74 NovaMan’s … Novas

[74NovaMan]

Randall - it's a 180. Used to run 185 consistently in the old body (same fan, radiator, motor - new t-stat, water pump). Going down the freeway at 70 mph on a shady 65 degree day it was about 200. It wants to creep up from there to about 220 when driving slower. Needle movement has been slower today as well. If it is still an air bubble, what are the chances it will work itself out?

Should I try running without a t-stat for a few minutes to try and purge the air?

This is killing me. The car runs great with the new Trans.

[TheSilverBuick]

Is it a 180*F thermostat? (as read on the bottom of the thermostat, not as told by the parts store guy). My 180*F runs consistently at 186*F according to my MegaSquirt sensor. Personally, if it's not pinging 190*F doesn't bother me at all. I run a 195*F in the Centurion because it's low compression, and I'd run a 195*F in the Skylark if I wasn't concerned about the higher compression (~10.6:1). How much over 200? Are we talking 205* or 225*? Are we talking steady and slow moving temperature changes now?

**Looking back a few posts, it looks like your fan doesn't go into your shroud. Am I mistaken? You'd like at least a 1/3rd of the fan inside the shroud (rules are fuzzy, 1/2", 1/2 the fan, etc. I'm just going for approximately a 1/3) for the shroud to be effective. How far in front of the car can you feel the air pull at idle? Holding up a sheet of newspaper might help you gauge it. I know on my Skylark I went from feeling the fan pull right at the grill to almost 3 feet in front of the car with a proper shroud on it. That's a lot of air! If it doesn't overlap, see if you can shim the fan out further, or if you happen to have a fan clutch set up, install it and see where it puts the fan. I wouldn't just go out and buy a fan an fan clutch for the test, but if you happen to have one might as well see.

***Also if you are close on temps, you can try using Water Wetter, I believe it does help in pulling heat out of the engine and getting it to the radiator.

[74NovaMan]

Done some test driving. Trans is nice so far. Got a tire chirp going into 2nd gear. Runs through the gears nicely and the lockup is working. I tried running it with the radiator cap off as suggested by Randall. He was absolutely correct. It burps up alot of coolant and then the level drops. I must have been doing something wrong at this point because i really could not get much more coolant into the system. Next step was to drain the system. When I refilled it this time I removed the heater hose at the mainfold and filled it until it started coming out and reconnected the hose. The temp issue is a bit better so far but I cannot seem to get it to run under 190 and it bumps up over 200 at low speeds and at idle. It's 65 degrees out here now. What happens when I am down south in 98 degrees in a traffic jam? Will the air eventually work itself out? I'm seriously considering plan B, which is the wife's 2010 Ford Edge.

[74NovaMan]

Greg - The water pump is new and unfortunately I do not have any access to the thermostat when installed. The flex fan worked fine in the past and given the temps here lately (low 70s) that is definetly not the issue at this point. Thanks for the ideas.

[pintoboy77]

I don't know if you have a plug or a vaccum tree on your thermostat housing or not,but on the Pinto I have a plug on mine and I remove that and take a screwdriver and push the thermostat open and fill the radiator and that does it for me. How new is the waterpump and in the past I have always had problems with flex fans and overheating on the Pinto last year I went with an electric fan and no more overheating.

[74NovaMan]

Got the transmission in today. Here are a couple of things I discovered to ease installation.

• Install the top 2 trans to block bolts with the crossmember out and the engine tilted back. The install happens from under the car this way. A 3 foot extension with a u-joint socket are helpful/necessary.
• Start the trans lines in the transmission before it is lifted into place.
• Get a 1/2" crows foot wrench for the final tightening of the lines on the trans. See pics. This worked so well I can't tell you how happy I was about it.

I checked the trans pressure and had a little panic attack when they were not quite what I had expected. I texted my trans guy and he called back and said we were good to go.

Tomorrow I need to get the engine temp under control as I appear to have air bubble issues still.

[TheSilverBuick]

I'm still not convinced. You know with photoshop and all =P

[74NovaMan]

New stuff ready to go. Old radiator. Had to quit at 12:30 am so I could get some sleep before work. Hope to be back on the road Saturday.

[74NovaMan]

For the "pictures or it didn't happen" crowd:

[74NovaMan]

Trans is out!

[74NovaMan]

New radiator is in. Time to get the old Trans out.

Here is a pic of the new parts:

[STINEY]

I once cured that problem by tossing the new generic parts store thermostat (actually 3 of them) and stepping up to a STANT SUPERSTAT.

Hold one of each in your hands, there is no comparison. Cheap thermostats suck.

The STANT was about $15 at the time.

[Deaf Bob]

I read your problems with interest..
I also have that same "problem" with my flatbed... Not sure what I did to make that happen.. Might be hose replacement..Or thermostat..
It will heat up to 220/240 for a half mile or so then drop to 160/180. With a 180 thermostat..
Never lost water/coolant. Always have some in overflow and radiator.. Heater doesn't warm worth a wee! So sounds like I will try a new cap and filling with the heater hose.. Be some time before I do it as there is a cord of slabs on it right now

[74NovaMan]

Thanks again guys. I drove 33 miles home last night and as it warmed up on the freeway it hit about 220. It was there for maybe a minute and then started dropping and wound up around 190. It stayed around there pretty steady for the rest of the drive home. I agree with the air bubble theory for the eariler behavior but the above looks like thermostat to me.

I picked up a new radiator and another new thermostat yesterday. When I swap those out I'll drill holes and try the heater hose trick as well. I'll make sure to pick up a new cap too. Hopefully that will solve the cooling issues.

I believe that I have figured out the temp switch/light issue. When I called NAPA for a replacement sender (first one was from O'riely) the guy asks "light or gauge?" Don't remember that question from O'riely. I'm betting I have a guage sender.

I also picked up the rebuilt transmission and new converter last night. The next couple of days should be busy.

[silver_bullet]

agreed