Overheating again what is going on here?

[88 XLT Ranger]

Issues again

I thought I had the overheating issue solved with my 2.9l with the help of some of you great folks. I just put 3 quarts of Lucas in and 60W racing oil ticking went away sounded good. I drive down the highway 6 miles pull over no ticking temp normal never got past halfway mark. I started back up the grade it goes into a lower gear for a few miles than ticking temp still normal pulled over the upper hose boiling and coolaint pushing out the reserve tank. Its strange temp never got past halfway mark yet its hot? I put a new Thermostat in burped the system I did notice as I was burping the system I start it up run for a few seconds when I shut it off it pushed coolaint out like it had air pocket or something

 

[Big Jim M]

Either you didn't burp the system enough tomes or you have a compression leak. The temp sender MUST be in coolant to send the correct temperature to the gauge.
Did the new thermostat go in backwards? In older vehicles that was possible. I am not familiar with your particular engine.
Go get a glove and really do the glove test.
Is the cap holding pressure?
Have you checked the timing?
Big Jim

 

[88 XLT Ranger]

Either you didn't burp the system enough tomes or you have a compression leak. The temp sender MUST be in coolant to send the correct temperature to the gauge.
Did the new thermostat go in backwards? In older vehicles that was possible. I am not familiar with your particular engine.
Go get a glove and really do the glove test.
Is the cap holding pressure?
Have you checked the timing?
Big Jim

Big jim

Thanks for helping, The Thermostat I put in with the cone shape out towards the hose and the spring end inside the intake. The way I did the Burp deal is fill the radiator compress the the upper hose back and forth fill the radiator start the truck 3 seconds shut it off I did this 4 times. The cap is brand new 13lb cap. The thing is I never had issue with it I had a bad radiator leaking from the Trans cooling line nut from 1999-2014. I added Bars stop leak ran around years no issues of overheating. I replaced the radiator just last Feb with a Napa unit and replaced the water pump the same time as it was showing leaking through the weep hole. My overheating issues started after that and putting on a new cap two weeks after. I think fixing the leaking and loss of pressure though the radiator and new cap sealed the deal I should have left it alone

 

[88 XLT Ranger]

Big Jim

I got to thinking I had no issues of overheating before I put a new radiator in due to the old one leaking and new water pump and new tight fitting 13lb cap. I have a pressure tester for radiators and caps my old cap didn't hold pressure. I think getting everything sealed and under pressure made things far worse. I just pulled the old 13lb cap off our old 1988 van its just like my old cap holds no pressure. I fired it up ticking went way in 5 minuts and reserve tank gained 1/4 maybe this will help keep from building to much pressure and overheating. Will road test in a few hours hell I don't know anything is worth a shot. I can't afford to re-build the motor or have a shop do it I herd Napa has re-built 2.9l but there like $2,300 or so than have a shop instal it thats a lot of money

 

[Spott]

A cooling system that holds higher pressure will be able to handle higher temperatures before boiling and overflowing, than one that leaks. Putting a leaky cap on and allowing it to overflow will make it overheat more easily.

Does the new cap seal properly? Is 4 fill-and-burp cycles enough to get the sloshy noises out of the upper hose, and keep the coolant level from dropping?

Also, what on earth is causing your engine to misfire that badly when it gets hot? That's very strange behavior, and sounds like a pretty big problem. Has anyone else here heard of a head leak that only opens at high temperatures, as a distant possibility? 86-88 2.9's were prone to getting cracked heads, often caused by overheating and/or poor upper engine lubrication.

 

[Big Jim M]

Ok now that we have the whole story I can give a diagnosis! PILOT ERROR!

We are missing one little part. Why do you know you cannot pull the distributor out of the manifold?

The overheating is because you have NOT filled the engine and heater core and radiator completely with coolant. If you do NOT get all the air out of the system it isn't going to get out by itself! By this time you may have cracked the head.

So do the glove test, and do it good. I always park a vehicle so the radiator cap is the highest part of the coolant system. Then I fill the system and start the engine with a small trickle of water in a water hose. While running I keep the radiator completely full to the brim. I watch the level looking for small bubbles from compression leaks. This might take as much as 20 minutes in a stubborn system. As the engine heats up to normal temp the coolant will expand and might overflow a bit and might even surge huge amounts of air out but I keep it full watching for bubbles.

