Heating up

KStromberg

KStromberg

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FML :mad:

Just had the t-stat replaced today. Got it home and then headed over to my buddy's house and all was fine. Went and weighed the car at the local scale (which by the way it is 3867# with me in it, so the diet was successful) Drove up the freeway, dropped him off and then got back on the freeway and the damn gauge worked its way up to 3/4 hot and pretty much stayed there. What in the world is going on? Is there air trapped? I drove it around for awhile, got back in 50 mph zones and it seemed to come down a little bit sometimes going up slightly at these speeds a not quite as much and then got on the freeway and it was spiking high again. Not in the red but well past half into the next "zone" before the red.

Please help. If I don't figure this out, race day is off. I can't believe this and I'm starting a new job in the morning and my truck just blew out a brake line today so this is my only vehicle at the moment. So pissed!

To be noted: It was sitting dead half at the stoplight around town looking ok, so I went WOT and when I did I of course slaughtered 2nd gear and then the temp gauge spiked up a bit again. Makes me think movement has an effect. (Shoving the air pocket around:confused:)
 
chargerxr said:
Kirk, what kind of thermostat was put in it? Was it a Motorcraft?
Click to expand...

I believe so. I upgraded and they put a Ford Lightning t-stat in it.


Can I just keep driving this thing and work it out with the hot/cold cycles? It never goes into the red but I don't want to drive it around at a higher sustained temperature either. Ughh
 
I'm not sure what the lightning thermostat looks like, but my guess is the hole in the center of the stat is too small and won't flow enough coolant. I've seen it too many times. I posted pics in a thread awhile back showing the difference between Motocraft stats and others.
 
Uggh. Another possible factor. That's all I need. I'm taking this thing back. They had to eff up the bleeding process.
 
KStromberg said:
FML :mad:

Just had the t-stat replaced today.
Click to expand...

They didn't bleed the air out of the system, pull off cross over cap and burp the thing.

It will take you less time then driving back to the shop that you had it done and try to explain how to purge the air out of the system.
If they knew how to do it, it would have been done already.
 
ford nut said:
They didn't bleed the air out of the system, pull off cross over cap and burp the thing.

It will take you less time then driving back to the shop that you had it done and try to explain how to purge the air out of the system.
If they knew how to do it, it would have been done already.
Click to expand...
+1
just do it save the gas.

i would want to bring it back on principal though.
 
I'd bleed it myself ONLY if I knew they put a thermostat in with a large center orifice. If not, it probably won't bleed.
 
Exactly. If the thermostat looked like the one on the left in these pics, I guarantee that it's the source of the problem. If it looked like the one on the right, then you've likely got air in the system.

tstatcomparo1.jpg

tstatcomparo2.jpg
 
Ok, I'm going to burp it. I did burp it a little before I left work which is only 5 miles from home. While it was idling with the reservoir cap and crossover cap off the level was pretty high on the reservoir and in the crossover pipe it looked like a constant bubble bath and it was well below the thread line like it could be added to. Is this the air pocket working out? How long until this air is worked out? Right now the car is cooling so I can go out and do it again only let it idle for longer this time. My friend is screaming head gaskets at me over text and I'm about to drive over there and punch him in the mouth.
 
If the level in the reservoir is where it needs to be, then leave the reservoir capped. Open the crossover, stick a funnel in the hole, and fill it with coolant. It sometimes helps to squeeze the upper radiator hose to help work the air out of the crossover.
 
racecougar said:
If the level in the reservoir is where it needs to be, then leave the reservoir capped. Open the crossover, stick a funnel in the hole, and fill it with coolant. It sometimes helps to squeeze the upper radiator hose to help work the air out of the crossover.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks! I was just going to add that while it was idling I did squeeze that hose and the level rose at the crossover and I could definitely see bubbles popping right at the top right out into thin air! So it has to be air!!

Edit: The tstat came from factory motorparts. I don't know much more than that at this point.
 
With the reservoir capped you want to watch the level in the reservoir when you are filling at the crossover tube. If the reservoir is already full, then you want to watch to see if the reservoir is getting any fuller when you fill at the crossover tube. You can think you are adding to the system when really all you are doing is overfilling the reservoir. Sticking a funnel in the crossover hole is a good idea because when it burps you don't want to splash antifreeze onto your serpentine belt. This goes for when squeezing the hoses too. When the thermostat opens the lower radiator hose will get warm. If it never gets warm or not very warm, then you have a flow problem through the thermostat.

More than likely though, you have a blown head gasket. Just kidding!
 
I'm going to post a video up here shortly of how I was trying to burp it. I did the procedure once now. I took it on the highway and got it up to 70+ mph and within 5 minutes it was spiking 3/4 hot again. I got off and it seemed to level out around town. I went WOT on a side street and it went from dead half up to the next hash mark and then leveled out again. Then I drove at 45 mph down a boulevard for about 10 minutes and it rose to just past the next hash after dead center and stayed there until I came back to a stoplight idling and it went back to dead half again. Ughhh!! :mad:
 
OK I watched one minute and I don't like what I'm seeing. The gurgling appears to taking place in one spot with no lateral movement. You should see that coolant flowing very well laterally though the crossover tube. It should look like a river with the thermostat open. I'm calling wrong thermostat. I've been there, I've done that, I've seen EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE SEEING.

Kirk, can't you just have the place that installed the thermostat open the box to another one so you can look at it?
 
I'm taking the car back. He has an identical Motorcraft t-stat like the one posted above on the right. It has a bigger opening he says. I asked if it looks bigger than the one he just put in and he said "yes". We'll see.
 
If the tstat that they installed looks like the one on the left in the pics I posted, it not only restricts flow, but also doesn't seal off the bypass correctly. In other words, it restricts the flow of coolant from the radiator and also allows hot coolant to recirculate through the engine. The symptoms you've described are identical to what I've experienced with the inferior tstat in the past.
 
I'm racing tomorrow! I took it back and my buddy who works there put a stock Motorcraft t-stat back in. Here's the clincher. After doing all of that and burping the system again he was standing in front of the car and his knees were on fire. This makes me look even more dumb because I noticed that too as I was "burping" it yesterday. My fan is hard-wired without the connector. He reversed the wires when he unplugged it to put in the first t-stat. Now the fan is spinning the right way! :eek:

I just drove it for an hour. All is well, now it's time to go to the track tomorrow and give it hell. My bill was $0 this time and I respect their customer service for doing that.
 
Markviiiedrea said:
What shop was it?
Click to expand...

It was a simple mistake on his part and they made every effort to correct the situation by pulling it all apart again then to discover the fan issue. The manager apologized and they didn't charge me. It was likely burped right the first time. My buddy works there and did the job. I was stern with them, but I wasn't going to hold a grudge. I would rather not say openly here. I've been there a few times. They did good work but my buddy made a simple mistake.
 
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