Overheating problem

[FordRacing302]

I been having some cooling issues lately so I put a new 180 degree T-stat in and burped the cooling sytem and it seemed to work. The car would heat up to 185 and stay there. But last night a couple miles from my house the heat jumped up to 220 and hovered there. It would cool down to 210 at idle, and any sort of driving would bring it back to 220+. I popped the hood and the radiator and upper hose were warm but not hot at all...Do I have a bad gauge (it's an autometer)??? or is that T-stat already junk (its a $4.99 valuecraft)??

 

[FordRacing302]

Damn, wrong section

Mods please move...

 

[Adams91LX]

I been having some cooling issues lately so I put a new 180 degree T-stat in and burped the cooling sytem and it seemed to work. The car would heat up to 185 and stay there. But last night a couple miles from my house the heat jumped up to 220 and hovered there. It would cool down to 210 at idle, and any sort of driving would bring it back to 220+. I popped the hood and the radiator and upper hose were warm but not hot at all...Do I have a bad gauge (it's an autometer)??? or is that T-stat already junk (its a $4.99 valuecraft)??

How old is the water pump? Electric fan or manual? Pull the T-stat, test it... put it in a pot of hot water on the stove, check the temp at which it opens (should be 180)...

 

[stykthyn]

Did you install the thermostat backwards?

 

[Shaolin Crane]

Mine was doing similar things, turns out it was the radiator. Replaced with a spare I had and it was great.

When you burp the system pull the upper hose off and pour boiling water into the thermostat housing, it helps burp the air faster.

 

[FordRacing302]

I dont think I did, shorter side is facing the radiator

 

[Adams91LX]

I dont think I did, shorter side is facing the radiator

Thermostats are free to test...

 

[FordRacing302]

Ya I guess Ill check it, but If im going through the work to pull it back out Ill just replace it with a failsafe

 

[2000xp8]

Replace it with a mr. gaskets 180.

 

[aar0s]

How old is your fan and clutch, do you have the diverter in place? I was having a problem running hot as I went down the highway, was alright in town. I changed both of these and added the diverter this summer and fixed the cooling problems I had.

 

[FordRacing302]

The clutch and fan are good...I just replaced the valuecraft 180 with a failsafe 180, its idling and driving at 185 degrees now. But now I think I have a more serious problem. I drove the car home the other night at 230 degrees for a couple of miles and now I have a little water underneath the oil cap and the coolant looks a little muddy, I guess Ill be buying TF twisted wedge heads sooner than I thought...