I just finished rebuilding my 302, bored and stroked to 347, aluminum heads, more than 10:1 compression, but less that 10.5:1, Edelbrock high volume water pump (PN 8843), taurus electric fan. the garage that i had finish installation bypassed the heater core. I'm going to reconnect it, but I'm not sure that's enough to have water escape the radiator cap after shutting the car off. I believe the radiator to be a stock style 3 row radiator. any suggestions to keep the car cool? or does it just need more mileage on it to settle in? Thanks in advance
i have no idea what the heater core has to do with the radiator cap? does your engine run hot? ive had problems with an edelbrock water pump in the past. it didnt move enough coolant unless the engine rpms were above 2500 rpm. i find a stock replacement pump seems the be the best thing. ive used the flowcool pumps too. they are stock pumps with a disk put on the impeller to improve the efficiency.
a clean, stock style 3 row radiator should be enough with that fan. what degree T-stat are you running?
I had to bump up from a 13 pound cap to 16 pound... With the 13 it would push my coolant out the over flow, had to top off the coolant all the time... with the 16 pound cap my over flow tank doesn't get wet... I run a 160* t-stat and in Florida it climes to around 180* at stop lights... I've been told I'm letting it run a little to cool... They say 195* is a good temp to be at with a 302... Also make sure the lower hose is not collapsing, Mine was and was driving me crazy... At idle it was fine, at speed it would slam shut... I just happened to be looking down at it when I rev'd the engine, and wow! never thought a hose would do that...lol...
Depending on coolant mixture, temperature and cap pressure ratiing, releasing coolant after shut off could be normal. Add an overflow tank(even a soda bottle is better than nothing) so the system will draw the purged coolant back into the radiator. If it's actually overheating, that's a totally different story.
Hose Collapse Hello Ken: I was reading your post and thought I'd mention how I dealt with this problem, I obtained a stainless steel "spring" and wound it " into " the lower hose then reinstalled it . There are hoses out there that already have springs in them but I don't think all of them are stainless steel .. Looking forward to seeing you at NPD again this coming year. Cometized
Yes , I fixed mine a few years ago, just passing along what I learned the hard way... I'll be at the NPD show again, so I'll see you there...
A 160* thermostat just means it starts to open at 160*. It isn't fully open until 20* hotter. Put a 180* 'stat in your car. If the rest of your cooling system is up to snuff then the Tstat will control the temperature and it will stay somewhere between the opening point and full open.
I have also heard that the victor series waterpump has a problem cooling at lower RPMs. last time I'll listen to the old man who runs a performance part shop in town. Is there an interchange for the edelbrock 8843? I'd rather not go through the trouble of aligning my pulleys again, but if i have to, i will. it's a march performance serpentine pulley system for just alternator, water pump and crank
When it comes to water pumps, there are three "sizes" A "high performance" pump is a low volume pump, meant to operate at high rpms. Then there's the std volume pump, which is exactly what the name implies. Next there's the high volume pump which has the same casting, but fitted with a larger impeller than a std vol. to move more coolant. I have an aluminum radiator on my 331, the pump is a std vol 88-91 Crown Vic pump (aluminum housing). Pulleys are the stock diameter (but aftermarket aluminum) I've got an electric fan on the radiator, but seldom use it, usually only in town once the motor gets up to around 210*. It gets shut off when I hit the highway. The only time it ever runs hot (past 230*) is when I forget to turn on the electric fan while in town. The Vic pump looks just as good as the Edelbrock unit. I have never bought an aftermarket waterpump, the stock ones do just fine. If you want a high volume stock pump, ask for the one's spec'd for a police or taxi application, or HD cooling. These will have the large impeller to move more coolant. If you're not sure as to how the impeller size compares, look at one of each (std and HD/police-taxi cooling)
One other thing, how old is the radiator ? And is it a V8 radiator ? Both age and application have are important factors in how well it all works.
You are underdriving the pump with the March pulleys. That might be your problem. I am having the same issue and am going back to stock size pulleys. I have read many posts on several Ford forums and it seems half run fine underdriven and half run hot. Switching pulleys has almost always solved the problem.
Was it new then ? And as jm16 commented, underdirving the waterpump can cause overheating, especially if it's a high performance pump designed for high rpm use.
yeah, i bught it new. it's weird the pulley system would underdrive the pump as it's meant for street rods, too. just means i need a standard performance pump. seems this one fixed the problem on someone else's project: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/gmb-125-1230
