Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
#1463496
07/06/13 11:43 AM
07/06/13 11:43 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,067 Irving, TX
feets
OP
Senior Management
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OP
Senior Management
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Irving, TX
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I'll turn this into kind of a query so it'll stay in the Q&A forum with all the overheating posts. If you're running hot and looking for some answers, there are some simple things you can do on your own. I'm not some all-knowing oracle who can solve the world's cooling problems but with basic info I (as well as many others here) can knock out 90% of them quickly with minimal time and money. Number one, beyond any question, is to get a temp gun. Period. End of sentence. Harbor Freight has them on sale for $37. http://www.harborfreight.com/infrared-thermometer-with-laser-targeting-non-contact-69465.htmlThose things work great. Sure, they may be off a degree or two but who cares? You're looking for big swings in temperature and they will get the job done. If you don't have one you obviously don't want to know why your car is overheating. Get one. Now. We'll wait for you. This thread should still be around when you get back from the store. Don't have overheating problems? Go get one anyway. If you have real temperatures of different parts of the cooling system it's really easy to track down any problems. Without those temps you're just guessing. Use the temp gun to check the radiator temperatures. if your cooling system is working properly you will have about a 30 degree difference between the radiator inlet and outlet. If that isn't the case you have a problem up front. Scan the radiator across the core. If there are cold spots you know the radiator is plugged and needs attention. Obviously, the radiator will be cooler where the fan is drawing air. If the fan clutch is slipping or the fan is too weak then you will not see a substantial drop in temperature in front of the fan. Here's a BIG hint: A proper shroud will pull air from all parts of the radiator, not just the bit right in front of the fan. That's why shrouds are important. You can use the temp gun on the temperature sending unit to confirm the gauge reading. It can also spot colder spots on the engine if you have a misfire or dead hole. The temp will be cooler on that part of the exhaust manifold too. You can shoot the cylinder heads to see if one side is cooler than the other. That would indicate problems inside the engine. Trouble with the A/C? You can check air temperatures at the registers as well as line temperatures under the hood. Don't have a candy thermometer? You can use the temp gun to monitor you cooking oil when frying hush puppies. Back to trouble shooting... If the temperature of the hoses is drastically lower than the temperature of the block and heads then you're not moving water. Check the lower hose to make sure it's not getting sucked closed when the engine is revved. Sometimes it's hard to see so you need to lay hands on it. Just don't get your arm caught in the belts or fan. If the upper hose is drastically cooler than the thermostat housing and top of the water pump you know the thermostat isn't opening. Engines without thermostats will sometimes move coolant too quickly. That doesn't allow the coolant to stay in the radiator long enough to lose temperature. You can spot that when the radiator temps drop smoothly across the radiator but don't change by more than 15 degrees or so. If you want to know why something doesn't work you need to find out what part isn't working. When that's a cooling system you must know the temperatures you're dealing with. Without that basic info it's all guesswork. Have a problem? Want help? 1) Get a temp gun. 2) Get numbers. 3) Get back with us. Now, to form some sort of question to keep this in the appropriate forum... What other tools do you guys use to diagnose cooling problems?
We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: mikemee1331]
#1463499
07/06/13 08:39 PM
07/06/13 08:39 PM
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 21,345 Marysville, O-H-I-O
70Cuda383
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
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Marysville, O-H-I-O
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My 69 VW Bug keeps overheating, should I flush my radiator? great post kevin.
**Photobucket sucks**
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: feets]
#1463501
07/06/13 10:14 PM
07/06/13 10:14 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,702 North Dakota
6PakBee
I Live Here
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I Live Here
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Posts: 10,702
North Dakota
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Must be a slow day in Irving.
"We live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won't be offended".
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: 6PakBee]
#1463504
07/07/13 12:21 AM
07/07/13 12:21 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,067 Irving, TX
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Quote:
Must be a slow day in Irving.
That was meant as a helpful thing, not a rant.
It's summer and there have been a number of overheating topics already. Very few of them have touched on the basic step one stuff I described above. The common response is a jump to some sort of conclusion. Often, someone is asked if they have verified the temperature gauge accuracy. That's part of what you can do with the temp gun.
Maybe someone can read the top post, take the suggested steps, and solve their problem on their own without having to wait for responses from people scattered across the country who can't lay hands on the car.
For the record, yes it was a slow day in Irving. I managed to paint/dye/whatever the door trim panels for the hot rod. That's more progress than I've made in a couple months.
We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: feets]
#1463505
07/07/13 03:34 AM
07/07/13 03:34 AM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 3,876 Oregon
hooziewhatsit
master
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master
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Oregon
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How big of an area does that IR gun read? I have a different one that reads in a 90* cone ie, at 5" away, it averages the temperature over a 5" diameter circle. If it only reads the laser point, I'll have to pick one up just to have...
If you ever find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: feets]
#1463508
05/21/14 06:53 PM
05/21/14 06:53 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,067 Irving, TX
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A bump for the 2014 overheating season.
