Overheating and annoyed, just venting.

[Tims97SVT]

Well just caught her just before she started to overheat all the way. Temps got as high as 244F and made it back home in the nick of time. Left it running and high speed fan coming on strong. Coolant was shooting out the radiator cap.

This is the 3rd time I've had an overheating episode over the past 4 years of ownership. So looks like I'll be putting in the Reische t-stat in there in the event my Stant 170 t-stat went bad. And I'll be replacing all the Ford clamps this time with screw type clamps. And I'll be replacing my old screw type clamps with new ones. I'm sure air has gotten in the system somehow. Another new cap to buy and wasting a few days burping this thing.

Anyway, I know I'm being a big baby just wanted to complain about how much I hate the cooling system on these cars and there tendency to suck in air through those weak Ford clamps. I hate working on the cooling system. So anyone who does overheat out of the blue, don't lose heart as I'm sure it will happen to you again. :thumbsup:

Rob

Well first the "weak" ford constant torque clamps are much better then the junk ideal or breeze screw type clamps your going to replace the ford ones with.

Second if the car saw 244f for even a couple of min then you probably have more problems now. Warped head, blow hg, warped deck yada yada. Sounds like your fan may not be coming on at the right time. I did not see where you said you turned the a/c on. Next time do that. The fan will come on!
You should have the o-ring on the crossover plug. It was put there for a reason, so it does not leak and to retain the pressure in the cooling system. A cooling system that does not have pressure means your engine will over heat!

 

[A.T]

It was put there for a reason, so it does not leak and to retain the pressure in the cooling system. A cooling system that does not have pressure means your engine will over heat!

I know that is not true. My dads 98 Chevy 1500 4x4 with a 4.3 had a bad intake gasket (originally thought head gasket) and there was a pressure release radiator cap on it with the tab lifted up and turned to the side to stop the coolant leak with less pressure. The truck during the winter had heat and ran at about 160. The truck was like this for 3 or 4 years then I decided to change the intake gaskets and cleaned the throttle body (sticky gas pedal) and since then it's been going good.

 

[Tims97SVT]

I know that is not true. My dads 98 Chevy 1500 4x4 with a 4.3 had a bad intake gasket (originally thought head gasket) and there was a pressure release radiator cap on it with the tab lifted up and turned to the side to stop the coolant leak with less pressure. The truck during the winter had heat and ran at about 160. The truck was like this for 3 or 4 years then I decided to change the intake gaskets and cleaned the throttle body (sticky gas pedal) and since then it's been going good.

Let me get this clear? The intake gasket leaked so you released the cap on the rad to keep the intake from leaking? What did you accomplish by doing this?

1psi of pressure effects the boiling point of water but roughly 3 degrees. So answer these questions!

What is the boiling point of water?
What is the boiling point of water with 5psi?
What is the boiling point of water with 16psi?

If pressure does not effect how the cooling system works then why do all manufactures have pressure caps...?

 

[Marvin97]

I blew a head gasket on my cobra because my fan failed on me and the stock gauge didn't tell me it was getting hot. I have since installed a Spal 2000cfm fan that runs constant, an autometer water temp gauge and a 165 thermostat. Now even in bumper to bumper traffic in this heat I never see above 200 degrees. Around 185 on most days

 

[black 10th vert]

I know that is not true. My dads 98 Chevy 1500 4x4 with a 4.3 had a bad intake gasket (originally thought head gasket) and there was a pressure release radiator cap on it with the tab lifted up and turned to the side to stop the coolant leak with less pressure. The truck during the winter had heat and ran at about 160. The truck was like this for 3 or 4 years then I decided to change the intake gaskets and cleaned the throttle body (sticky gas pedal) and since then it's been going good.

That may have worked on that particular vehicle, but I know for a fact the system we have needs to be pressurized with no air/vac leaks at all, or you will overheat guaranteed. A lot of the older vehicles could run fine with the cap left on loose, but these are a whole different animal, so your example does not apply here.

 

[Brutal Metal]

Whenever I install Crossover tubes I replace the O-rings if they look compromised and run a dab of RTV around it!

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

tendency to suck in air through those weak Ford clamps.

Rob, I totally agree that the OEM clamps are a PITA but I seriously doubt air is getting in through them. There is a whole lot more positive pressure is the system when hot than there ever is negative pressure and you would most definitely see leaking when hot if this was happening. Let's be clear that in most cases air only enters the system to displace coolant that has expanded and exited for some reason- I've always felt the reservoir threads/cap sealing issue is the most likely culprit of this. Exception being the elusive HG issue.

there was a pressure release radiator cap on it with the tab lifted up and turned to the side to stop the coolant leak with less pressure. The truck during the winter had heat and ran at about 160.

I believe it. Problem is with no pressure there is little coolant adhering to the head's coolant passages so you're going to see some nasty hot spots and/or head temps. Pretty amazing to see it go that long without damage though. Better not try it on an FI engine either.

 

[01cobravortech]

Rob, I totally agree that the OEM clamps are a PITA but I seriously doubt air is getting in through them. There is a whole lot more positive pressure is the system when hot than there ever is negative pressure and you would most definitely see leaking when hot if this was happening. Let's be clear that in most cases air only enters the system to displace coolant that has expanded and exited for some reason- I've always felt the reservoir threads/cap sealing issue is the most likely culprit of this. Exception being the elusive HG issue.I believe it.

