some of you might remember that i have been fighting this cooling problem for a while now.i finally gave up and took it to a radiator shop this morning. they tested everything out and the cooling system is working properly. they then did a test with a blue liquid that when exposed to backpressure in the radiator will turn yellow-green if there is any carbon dioxide in there. well it turned yellowish so their diagnosis is that there is possibly a bad head gasket or cracked head allowing exaust gasses to get back in the cooling system. i have never heard of this. is it possible to have a gasket leak without mixing the oil and water? has anyone heard of this before? for those new, my car is running around 190-210 on the interstate and 190-240 in traffic. running the air is impossible due to the rapid temp climb.new radiator,new thermostat, newer hoses, checked the guage(accurate within 2 degrees). the engine is stock 302 with a built transmission. factory fan and shroud. any ideas would help before i go to all the expence and trouble of rebuilding the top of the engine.
With everything you mentioned, it should definitely not be running that hot. 190*-200* is fine, but 210*-240* is ridiculous, even in Florida...
If it changed color,then yes you have a bad gasket or a crack (head or block) it's not a oil leak,it's a combustion gas leak! Sorry
It's very possible to have only gases escaping through a bad gasket or crack. I had that happen to a Mazda we had back a long time ago. Someone found out by sticking an emissions probe into the rad filler and he got a reading.
Jason, yes it is very possible. Have seen it many times. Though I must admit, I have not seen cooling problems like you are having associated with it. If it is boiling over then I would tend to think the gauge is correct. Have you actually tested another gauge to see if the calibration on the existing gauge is off? Dan ps, no real need to rebuild the top of the engine if just a head gasket is bad, but while there, might as well do both head gaskets.
"my car is running around 190-210 on the interstate " that is pretty fast for a stock 302...maybe want to check your speedo also. as far as the heat prob., are you losing coolant?...frank...
Have you replaced the water pump? As long as you've owned it, did this car always have heating issues or did it run ok at some point? First time you looked in the radiator, was it real muddy looking?
no it is not losing coolant. even when it hit 240 it wasn't puking. i haven't replaced the water pump but i had it checked for flow and it was flowing well. since i installed the guages i have noticed a gradual climb in the temps. lately tho it has been getting worse.the radiator has never been muddy looking and i have replaced it twice with new pieces. i have flushed and flushed the block but it always comes out clean. i was talking with some racers last night and the general consensous was that it sounds like a cracked head.the car will idle forever and not overheat but put a load on it or drive it and things go bad. their theory is that at idle the crack is closed or to small to notice but under load it opens up enough to let in exaust gasses and heat everything up. they said this is fairly common in their experience due to the way ford built their heads with the exaust ports side by side instead of alternateing like on a chevy head. i am looking at the edelbrock complete performer or performer rpm packages that comes with cam, lifters,head,intake and carb all matched. anyone have experience with these sets? i figure that as long as i am that far down i might as well rebuild the top end and cam. no sense doing it twice. especially since i have to pull the a/c system just to get to the block. pain in the butt. what money for anyway, right?
had a 460 do that once. The timing was retarded so much that the mixture was burning well into the exhaust ports and into the headers (they glowed red at night for 3-4" down the tubes). Advanced timing, problem solved. Edelbrock power packages are great. They're all matched together (though the cams are pretty mild) and make excellent power. I would recommend it to anyone!
