what temp does your engine run at

[Angie]

Very curious as to what temp your truck runs at? and what is in your engine/what rad?

Mine, 302, carb, gt40P heads, long tube headers, small northern rad.

runs at 230-240 F with no boil over yet, however, vapour locks in the fuel line and bubbled in the clear filter. have wrapped the line and added pressure regulator so far.

what is your truck running heat @?

cheers

 

[markinms]

I have a 180 deg thermostat installed. Mine runs at a consistent 180-190 deg. Not overheating problems.

 

[Angie]

Thermostat temps are only at what temp the stopper opens at, not what max temp the engine will get to during operation. If this were the deciding factor no car on the planet would ever boil over or run hot.

 

[19Walt93]

Thermostat temps are only at what temp the stopper opens at, not what max temp the engine will get to during operation. If this were the deciding factor no car on the planet would ever boil over or run hot.

I think we all know that but if the radiator and fan are adequate the temp may stay close to the thermostats spec. My 351 uses a 15" flex fan behind a Griffin radiator mounted inside the hollowed out core support. I reused(for now) the stock temp gauge and it runs around 1/8" above the bottom of the normal zone.

 

[Angie]

gotcha walt. just trying to get a grip on why mine is running on the higher side with out going into a drag out discussion. many people don't get that thermostats don't control high temps.

Still in break in period with this engine and working out bugs. Timing will make an engine run hot if its too far retarded also. I am guessing the vapor locking is from ethanol added fuel. was just curios if others have any cooling issues in their rigs.

 

[RonD]

That's running way too hot
1/2 on Ford gauge is 205deg, normal operating temp for any engine is 180-190degF
So should be running just below 1/2 on dash gauge

If you are using an IR thermometer then check upper and lower hose after warm up
Should be 15-20deg cooler on lower hose, if not poor rad flow
No thermostat will make engine run hotter, flow is too fast so less cooling

Check fan is blowing back toward the engine, I know but check it, lol
I have reversed fan belt on water pump more than once, check that as well, ribbed pulley or smooth pulley should match the belt side, ribbed or smooth

With a pressurized cooling system you can hit 260deg without boil over but even pulling a trailer up a long grade on a summer day I wouldn't expect 240degF

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Is your water pump standard or reverse rotation? Have you verified it?

 

[Angie]

Hi Bird, if that was for me, yes it is running in correct rotation. I use a IR temp reader at the sending unit for exact temps. shows basic same as in dash readings. was able to wrap fuel line and place a regulator into the system and seemed to drop the vapor lock out so far, plus better gas helped. One thing I did was ran the engine without rad cap for a while and it helped to circulate the water/air bubbles if there were any. this dropped the temp down to around 220/225 with 13PSI cap. will be increasing this to 15PSI soon.

cheers

 

[Angie]

Hey Walt, what intake you running on that engine? nice and clean looking system

 

[Angie]

I want to give a bit of an update to this.

I must have had some sort of airlock in the system or another (ghost in the machine) after letting it run for a while without any cap on the rad, she was able to burb and gurgle itself into a lower temp. averages now around 210-215 range. very livable for me. will keep a watch on it when out and about in hot weather.

thanks for the feedback guys.

 

[RonD]

Good stuff

Anytime you need to refill or get air out, remove one heater hose at the firewall, and top up at radiator, air on the back side of t-stat can then get out at the heater core or hose

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I drilled a 1/8" hole in my thermostat which makes it much easier to fill.

Mine runs around 195, if it sits in a drive thru for awhile or something it will creep up to 200 when the efan kicks on. It can spike to like 205ish before the efan starts bringing it back down.