Hey Joel thanks for the great input as always. Yea its a bit of head scratcher as to the amount of times my car has overheated. Granted 3 times in 4 years may not be considered a lot by most. Too late for those Ford clamps. I just finished up and pulled off the last 3. I decided to put 2 screw type clamps in their places. Dropped your t-stat in there and all that's left for tomorrow is to pick up a new radiator cap and find an o-ring for the crossover plug. I use a Moroso radiator tank so there's no reason to look at that as a problem. Inspected it and no cracks anywhere.

The only thing I did find was that the hose that connects from the radiator tank to the t-stat housing had a crack from top to bottom. When I bent the hose in the cracked area I could see that webbed lining that is built into the hose. So we'll see in a few days as I take my time burping it. Btw, you have great directions on your site about burping the car. Didn't know about the tip of squeezing that upper radiator hose. Thanks for all your help and suggestions. :beer:

 

[01cobravortech]

Whenever I install Crossover tubes I replace the O-rings if they look compromised and run a dab of RTV around it!

I'm going to start doing that from now on.

 

[01cobravortech]

So far so good. Man this Reische t-stat is no joke. I noticed some interesting fluctuations in temps.

Did the first heat cycle today. When I heat cycle the car I always put the burp plug on before doing it rather than the funnel method most use. I noticed that Ford is now making a different radiator cap than the one I'm accustomed to buying. I turned the A/C on as soon as I started the car and the fans came on immediately. No leaks detected anywhere while idling.

I was using the OBD II analog to monitor temps and I have to tell you this car does not come up to temp quickly with the Reische t-stat. While I was idling the car I had the heat on full blast. The highest temp it would reach while idling and the heat on full blast was (79C) 174.2F. It just would not budge from that temp with the heat on full blast. I had to turn the heat off in order to get the temp to go higher. The highest it went while idling was (88C) 190.4F. Even with frequently racing the engine the temps wouldn't go above 190F. No coolant leaked from the cap either.

As soon as the high speed fan went on at 190F the temps came down rapidly and went all the way down to (81C) 177.8F. As the temp came down to 177F I put the heat on to the highest setting and it dropped to 174F and would not climb back up until I turned the heat off. I idled the car for about 45min during today's heat cycle.

With my Stant 170, I always idled between (85C - 88C) 185F - 190F. The car got to operating temp very quickly. The temps I'm seeing so far are pretty impressive. Going to continue to do 1 heat cycle each day over the next 3 days and get all the air out. Then on Fri I'm drive it around town in lots of stop and go traffic to see what happens to the temps. I'm very impressed right now with what this t-stat is doing.

 

[rtvickers]

Glad to hear its working out for you so far. Hope it stays that way.

 

[Blueline]

Hey Rob, I agree the Reische thermostat is a great piece. This has been one of my best mods by far. My car idles a steady 177 give or take after a hard pull may see 190-195 then right back to around 180. GL bud, I hope you got it all straightened out.

 

[01cobravortech]

Hey Rob, I agree the Reische thermostat is a great piece. This has been one of my best mods by far. My car idles a steady 177 give or take after a hard pull may see 190-195 then right back to around 180. GL bud, I hope you got it all straightened out.

Thanks Tony. I feel confident it was just some issue of getting air in there. Old cap had been on there for over 3 years. I know we have a few guys rooting for a hg issue here. lol But I'm not feeling that at all. I've never had any issue with coolant just spilling past the cap unless its a full blown overheating episode. I know a lot of the hg victims have coolant pushing past the cap for a period of time. And that hasn't been the case for me.

 

[01cobravortech]

Glad to hear its working out for you so far. Hope it stays that way.

That's what I'm expecting my friend. :beer:

 

[cobracide]

Riesche is the bomb, no better cooling mod to reduce engine temps.

 

[01cobravortech]

Riesche is the bomb, no better cooling mod to reduce engine temps.

I still can't believe what I was seeing on those cooling temps today! That t-stat is worth every penny.

 

[cobracide]

One of the very highest if not THE best bang for buck on these cars.

 

[JMD0346]

Mine overheated the other day for a few seconds before i cut it off. Fan came unplugged.

I got a puff of steam and coolant coming out of the cap. I hope I didnt hurt anything. It only got hot for seconds before I killed it. My aftermarket guage got to 230-240 but the stock guage didnt go all the way to hot. Car runs fine with no more overheating.


Is the stock cap made to bleed pressure or is mine just leaking?

 

[01cobravortech]

Mine overheated the other day for a few seconds before i cut it off. Fan came unplugged.

I got a puff of steam and coolant coming out of the cap. I hope I didnt hurt anything. It only got hot for seconds before I killed it. My aftermarket guage got to 230-240 but the stock guage didnt go all the way to hot. Car runs fine with no more overheating.


Is the stock cap made to bleed pressure or is mine just leaking?

I would replace that cap if I were you. They tend to be one and done when you overheat and have problems keeping a seal after an overheating episode. So keep that in mind if starts pushing coolant out the cap again.

 

[cobracide]

Yup they are made to release pressure but one it has I don't trust the cap anymore. Cheap anyways.