The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Running hot, what's too hot?

When I first rebuilt my 235 it was running hot. It ran okay, but was hot and started to boil the fuel. The main bearings weren't getting enough oil and it developed a knock. I had issues with the engine where it would run great at high idle in the garage for hours without getting hot, then when you took it out for a drive it would seize the rear main.

I'm not saying that's your issue, just sharing my experiences as to possible reasons for your hot running issue.

I've run my 216 with and without a thermostat. Without it runs 110-170 degrees when it's 70-95 degrees air temp. That includes idling in long parades, sitting idling for up to an hour, or going down the road 50-55 mph. With a 160 thermostat it stays at 160 doing all of the above. I do have a six bladed fan on it. Even tho you have a new radiator it could still not function correctly. Also bad thermostat, not installed correctly, bad temp gauge, bad water pump, crimped radiator hose, engine timing, fuel mixture too lean, bad head gasket, clogged water jackets. I installed a new thermostat in the 216 and it heated to 212 real quick. Removed it and the engine ran cool. Ran it that way for years. I put the 160 thermostat in this spring.

you should consider making a youtube with your 37
cruising down the road, one of the best looking 37 ever, bar none..

One thing that probably hasn't been mentioned is a collapsing rad hose. That would fit the bill perfectly. This could possibly be observed under the hood using the throttle to push up the rpm.

All of the above is good advice. Just one old trick to add. On a new thermostat look for a small hole in the flat part that moves to open and close the thermostat. If you have one, good. If not drill one. That will let air move out and help prevent an air pocket forming. Your pump will move water. It will not move steam. That small hole will not hurt the thermostat and will help get air out of the system.

Thanks all for the advise. I really appreciate all the help and interesting discussions.

So here's the update: problem is solved. I'm running at 180 all day now.

Short story: it was indeed timing related. Cold adjusted the valves (adding 0.005 to hot spec) and then re-adjusting timing for max vacuum fixed it. Idles nicely at 500 RPM. No dieseling at shut down. Tons of power.

Long answer: replaced thermostat thinking that was the problem. Turns out the one I had in there was a new from NAPA, same as the replacement. (I couldn't remember if I put a new one in there or not). Problem persists. Pinched the heater hose loop thinking maybe the loop wasn't giving enough resistance to flow as heater core, thus creating a bypass preventing circulation thru engine. Problem persists. Put project aside for a week. Problem still persists. Did "research" online and found method of adjusting valves cold by adding 0.005" to hot specification. Readjusted all valves. All needed adjustment as they all were too tight. Restarted engine and it can barely run so I check vacuum and I'm only seeing 10 inches. I check timing with timing light and I can't even find BB rotating distributor either way. Where did the BB go? Pulled the plugs, turned motor until I was at TDC with BB on pointer and #1 valves both closed. Then loosened clamp on distributor and rotated distributor to point where points are just opening and rotor points to #1. Tightened clamp and set "octane" gauge at 0 position. Put plugs back in and restarted. Bingo. Runs like it never has. I could tell immediately it sounded right. Vacuum is now 20" at idle, and steady. Tried various "octane" positions and found engine seem to sound/run best when BB was south of pointer, but still in view. Couldn't get past 20" at steady idle, but from what I've read, it should be in the 17-21 range. Problem solved!

I think my water pump is leaking a little bit as I'll see a silver dollar -sized puddle in the morning. So I ordered at replacement from RockAuto. Incidentally, I called the Filling Station since they're not too far from me to order a '54 water pump. They didn't have any in stock and said their supplier's factory burned down; best guess was 1 year wait! I could send mine in for rebuild for a 3 week wait. RockAuto seems to have one; we'll see if it ships.

Thanks again for the help.

Case closed as far as I'm concerned.

Nice! You did not give up and found the problem. All of us get to learn from that.

Great job, and thanks for giving us a update.

Joe

X2