degresss outside

 

[General karthief]

Is the overflow working properly and your cap good?
Has thermostat been changed recently?

 

[General karthief]

Moved to tech

 

[Michael Flores]

Cap wasn't working , got it replaced still overheats

 

[Michael Flores]

Moved to tech

I'm gonna try my thermostat

 

[General karthief]

Thermostats are cheap and easy to change but stove top test it to make sure it opens at the proper temp.
You should get a mechanical temp gauge to confirm what temp you are actually experiencing.

 

[Michael Flores]

Thermostats are cheap and easy to change but stove top test it to make sure it opens at the proper temp.
You should get a mechanical temp gauge to confirm what temp you are actually experiencing.

I will do that today and get back to you