Hi, PLEASE HELP

My DC Fairlane 5.0 used to run fine (138,000km), but as a routine maintenence, I changed coolant, thermostat. Flushed out the radiator. Since then the car has heated up... Symtoms as follows

-At Idle it will sit there and will not overheat..
-But Driving on the road the car steadily heats up, gets up to about half way
-If I turn the air conditioning on it heats up to three quarters
-If I drive on the expressway at 110km/h it heats up to 3 quarters
-If I thrash the car it heats up
- I would have thought that whilst driving it should drive cooler as air is rushing through radiator

-Its definately not the thermostat as I changed it two times now and now im running with NO THERMOSTAT and it still heats up
- I dont think there is air in the system as I idled it for 15 mins with no cap on and squeezed the top radiator hose to get any air out of the system.
- I have put a new cap on the coolant box 15/120 cap per specification.
-There are coolant no leaks
-In the morning there is a bit of water from the exhaust but when heats up no more water comes out
- The fan sounds like its working..

Is it my radiator? my water pump or the head is gone? Clutch fan issue?

PLEASE HELP

If the clutch fan is on the way out just check by seing how much resistance the clutch has when cold, if it spins easy its f**k and if the car generally gets hotter the longer you drive it i would say the radiator is blocked.

SO how do I check clutch fan? with car off see if it free spins or not... It does move round, it has a bit of resistance but when its hot you can feel that thing blowing hard..

It must be the radiator as I am driving along at 110km/h and less than 2000rpm and the car gets hotter??

How do you unblock a radiator?? I have already used a radiator flush..

Do I need to get a new radiator??

Is it the stock radiator? Have it replaced or looked at. My original had casting sand cleaned out of it like 3 times. Replace the cap if you haven't, may not be pressurising properly. If you go on ebay, new radiators are pretty cheap. Check for leaves and what not in the bumper/intake. There isn't much space for airflow to get through to the radiator so everything counts.

Just had look at a Ford service manual and it says to also check the exhaust for blockages, i guess if cat is blocked the hot air would be getting trapped within motor and heating up i suppose

its very important that you have the metal heat sheld under the car and the stone tray .... I had mine off, and got the same problems as you, put it back, and it runs nice and cool now on a 34oC day ...

hope it helps.

Laticia ..

P.S. if you don't have anything to put under the car, i went to bunnings and bought a very think sheet of metal, 600mm - 300mm and put it just at the bottom of the front bar ...

why would that tray under the car matter? Its off at the moment..

Doesnt that trap in the heat??

I guess it makes sense. Air goes into your bumper, but the easiest way for it to get out without the tray is out below the engine. With the tray there, it stops the air from flowing out and keeps it cooling the motor.

my EA never really had overheating issues with a f**k clutch fan. like mine was so rooted that i could stick my hand in it when the motor was running and stop it from turning. lol

the clutch fan is there to cool the car while its not moving same as thermos they stop working when the car is moving as the air passing through the radiator cools it.

so if it heats up when driving and not when sitting at idle that rules out the clutch fan.

probably a blocked radiator and unless you can pull it down and rod clean it properly yourself its just easier to grab a new one.

I put the stone thing on under the car and still heats up...

At idle it pretty much sits on about half..

But on the highway at 110km/h it heats up?? weird..

I have another radiator cleaner in it.. Ill leave it in for a few hundred km. Will it help or do i just get a new radiator??

Its so frustrating, I just dont trust the car to do any sort of trip until its resolved...

what is the correct radiator cap on these cars??? 15 psi 120 or 15psi 100??

I wouldnt bother getting your radiator cleaned, you can pick up brand new units reasonably priced.
I certainly would be leaning towards the radiator from what you are saying, i have owned 2 eb v8,s and they both had this exact problem when i got them.
When the motor gets hot the casting sand in the core of the block comes out a little bit at a time and slowly blocks up the radiator(this is caused by the workers at the ford factory not cleaning out the blocks properly when they were cast)
My radiator cap is a 16/110

I found that having the tray and the metal off from under the car, (i removed mine to put in a big auto cooler) when the fan/fans where on, you could feel hot air coming though the front bumper, also, without the tray, it picks up hot air from the road .... trust me on this one... i had the SAME problem ...

my car would run at 1/2 temp, and sometimes in 40oC heat the temp gauge would go nearly all the way to the top ... I did not replace a radiator, or cap, or flush the system, just added the metal plate and stone tray .... problem fixed, they are there for a reason ..
See, its prob picking up hot air from under the car, thats why its getting so hot.. try it, and see how you go, its only a 10min job to put it back in ...


Laticia ..

***** UPDATE *******

At idle the car just sits on a quarter. I sat it there for 2 hours and it didnt heat up. No problem if I just sit it there started...

BUT If I hold the throttle on 2000rpm or more it just heats up. On the road the car just heats up. Doesnt matter what speed or how much air is flowing into it. The heat will go almost all the way to the top...

Radiator or Water pump?