Yes the engine will not overheat idling in in this manner. If it does you have a compression leak or a bad thermostat.

The lack of power has got to be timing. Since we don't know the distributor story we cannot make judgments about that.

Big Jim

 

[Spott]

The lack of power has got to be timing.

Unless it's a compression leak, or valve-train problems, or ignition problems, or fuel injectors, or wiring. Don't be so hasty to whip out your favorite diagnosis.

 

[RonD]

Just to play devils advocate.

Say spark timing is wrong, and ticking noise is not valve train at all, but pinging/knocking from too much spark advance, this causes VERY HOT cylinders, especially when going up hill.

 

[Lone-Ranger]

Issues again

I just put 3 quarts of Lucas in and 60W racing oil ticking went away sounded good.

I think its probably safe to say that if dude has to use 3qts lucas and the rest 60 weight, the ticking is not from timing... I also saw him say somewhere in the other thread he had up that it ticks for a few seconds when starting cold as well, which is from lifters losing oil while sitting...

 

[RonD]

Could be both

 

[88 XLT Ranger]

Ok now that we have the whole story I can give a diagnosis! PILOT ERROR!

We are missing one little part. Why do you know you cannot pull the distributor out of the manifold?

The overheating is because you have NOT filled the engine and heater core and radiator completely with coolant. If you do NOT get all the air out of the system it isn't going to get out by itself! By this time you may have cracked the head.

So do the glove test, and do it good. I always park a vehicle so the radiator cap is the highest part of the coolant system. Then I fill the system and start the engine with a small trickle of water in a water hose. While running I keep the radiator completely full to the brim. I watch the level looking for small bubbles from compression leaks. This might take as much as 20 minutes in a stubborn system. As the engine heats up to normal temp the coolant will expand and might overflow a bit and might even surge huge amounts of air out but I keep it full watching for bubbles.

Yes the engine will not overheat idling in in this manner. If it does you have a compression leak or a bad thermostat.

The lack of power has got to be timing. Since we don't know the distributor story we cannot make judgments about that.

Big Jim

The Burp deal I noticed the upper hose has no water in it I can compress it feel nothing in it its cold right now sitting overnight. When I did the Burp deal I filled it than started it a few minuts it started pushing back out thats when I shut it off than it went everywhere like air burst out. Should I let it run and let it keep flowing out 20min? The cap being the highest part of the radiator. Should I pull up on a block to get the front drivers side up higher than the rest of the truck? I parked in my driveway its up hill but the cap is facing downhill its on and angle down. I like to do the Burp deal again doing it right this time

 

[RonD]

Remove one of the heater hoses at the firewall and fill system until water comes out hose and core, then reattach and continue filling.
Start engine and turn HEAT to hot setting.
Top up rad

 

[88 XLT Ranger]

Remove one of the heater hoses at the firewall and fill system until water comes out hose and core, then reattach and continue filling.
Start engine and turn HEAT to hot setting.
Top up rad

Thanks Ron

Should I still let it run with the cap off after topping it off?

 

[Spott]

Should I still let it run with the cap off after topping it off?

Initially you should run it with the cap off as part of the burping process, to add coolant and track the coolant level.

Separately, you can let it idle with the cap off for 20 minutes or more, to check for continuous small bubbles (indicating head/gasket leaks), boiling (too much heat in the engine somewhere) or surging (blockage/pump problems). During this time, as the engine comes up to operating temperature, slow and gradual overflow is normal.

If you're doing either of these processes, then yes, you should run it with the cap off.

 

[Big Jim M]

Yes drive up on a block! Air will naturally go to the highest place it can get. If other parts of the system are higher than the cap then you will NEVER get all the air out.
Older systems were a lot simpler. The engine sat lower in the vehicle and the radiator was the tallest part of the coolant system EASY PEASY!
Some of these modern systems need a lot of nursing to get full and working properly.
I am still wondering about the engine slowing down going uphill. Even when you do get the overheating repaired you probably have another problem.
Big Jim