1984 rebuild - water pump and other questions

[canoeman1972]

So I have a 1984 2.0 Ranger. The truck sat for several years and wanted to get it running for a project with my son. Got it running- had lots of blow by and no compression on one cylinder. Tore it apart- rings broken. Rebuild motor, have it and running but overheat light is coming on. Changed thermostat and still coming on. No coolant going through radiator so I am suspecting the water pump is toast. Heater hoses hot but upper and lower rad hoses not and no heat in coolant in rad.

195 degree thermostat. How can I confirm water pump? or could it be a air lock? how do u get rid of that?

Couple other questions

We have taken off all EGR, Pollution control and extra wires- want it simple.

does it matter if distributor advance vaccum goes to carb or manifold vacuum and same as vaccum pot on the choke- carb or manifold?

cheers

 

[RonD]

If both heater hoses are getting hot then you have circulation from water pump.

Do you have a thermometer, like for Oven temp, can you put it on heater hose near engine end to see what temp actually is.

2.0l/2.3l/2.5l used the same block and are called Lima or Pinto engines, made in Lima, Ohio, first used in Ford Pinto

The Lima engines don't generate much heat, people often put cardboard in front of rad to stop air from coming into engine bay in winter months, because driving at highway speeds in cold temps cause heater to get cold.

195degF thermostat is correct, some use 210degF in cold climates

Your heater hoses should be above 190degF before t-stat will open, and upper rad hose will start to warm up, lower rad hose will always be cooler than upper.
Upper hose is hot coolant IN from engine, lower is cooled down coolant OUT to engine.

So could just be temp sender is bad.

On cold engine remove rad cap and start engine, let it idle
No coolant should come out of rad, and no stream of bubbles, if you see this you may have a bad head gasket, it didn't seal right.

 

[Mark_88]

Distributor vacuum "should" come from carburetor...depending on what carb you have...I always ran mine off the intake tree beside the brake booster...tried a few ports on the carb but I didn't get the advance that I expected...and didn't have a problem with acceleration using the intake...but I think the thinking is that there is always flow through the carb but not necessarily vacuum through the intake ports...but I couldn't elaborate on that without researching...suffice to say using the intake will work fine...unless you really want to know the fine points.

Can't say I've ever encountered a vacuum activated choke...they are either manual, water, or electronic from what I've seen...they are only actually needed on cold starts and not sure how much vacuum would be available in a cranking situation...but...I don't know everything...

Do you have pics of the carb/choke? I can't even remember what my original carb looked like but the choke on that was electric...I know this because I burned my finger on the hot wire one day...

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Put a coolant flush tee in the heater hose coming off the thermostat housing hold the fitting a little higher than the radiator and fill the hose with coolant until it runs out the radiator cap and quickly plug the tee. That burps the heater core and bypass circuit.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Prestone-Fl...ash=item58b88a059b:g:OUUAAOSw2XFUZj1i&vxp=mtr

 

[canoeman1972]

how do i test the water temp sender? this truck just has an idiot light not a a guage. I have an older bronco 2 that has actual guages in the dash panel can I just swap them?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

To test the idiot light just turn the key on run and short the sending unit to ground and the light should come on. That tells you the light is working. Does the light come on aft the engine gets hot?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Sometimes if you drill a small hole in the thermostat 1/32 inch it will allow the coolant to reach the thermostat wax bulb and allow coolant to flow to the radiator.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Engine-Cool...ash=item3f5599cced:g:OesAAOSwA4dWImKS&vxp=mtr
Is it possible you put the thermostat in backwards? You want the sensing bulb on the engine side not the hose side?

 

[tomw]

The temp sensor for the HOT light is on the side of the block, above and near the oil filter.
They can fail and light the light intermittently, or constantly. A new sensor is the only solution.
If the upper hose does not get hot, either the coolant has not gotten to the proper temperature, the coolant level is low, the thermostat is installed backwards, or the engine needs to run longer. You should not be able to rest a hand on the upper hose when at operating temperature.
BOTH heater core hoses should be hot, and uncomfortable for your hand. If not, the core is likely plugged.
A water pump failure could be caused by a corroded impeller or a broken pump shaft(unlikely). The corrosion of the impeller would take time, a lot, or be an indication of a cooling system that has been neglected. I'd look into the radiator to see if the tubes were blocked or had 'bloom' around the ends of the tubes(looks like fungus growing on the edges of the tubes). It can occur over time, and if there's enough it will ruin the radiator. You could remove the pump and check the impeller, but get a new gasket first.
tom

added:
There should be a vacuum connection diagram on the radiator support or the underside of the hood. Most systems used 'ported' vacuum so the vacuum was not applied to the diaphragm until the throttle plate opened. Most being 'early emission control system', compared to older systems that required disconnect of the vacuum advance to set timing.
Some older systems had temperature controlled vacuum that blocked advance until the engine was normal hot, and then allowed full vacuum if the engine was overheating. In general, you should want to run as much advance as is possible without pinging under load, for best power and economy. If you re- tard the timing(some sites filter the word) at idle, you can cause overheating, which is the reason for the above mentioned vacuum sensor.