64 Flairbird overheating.

[Ezdarryl58]

My 64 tbird is over heating cant figure out why new thermostat top and bottom hose. Now wobble in water pump or signs of leaking freeze plugs are good. Was wondering if u start motor with radiator cap off of the expansion tank should I see antifreeze circulation inside expansion tank.

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[57tbird57]

My 64 tbird is over heating cant figure out why new thermostat top and bottom hose. Now wobble in water pump or signs of leaking freeze plugs are good. Was wondering if u start motor with radiator cap off of the expansion tank should I see antifreeze circulation inside expansion tank.

yes you should. i had the same problem with a 65. i drained the system and put in 2 bottles of prestone radiator flush then topped off with water drove it around for about 2hrs drained it and flushed it out a couple of times with plain water, then put fresh antifreeze in and never had another problem. you didn't mention if this was an a/c car or not. the fan on an a/c car is a clutch fan and the non a/c fan is standard without clutch

 

[64ZCODE]

Sure, run it without the radiator cap and make sure the coolant is circulating which would verify the thermostat has opened. It'll need to idle for a few minutes until the thermostat opens but then you'll see the coolant rushing by. Wondering if after changing the hoses you filled the cooling system to the brim? Also, alway good to be suspicious of your temp gauge. Check actual radiator temp by using an infra red thermo gun and checking temp at the top radiator tank.

 

[Ezdarryl58]

yes you should. i had the same problem with a 65. i drained the system and put in 2 bottles of prestone radiator flush then topped off with water drove it around for about 2hrs drained it and flushed it out a couple of times with plain water, then put fresh antifreeze in and never had another problem. you didn't mention if this was an a/c car or not. the fan on an a/c car is a clutch fan and the non a/c fan is standard without clutch

Ac car thanks will

 

[57tbird57]

Ac car thanks will

you want to make sure the clutch is working properly

 

[Profess or]

you want to make sure the clutch is working properly

my 63 is overheating also, a/c belt is not installed, would that be a factor?

 

[64ZCODE]

Overheating is either because the cooling system is clogged up or the fan isn't operating up to speed. Radiators can degrade to the point where they can't be cleaned out and have to be replaced. Fan clutches may need to be replaced.

Timing being too advanced might contribute but in my experience would not be the reason.

The other more grim possibility is a head gasket leak letting water into one or more cylinders. If this is happening, the crank case oil would turn milky and you would probably see bubbles rising in the radiator/expansion tank.

 

[Critterpainer]

When does it overheat? almost immediately sitting and running? Then thermostat in backwards. At a stop light? then check fan clutch. Driving down the freeway? Plugged or bad radiator.

 

[Profess or]

When does it overheat? almost immediately sitting and running? Then thermostat in backwards. At a stop light? then check fan clutch. Driving down the freeway? Plugged or bad radiator.

it gets hot after about 15 miles at highway speeds. have only driven short trips at lower speeds, idling, will test if that causes it to heat up too. anit-freeze appeared too rich when I got it. watered it down, didn't help. vac advance was not connected when they replaced the carb, connecting it helped some with overheating and a lot with how rough ti was running.

 

[Critterpainer]

How long have you had it on the road? Or is the car new to you? You could have a restricted/plugged radiator or a lot of dirt/dust on the fins of the core. Also blow the condenser fins off to help air flow. Does it puke water when you shut it off? Do you always have to top off the coolant? I am guessing a radiator problem, but it could also be augmented by sludge/rust in the engine water passages.

 

[Profess or]

How long have you had it on the road? Or is the car new to you? You could have a restricted/plugged radiator or a lot of dirt/dust on the fins of the core. Also blow the condenser fins off to help air flow. Does it puke water when you shut it off? Do you always have to top off the coolant? I am guessing a radiator problem, but it could also be augmented by sludge/rust in the engine water passages.

