Check the radiator cap and pressure, I don't know what's appropriate for that cooling system - HAMB please chime in Verify with shop if they boiled or cleaned the radiator. Do you have a spring in the lower radiator hose to prevent collapse. Nice shroud that will help
Have you check the timing curve of that unit. Meaning does it advance as you'd expect or does it retard?
If the radiator is insufficent or plugged or the waterpump is kaboshed, the shroud will not help. Mark is right , down the hiway no water flow is the culprit. In town it could be both, no waterflow and no air flow. JMO. I don't like the looks of that radiator for some reason. Or the shroud. There I said it. Lippy
I'm not a fan of electric fan's (excuse the pun), I have fought hot rods running hot for years and tried everything I could think of including multiple electric fans and shrouds,all kinds of re-cored ,copper/br*** and aluminum radiators, I've used all the water wetter snake oils and over the years I learned a few things. Use a good radiator, my preference is copper/br***, It worked for all the car & trucks makers through the mid 60's. I also use a 6 1/4" water pump pull pulley and a 7 1/4" crank pulley I use a high quality STEEL mechanical fan as big as I can fit behind the radiator, I have a 17" on both my cars. I use a Zips riser when running a small block Chevy, it raises the center of the water pump up 5". most of the time that will center your mechanical fan. My old beater will sit in bumper to bumper traffic and the hottest I have ever seen is 190 and that;s sitting for almost a hour. HRP
I don't think that is the right water pump pulley. It's too big which means it is turning the water pump slower than it is supposed to. A chevy straight six water pump pulley will bolt up to a small block but they are different sizes.
OK. tested out the fan shroud. Same result. But, after the drive, I started feeling around and noticed , the top rad hose and tank was HOT to the touch. The lower hose and tank were cool. So, I started the engine to get the water moving and felt the lower hose did not warm up. When I had the radiator out and all the hoses off, I could see inside. There was no sludge or build up on what I could see. It actually looked pretty clean to me.
I had a coupe that had almost the exact problems you've got. I did everything ($$$) and bawled too. Had a Walker rad. in it, new. I called and spoke to him direct, of course he said i needed a "bore type" rad. (for motors that have been bored) and wanted $$. Bottom line--used a Stewart high flow pump (think it was 80gpm), mech. 6 blade fan covering as much rad. as i could get, homemade shroud covering 1/2 the blades, and fab'd "deflectors" for the front of the rad. to steer as much air as i could get into it. Also a 180 tstat, don't go lower since it needs to hold the water for the rad. to do its job. I also put a small pusher electric fan in front for idle in traffic, hardly every had to use it. It worked for me.
Not yet. I treated the cooling system with Prestone cleaner. After running the engine per directions, I waited for it to cool and drained and flushed. It wasn't dirty at all. However,after the radiator was empty, I looked inside the filler and saw a piece of plastic sitting right on top of the tubes.. It says General Pump on it. Anyone recognize this piece of plastic?
That pretty much tells you that you aren't getting any flow through the radiator. Also realize that you only need to have less than an 1/8 inch of crud in a tube at one end to stop all flow through that tube, not something you can visually tell. A good radiator shop should have a flow bench, but there aren't that many good shops left. I think it is time to see about getting it rodded. That's where you take off one tank and run a flat metal bar through each tube.
I remember radiator guys plugging the lower port, fill the radiator then remove the plug and water should gush out about a foot or more if it is flowing properly.
I had a car that I installed a aluminum radiator in. I put the top tank where it looked best. Then had a huge overheating problem- always- idling- at highway speeds.... always. Someone said radiator was too high- needs to push coolant up to go thru radiator. I lowered radiator and it was better, still tended to get hot at times but a lot better. Maybe your issue????
I looked up the part and yes, it seems to be a part for a sprayer of some sort. https://spraywell.com/general-pump-925090q-quick-connect-spray-nozzle-25-degree-green-9-0-gpm/
I did this today several times. I filled the radiator then pulled the hose and it gushed out empty in about 3 seconds.
I hate to go down this path of thinking head gasket. But, I did notice a light white smoke out the tail pipe. I checked the oil and it looks good, not milky. Is there way to check for a bad head gasket without taking off the heads? I would hate to tear it all down just to find good head gaskets.
I know this sounds completely impossible,,,,,,could the water pump inlet be blocked? I remember reading on here years ago about a very similar occurrence on a SBC. The inlet had a plastic plug installed from the vendor,,,,,,it took a very long time ,,,,but they finally found it . Have you inspected the water pump,,,,and double checked it is correct rotation as well ? Tommy
If it is making white smoke out the tailpipe does the exhaust smell sweet? . Stick your finger inside the tailpipe, is it wet? Touch your finger to your tongue. Antifreeze tastes sweet. I have done this a lot, no it won’t kill you. If it’s burning coolant there isn’t a radiator large enough to cool it.
I'd give the shop that fixed it a call and ask if they checked anything else. If they weren't asked to clean it out, or check it, I doubt they would.
?I ***ume it is a no name brand hei,the mechanical advance is very slow and the vacuum advance is adj and usually also needs adjustment. I have corrected this many times esp with overheating problems
The Jalopy Journal
