Heating problem

[Jorn J.]

Hi
I wonder why my new Dewitt radiator only gets hot in the first 1/5 space in the left side where the hot water comes in and the rest 4/5 part is cold and the engine is about 200 and sometimes higher?
The engine gets very quickly hot in about 15 minutes!
John Dingman from Dewitt says that the radiator then is doing the job!
Could it be the flow through the rad thats not good enough, I had a new rebuild Waterpump and a no org. thermostat.
I know it could be many things about ignition and so but these things are OK, so I think it must be the flow or so.
I mail this question because maybe others have met this problem with the cold radiator
C1,1959.

Regards Jorn

[Terry D.]

Re: Heating problem

Jorn
We need more information. What engine, what year, any mods to the engine, distributor you are using, what is timing set at, etc. When you say "these things are OK" what things and how have you checked them? How hot does the engine get? Is it really overheating to the point of boil over? The radiator will always be hotter where the hot water comes in from the engine and coolest as it leaves, this is what the radiator is there for. There have been numerous threads in the archives and one on the board right now about C1's overheating.
Terry

[Bruce B.]

Re: Heating problem

Jorn,
What thermostat are you using?
In operation the temperature of the inlet on the radiator will be hotter then the outlet.
Your case sounds extreme but as Dewitt said the radiator is doing it's job and cooling the engine coolant as it enters and exits the radiator.

[Jorn J.]

Re: Heating problem

Hi Terry
I know there is a lot of aspects to be ware of , I was just wondering when I lay my hand on the Radiator and nearly the whole Rad was cold!
Its a rebuild engine from Marts this year, 283, 3756519, no. matching( correct intake,Cam,Crank, hydra.lifters and so and its run fantastic.
The distributor are a Mallory dual point and is set to 10 degrees( I know it shuold be 4 BUDC but Its now 10 because I would try that because the heatingproblem)
The Radiator is new and the Waterpump is a orig. rebuild from CC all the hose are new and I think I have done everything correct.
The cooling water is dist.water 50% and glycol 50%.
My Fan Schroud is perfect fit so there is no gap around it and I have the orig. 4 fin blower.
One thing I not have done is to check it with a "heating" gun.And I will disamble the thermostat and check it how much and when it's open.

Regards Jorn

[Jorn J.]

Re: Heating problem

Hi Bruce
I use a 180 degrees and yes it does the work but I haven't mentioned it before( I saw it yeasterday) that the top and bottom and the outlet Hose from Radiator is very hot and not as cold as the middle of Radiator
I think maybe the water can't flush through it?

Jorn

[Bruce B.]

Re: Heating problem

Jorn,
Before you do anything it would be good if you run the engine and use a heat gun and measure the temperature at the base of the thermostat housing on the block, the hose coming out of the thermostat housing , the upper hose where it goes into the radiator and the radiator outlet hose at the bottom of the radiator.
The base of the thermostat housing should be the hottest and from there the temperature should go down and be the lowest temperature at the bottom radiator hose.
You could also measure temperature across the radiator and also top to bottom. This might give you an idea whats going on in the radiator.
Good luck.
Bruce

[Terry D.]

Re: Heating problem

Jorn
Is there any increase or decrease in temperature at 4 degrees timing?
Terry

[Jorn J.]

Re: Heating problem

Hi Terry
I think its getting hotter when the timing is set on 4 degrees and thats normal but the weather is shifting a lot here in Denmark and there are also a diff. when I drive in sun and in the evening.
My work is taking a lot of my time right now so in the week-end I will try to shoot the temp on the inlet and outlet and see how much diff. there are.I have this theory that my radiator only are hot on 1/5 so why does the rad have to be so big when it takes only 1/5 to cool the water?

Jorn

[Wally A.]

Re: Heating problem

are you sure that the heat riser at the right side exhaust manifold is not installed upside down. worth a check

[Timothy B.]

Re: Heating problem

Jorn,


To me it sounds like there may be trapped air in the system thus low coolant level.

You can also advance the inital timing to approx 18* as a TEST to see if that cools the idle temperature. Be careful to set it back, if the motor likes the additional timing you need to find a distributor machine to reduce centrifugal advance so you don't give the engine more timing than it needs..

[Jorn J.]

Re: Heating problem

are you sure that the heat riser at the right side exhaust manifold is not installed upside down. worth a check

Hi Wally
It's mounted so the Weight is pointing to the right and open when hot downwards like in Nolan's book at page 230.
Thanks for answering.
Jorn

[Jorn J.]

Re: Heating problem

Jorn,


To me it sounds like there may be trapped air in the system thus low coolant level.

You can also advance the inital timing to approx 18* as a TEST to see if that cools the idle temperature. Be careful to set it back, if the motor likes the additional timing you need to find a distributor machine to reduce centrifugal advance so you don't give the engine more timing than it needs..

Hi Timothy
Later I will try to set the timing up and it's possible to reduce the centrifugal advance with buying some other springs.But first I will try to take out the thermostat to check that it isn't there the problem is because it's strange that the Rad is very cold but rad top and bottom are very hot and the Hose from Rad to engine is also hot but not so hot as the hose into the Rad.
When I start the car and let it idle long time then I can see and feel on the Hose from Thermostat when it become hot by 185 it open the thermostat and the temp is falling down at 180 but then it raise again and goes to about 200-220 and when I then beginning to drive with a speed at 50miles then it reuce the temp. to about 190-200 but when i stop for a red light then it goes to 220-up and if I lay my hand on the Rad. is it only 1/5 of the Rad that's hot?

Jorn

[Jorn J.]

Re: Heating problem

Hi
Finally I found out whats happen about the coolant. I took a ride without Thermostat and it become not hotter than 180 so I check my new thermostat in a boiling can and it opens correctly so it must be the flow through the thermostat thats not good enough!
My Radiator become hot in an area of 4/5 and not only 1/5(with Thermostat) so now is my question: where do I find a Thermostat which have a better "flush".
My Thermostat is bought by Ecklers and is a 160, with #A9035.
I hope someone has had the same problem and have found a "better" Thermostat!Sorry my bad english but I try at least

Regards Jorn

[Gary C.]

Re: Heating problem

Jon,

A "Robert Shaw" thermostat is a good one to use. Make sure you get one made in USA or Europe, not China.

http://www.flowkoolerwaterpumps.com/info/thermostat_overview.html

Also, when you re-install the thermostat to make sure the engine is full of coolant - up to the bottom of the thermostat in the intake manifold. Then fill up the radiator, this will help make sure there's no air bubble in the engine coolant.

Good luck,

Gary
....

[Jorn J.]

Re: Heating problem

Hi Gary
What type will you reccomend if you should choose one between the 160 or 180 degrees from Robert Shaw and both are the 330 series?
Thanks for the help.

Regards Jorn