New to me. hadn't been driven, just started every few months for 3 years. Car/engine is very clean, no leaks. never needed to add coolant, but some will glurg out the radiator if I open it when hot, replaced with water to get it closer to 50/50. Did drop the tank and cleaned out rust and water, replaced filter.

 

[Ward 57]

I'll go with critterpainer. Is the fan spinning when the engine is warm? Does it speed up if you rev the engine? Also when warm shut the engine off and see if you can spin it by hand. If you can the clutch is bad. Not an uncommon problem and easy to replace and not that expensive. That or a clogged radiator by not changing the coolant on a regular basis. If running at Idle with the cap off and you can see plenty of coolant flow I'd bet on the fan clutch.

 

[Critterpainer]

Now might be a good time to use a laser type harbor freight quality temp reader to see if the engine is overheating or if the gauge is dishonest. Some of the replacement temp sender units are just WRONG!
Just as an aside I bought the 55 that is my avatar 6 months ago. Same story as yours. Gets hot quickly on the AZ days But every time I drove it, it stunk of bad gas. As I drove the bad gas out of it and fueled up with fresh gas it started to run just a bit cooler. I still have a temp issue to deal with but amazingly getting rid of the bad gas did help just a bit.

 

[Profess or]

Now might be a good time to use a laser type harbor freight quality temp reader to see if the engine is overheating or if the gauge is dishonest. Some of the replacement temp sender units are just WRONG!
Just as an aside I bought the 55 that is my avatar 6 months ago. Same story as yours. Gets hot quickly on the AZ days But every time I drove it, it stunk of bad gas. As I drove the bad gas out of it and fueled up with fresh gas it started to run just a bit cooler. I still have a temp issue to deal with but amazingly getting rid of the bad gas did help just a bit.

my sender definitely has issues, it goes up a bit as it warms, but stays near the cool marking no matter how hot the engine gets.

 

[64ZCODE]

New to me. hadn't been driven, just started every few months for 3 years. Car/engine is very clean, no leaks. never needed to add coolant, but some will glurg out the radiator if I open it when hot, replaced with water to get it closer to 50/50. Did drop the tank and cleaned out rust and water, replaced filter.

So what makes you think the engine is overheating? Coolant gushing out of a hot radiator when taking the cap off is how things are supposed to be. Agree with Critterpainer, get a laser temp gauge. Point it at the top right of the talk on top of the radiator. As long as it's no higher than 195-200 degrees F the engine is not overheating.

 

[Profess or]

So what makes you think the engine is overheating? Coolant gushing out of a hot radiator when taking the cap off is how things are supposed to be. Agree with Critterpainer, get a laser temp gauge. Point it at the top right of the talk on top of the radiator. As long as it's no higher than 195-200 degrees F the engine is not overheating.

that the engine is hot, runs much rougher and have to press the peddle further to go the same speed.

 

[Critterpainer]

Sounds like your car needs some troubleshooting not related to the cooling system. A carb rebuild and a tune-up may be in order.

 

[64ZCODE]

Sounds like your car needs some troubleshooting not related to the cooling system. A carb rebuild and a tune-up may be in order.

Yes, if you press on the gas and the car goes slower it is starving for gas.

If the engine is way overheated and you press on the gas and the car goes slower, then the engine is likely toast. I doubt that is the case for Professor. He should eliminate the possibility of overheating and go from there.

 

[Profess or]

Sounds like your car needs some troubleshooting not related to the cooling system. A carb rebuild and a tune-up may be in order.

Yes, I need to tune/timing and check the plugs, last owner just put a new carb on, but it's a Holley 2b.

 

[64ZCODE]

Yes, I need to tune/timing and check the plugs, last owner just put a new carb on, but it's a Holley 2b.

Not familiar with that carb, but since it's a Holley, good to make sure the power valve is correctly sized. It should be rated for half the at idle manifold vacuum. The 390 at idle should pull ~17 inches of mercury vacuum, so the power valve should be 8.5 but sometimes you have to fiddle with them. If the power valve rating is too low, the car will have a drop off of power when the gas is applied.