We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: feets]
#1463511
05/21/14 07:28 PM
05/21/14 07:28 PM
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,262 Groveland, MA
SteveS
top fuel
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top fuel
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Groveland, MA
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I'll point out that 99% of the "defective" thermostats returned (by parts stores or new car dealers or wherever) have nothing wrong with them.
It is also physically impossible to have a thermostat that "sticks" once in a while.
Steve
Someday I'll have another C-body.
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: feets]
#1463512
05/21/14 07:32 PM
05/21/14 07:32 PM
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 8,162 USA
360view
Moparts resident spammer
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Moparts resident spammer
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 8,162
USA
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I held off buying an IR Temperature gun because i could not find one that would read within ten degrees of true. Last year when it was on sale I tried this one: http://www.sears.com/extech-1400-degree-...mp;blockType=G3I like it because it comes with a high temperature Type K thermocouple touch probe too, and you can adjust the "Emissivity" of the IR spot so that it will read correctly by touching an easy to get at spot with the probe, then adjust the Emissivity setting so that the IR spot reading matches the probe. Best of both methods.
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: 360view]
#1463513
05/21/14 08:05 PM
05/21/14 08:05 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,067 Irving, TX
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I don't worry much about the absolute value given by the IR gun. Assume it's wrong. I care about the consistency of the value. If it shows 180 degrees when the object is 170 degrees it's not that big of a deal. This assumes it shows the temp to be 180 degrees every time the object is 170 degrees. If it shows the same difference in temp it's good enough. Shows 190 when object is 180. Shows 200 when object is 190. And so on. That's all you need. A radiator should have about a 30 degree drop in temp from input to output. That's the concern. Finding differences in temperature. I know my IR gun is off but it showed me the big temp difference between the water pump housing and the upper hose. BINGO! Thermostat wasn't opening. Overheat problem solved in seconds. Power Tour resumed. The same car had an issue with overheating at idle and I fixed it with a large clutch fan. The car was using the stock fixed fan and no shroud. It simply wanted more air at idle. The father and son team who drove that 71 Charger in 2012 came back for the Power Tour in 2013. They still had my clutch fan in place.
We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: autoxcuda]
#1463518
05/27/14 05:35 PM
05/27/14 05:35 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 27,453 So Cal
autoxcuda
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
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Posts: 27,453
So Cal
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Anti Freeze mix itself only raises the boiling point 13 degrees at a 50/50 mix. And only 8 degrees at 30% mix.
Your radiator pressure cap that raises the boiling point 48 degrees with a 16 lbs radiator cap.
Check your radiator cap performance and system for pressure leaks! Much more important in regards to overheating than anti freeze.
Last edited by autoxcuda; 05/27/14 05:54 PM.
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: autoxcuda]
#1463519
05/27/14 05:50 PM
05/27/14 05:50 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 27,453 So Cal
autoxcuda
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
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Posts: 27,453
So Cal
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The heat capacity is basically how much heat energy the coolant can carry out of the engine and to the radiator.
As far as carrying heat goes, water does a really good job. It’s actually one of the most effective coolants that could possibly be used.
The specific heat capacity of ethylene glycol is only about 65% of water at the temperatures seen in a cooling system.
Last edited by autoxcuda; 05/27/14 05:53 PM.
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: autoxcuda]
#1463520
05/27/14 06:51 PM
05/27/14 06:51 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 27,453 So Cal
autoxcuda
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
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So Cal
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If you choose to run staight water to get a little extra help in cooling. Use water without the minerals. Like Reverse Osmosis or Distilled. Then run a cooling system addtive that reduces electrolysis, anti corrosion, reduces surface tension, neutualizes pH. All additive will reduce the boiling point some too as they car chemical solutes in the waters (8th grade chemistry) Here's a very throrough performance test of cooling system additives: http://www.turbomagazine.com/features/0703_turp_cooling_system_additives/viewall.htmlTable of results:
Last edited by autoxcuda; 05/27/14 06:52 PM.
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: autoxcuda]
#1463521
05/27/14 07:13 PM
05/27/14 07:13 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,067 Irving, TX
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You were the one who had something going with the Justice Brothers, weren't you?
We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: feets]
#1797235
04/07/15 11:50 AM
04/07/15 11:50 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,067 Irving, TX
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Bumping this to the top again for the 2015 overheating season.
We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: feets]
#2679070
07/19/19 12:15 PM
07/19/19 12:15 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,067 Irving, TX
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People are still overheating in 2019.
We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon
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Re: Overheating? 'Tis the season. Read before posting.
[Re: 70Cuda383]
#2679146
07/19/19 04:12 PM
07/19/19 04:12 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,596 Shopping @ HoBo Fright
340SIX
Doc Flappergas's Evil Twin
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Doc Flappergas's Evil Twin
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,596
Shopping @ HoBo Fright
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My 69 VW Bug keeps overheating, should I flush my radiator? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif" alt="" />
great post kevin. I used a pump from a Super Beetle it has a Large S on the front and RED CAPE
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