The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Cooling

My truck has a 454 and it gets hot wether I'm on the hiway or in town. I've put a new thermostat in ,i have to 10 inch electric fans pulling air and flushed the 4 core radiator. I dont think i have a head gasket problem, that would be very clear. Water pump maybe?

72 chevy 4X4,


I vote for the radiator. If the radiator is plugged with mineral deposits and hard crusties, nothing short of a professional rodding or boiling will clean it.

For the water pump to be the culprit, its impeller would have to be rusted almost completely off.

Stuart

I too say have the radiator professionally cleaned.

Also check your timing to be sure it is right.

Grigg

What year is the motor and what do you mean by hot? If this is an injected motor with a computer running normal might be hotter than you expect.

I also vote for servicing the radiator.

Other contributing factors could be:

No shroud on the fans can cause overheating in stop and go traffic.

At highway speeds the most common cause of overheating with modified big blocks (even a RV cam will do it) other than a faulty radiator is the water pump/intake manifold bypass not leaving coolant in the radiator long enough to be cooled. I block it off and use thermostats with two 3/16" drilled holes for pressure release.

Last but not least are quality of pressure caps and thermostats. It's not at all uncommon to get defective parts in either one.

Agreed. A friend with a 502 in a Nomad with aftermarket gauges thought he was having overheating problems because it always ran over 210°. The computer has the engine running at 220° for emission purposes.