The new guy has questions

[samuellg1977]

Hi everyone. I am brand new to the site. Awesome trucks and man, the customs are simply stunning. Ok, first, i want to tell everyone that I am not a mechanic - I am a parts replacer. I picked up this 63 pickup about two months ago and the motor gave up on me. I yanked it out and put a 350/700R4 in. It runs great, but it overheats on me. I put a 160 degree t-stat in, new-er fan sroud and no change... boils over sittin in traffic. The water pump is pushing, it gets pressure, no smoke, no oil in the water, no water in the oil. The temp guage reads 160-170. The cap is a 15lbs cap... My dad is a big wrench-snatching old school gear-head and he gave me all the advice he could think of and it still isn't doin too good. As long as i am cruisin open-road, it is fine, but when i get into stop-n-go traffic, it gets hot. I can't afford to put it in the shop since the truck and motor swap drained my savings. Is there anything i am missing or could try to keep my cool? The side-view is the BEFORE, the corner view is the AFTER.

[markeb01]

Welcome to the forum. Nice looking truck. If the engine remains cool at speed the radiator is probably sufficient to cool the engine. The problem is a lack of airflow when sitting still. First question is do you have a manual fan and a correctly fitting shroud? Meaning does the shroud cover the entire surface of the radiator, and the fan reaching near or part way into the mouth of the shroud. Also was is boiling over – does the engine temp go way up, or is the carburetor boiling and spilling fuel into the intake manifold? If this is the problem you may need a carburetor heat isolating spacer.

[samuellg1977]

Thanks. The guy i bought it from did a ton of work to it before i got it. It is the fan that i got with the motor... A clutch fan. The shroud doesn't reach the fan. It is about 2-3 inches from the fan. Does the fan need to sit INSIDE the shroud? Also, the fan shroud is not a perfect fit. It came out of something in the the Pick-a-part lot. I am gonna hang a pic for you to look at. There is a gap between the top portion and bottom portion as well. Here is the picture. Sorry for the crappy pictures, but it was dark and i had to use my cell phone to get them.

[losthope]

the fan should go inside the shroud at least part way ,shroud should be the same size as radiator for ideal conditions,and your clutch fan may be shot or going bad, i replaced my clutch fan in my 65 with a regular one piece fan and made a hell of a difference...you may also and a water wetter agent to try and drop the temp...ive also had a blown intake/head gasket on a truck that had no signs of oil in water or water in oil, but would blow hot air some how in too radiator boiling water ..

[samuellg1977]

And again... Third time may be the charm.

[Bears63]

Your fan is nowhere near close enough to that shroud, and your shroud is very ill fitting from what I can see. Find a better shroud, ditch the clutch fan for a solid fan..... or go with electric fans. All in all it appears that is where your issue lies.

[losthope]

that fan is way to far from the shroud!!!!!!!!!!!! get a spacer at your local parts place and ditch the clutch fan

[samuellg1977]

Ok. I have an electric fan and shroud that I took from half a cadillac (long story - short), Caddy VS Peterbilt - Winner: Peterbilt!! . Too easy. I will try it tomorrow and update this thread. Thanks for the help.

[Captainfab]

Your fan should be about 2/3rds into the fan shroud. Hopefully the fan will line up with the opening in the shroud. I would recomend also checking the fan clutch for proper operation.

[losthope]

if your shroud dont work ,and you have some extra funds try lmc truck or brothers for a repop one , i got one from brothers trucks and was very happy with it, its good investment and a piece of mind in cooling and life of your engine IMO

[onequickchevy]

Definitely plus 1 on all said above, but it looks like that is a very small radiator. You may have a coolant capacity issue. Another thing to check would be the proper rotation on the water pump. If someone put on a later model waterpump from a serpentine belt set up (like from a pick and pull), it will not flow the water properly. They look the same, but they are different in functionality. More than likely though, you just need a better fan set up. I have an elcheapo aluminum radiator from epay, and a salvage GM fan from a wreck, and mine stays at 180 in the dead of summer in traffic.

[Rich 5150 69]

One other thing change the t-stat to a 180 or 192,, that will give the water more radiator time to cool down and as they said fix the fan issue...

[Indian113]

I put a 16" puller electric fan from LMC on my truck,in the traffic at GG'S in des moines the temp outside was 97 truck ran 185 in stop and go traffic. I'm very happy with it!!

[samuellg1977]

Well, i am back at it... Ran a flush and fill on it. Changed the T-stat (190), new hoses (Top, Bottom, and heater hoses), radiator cap (16lbs), over flow tank, installed an electric fan. It did great for a couple of days, then, puked all over my fender again. It would push a little bit out, then suck it back into the radiator (I'm assuming it's supposed to do that). It never over heats, it doesn't run rough, nothing. Just blows out the coolant. Well, today I pulled the plug in the top of the water pump and white foam poured out of it. I know this cannot be a good sign, so I have a new short water pump in the garage and I will be swapping it out this weekend. If that don't fix it, I might test the insurance adjuster's response time!!

[Clyde65]

DO a power flush on your cooling system to get all that crap out. seems someone may have tried to put something in there.

[samuellg1977]

I figured it was time to revisit this thread. Since my last post, i have flushed the radiator, new electric fans, new thermostat, new hoses, and did a good flush on the block... Eureka!! The rusty, dirty sludge that came out was nastier than anything i've ever seen!! Once i got the stop-leak crap out and actually fixed the leaks, I figured i would just go get a new radiator and a 190 t-stat, now she stays really cool and never boils over (except when i over-fill the stupid thing). And i have realized that - yes, it is supposed to boil over - but it recovers from the overflow (puke) tank when cooling off. (Who knew?) I'm sure one of you guys did. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all of the advice, guys. I really appreciate the help and the patience.

[jocko]

that's a relief isn't it? I HATE cooling issues....

[samuellg1977]

Originally Posted by jocko

that's a relief isn't it? I HATE cooling issues....

Yes, indeed. Now, I have moved on to other problems. Lol. One fix at a time, I guess.
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