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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 40 cooling temp

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Posted By Discussion Topic: 40 cooling temp -- page: 1 2 3 4 5     TomO 12-30-2017 @ 9:45 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 Tom, thanks for the compliment, but is seems that the librarian is on vacation more often than not these days. Tom trjford8 12-29-2017 @ 5:39 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4219 Joined: Oct 2009 TomO is a living library when it comes to old Fords. trjford8 12-29-2017 @ 5:38 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4219 Joined: Oct 2009 TomO is a living library when it comes to old Fords. misfit 12-29-2017 @ 10:01 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 10 Joined: Dec 2011 In my 40 I run #180 all year with a 4 lb pressure cap. The radiator top vent is plugged and the vent tube is run from the cap rim to a container. The container has never filled up. It has run good for two years. I live in Co at 6800 feet. Misfit TomO 07-02-2016 @ 8:26 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 Steve, I do not run thermostats. I don't drive in the winter, so I have never felt the need for them. Dons40, use the cheapest vinegar you can find. I would fill and flush them separately. Evaporust is a more expensive method, and IMHO not significantly better than vinegar. Wait until you check your temperature gauge before trying to clean the block. You might not be running hot and cleaning could dislodge sediment that will cause you to overheat. In other words, if it is not broke, don't fix it. Tom RAK402 07-01-2016 @ 1:34 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 440 Joined: Jul 2015 Dons40, Are you running both the left (two terminal) and right single terminal temperature sending units, or just the single terminal on in the left head? Dons40 07-01-2016 @ 10:19 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 23 Joined: Jan 2016 chiming back in on this thread. New Macs temp unit works fine. temp gauge hits 3/4-7/8 but never pegs. which is good. I know all gauges are slightly different, so Ill check my temps ( Actual) and compare to Len47merc. When I changed upper hoses I noticed lots of rust/scale in the heads. If I were to use Vinegar (which... White or Apple Cider) is it best to disconnect and plug water pumps and concentrate only on engine? Im concerned about running Rust/grit through the pump into the Radiator and having it collect in the radiator itself. Fill and flush them separately? Evaporust...good idea in instead of Vinegar? it looks like a beautiful weekend in Wisconsin 80-85 and not a bit of rain.. len47merc 07-01-2016 @ 8:33 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1165 Joined: Oct 2013 Tom - what temp stats are you running? Just curious. Steve TomO 07-01-2016 @ 8:12 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 RAK402, The key number when choosing an oil viscosity is the second number, the viscosity when hot. I like to keep that number at 30 for the flathead and all major oils should meet the specs that were in effect when your car was made. You could use the Delo 10w 30 or Delo 15w 30. The traffic temperature that you are reporting is a good sign. My 40 runs about 170 on the highway and around 180 in heavy traffic. Here is the link to Skips http://www.fordcollector.com/water_pumps.htm Sometimes NOS fans show up on E-Bay. You can check your fan with a piece of paper. Hold it halfway up the radiator and the fan should hold it tight against the radiator. I have no experience with Drake radiators. The price is in the range of a heavy duty recore in the Chicago area. Yours and your block may just need a good cleaning. Several people have had success with draining the system and filling it with vinegar. Let it sit over night and flush and back flush the system. Spray your radiator with Simple Green or another all purpose cleaner, let it work for about 10 -15 minutes and then rinse with cool water. Tom RAK402 06-30-2016 @ 5:50 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 440 Joined: Jul 2015 TomO, Thank you very much for the advice sir. This is how the car has been, from a cooling standpoint, since I got it in 1975. I agree that it is marginal at best. My father had a '37 and a '41 when they were new-he told me many times that he never had any issues with overheating, driving in the same climate that I do. The oil I have been using is Dello 15/40. I can change it to 10/30 next time around. Is there any particular brand that you would recommend? I still have the two terminal probe wired out of the system. I may take the one that I have apart and change the electronic component to one that opens at a higher temperature (these are available). I have two of the repro units that have not worked properly, so I have little faith at this point, that a new one would be any better. The electronic part sells for under $10.00, so that I could rebuild it (although I am still not sure what the white powder in the brass bulb portion of the unit was). I drove around in 75 to 80 degree weather today, and the temp never go above 182 degrees, including stop and go traffic, which is somewhat comforting. Do you have a link to Skips pressure relief valve? The fan is the original one that came with the car. From what I can tell from the books/references, it appears to be the correct one for the car. Are NOS ones available? I am also considering looking at one of the new Drake radiators. These are not cheap, but I would finally have a completely new radiator as opposed to a 76 year old, re-cored one (my existing one is quite ugly...). This is the first time that I have had access to a group of people who have a great deal of knowledge and experience with flathead Fords. For decades, all I have heard was "those old flatheads always ran hot," and similar things. There is additional confusion for me, as there appear to be two schools of thought regarding overheating: 1) The coolant does not move rapidly enough, staying in the block too long and leading to overheating. This is what the higher flow water pumps are supposed to correct. 2) The coolant moves too rapidly and does not stay in the radiator long enough to cool off. The coolant is moving too rapidly and the flow should be restricted. It seems to me that #1 is correct, based on what I have read on this forum.

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