Car overheats when going upgrade. Head gasket?
#986647
05/05/11 04:26 PM
05/05/11 04:26 PM
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 561 Oakland, CA
68Bullet
OP
mopar
|
OP
mopar
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 561
Oakland, CA
|
I am having a new cooling problem with my car. It's a 1968 C Body with stock 383. A few months back the fan hit the radiator, causing it to leak, and the car overheated pretty bad. So I replaced the radiator with an aluminum one from summit. Now the car runs nice and cool in most situations. However, when I start going up a hill, like climbing a grade on the freeway, the temp gauge starts to climb. This is regardless of outside tmperature or vehicle speed, so this happens even when it's cold and I'm driving quickly. I am wondering if maybe I have a slight head gasket leak, and so when combustion pressure increases over idle/cruise, it pressurizes the cooling system and causes overheating.
Thoughts?
"Broke is temporary, cheap lasts forever"
|
|
|
Re: Car overheats when going upgrade. Head gasket?
[Re: dOc …]
#986651
05/05/11 08:45 PM
05/05/11 08:45 PM
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 561 Oakland, CA
68Bullet
OP
mopar
|
OP
mopar
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 561
Oakland, CA
|
Would the compression check indicate that leakage into the water system is occuring? Or prove that maybe I got a few bum cylinders, which require more fuel to produce work, and thus add too much heat to the system?
"Broke is temporary, cheap lasts forever"
|
|
|
Re: Car overheats when going upgrade. Head gasket?
[Re: dOc …]
#986653
05/05/11 10:03 PM
05/05/11 10:03 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,293 Rock Springs
Bob_Coomer
master
|
master
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,293
Rock Springs
|
Its without question a radiator problem. The new radiator cant keep up with the demands of the engine. I would verify ignition timing however... None of those radiator will cool as well as a factory HD 3-4core unit. Most of the aluminum radiators arent very thick... How many cores does it have? Whats size is the radiator? How wide are the cores rows?
[color:"red"]65 Hemi Belvedere coming soon [/color] [color:"#00FF00"]557" Indy engine 1.07 60ft 144mph in the 8th 2100 lbs package [/color]
|
|
|
Re: Car overheats when going upgrade. Head gasket?
[Re: CokeBottleKid]
#986658
05/06/11 07:14 PM
05/06/11 07:14 PM
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 561 Oakland, CA
68Bullet
OP
mopar
|
OP
mopar
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 561
Oakland, CA
|
It's got a new water pump and new 180° thermostat. I could definitely try to park it on a hill and see if possibly an air bubble. I agree that a factory 4 core is probably better, but the original radiator was the tiny 18" 2 core. Not adequate to start with.
"Broke is temporary, cheap lasts forever"
|
|
|
Re: Car overheats when going upgrade. Head gasket?
[Re: topside]
#986660
05/06/11 08:56 PM
05/06/11 08:56 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,080 organ
maximum entropy
master
|
master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,080
organ
|
if it is a head gasket leak, you can typically smell exhaust in the coolant. an old mechanic's trick. you'd be amazed at how many times a car comes into our shop after having been all over town, and we have a diagnosis in five seconds. if it isn't the head gasket, it's probably inadequate cooling capacity (radiator).
for what is the good life if not doing things thoughtfully?
|
|
|
|
|