cooling problem from hell, part duex! - Page 2

fiveohpatrol · 03-21-2001, 02:48 PM

son of a F%&@*&# b&%#*, the damn thing overheated again today, i drove the crap out of it for the last couple days and it was perfect, even drove it all the way out here to school fine, but drove it today and it went up again, it was fine until i beat on it and then it cooled down again so its a little different, could my radiator be clogged from draining it and filling it a few times lately? its the factory radiator so thats what im thinking, im confused because the temp said about 210 and the radiator was barely warm until i shut the engine off then it started to heat up and then got really hot, what the hell is going on?

------------------
88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

withamc · 03-21-2001, 05:05 PM

Are you sure it's overheating? I have found that I've got a voltage regulator problem with my guages. It runs fine all day, but at night when I turn the lights and heater on my fuel, oil pressure and temp guages all read high. Haven't had a chance to tear into it yet. Something to consider though.

fiveohpatrol · 03-21-2001, 05:47 PM

almost positive its overheating, its the only guage acting up, also when it does it its not putting out hardly any heat through the heater, this problem is odd, because i just went down and let it run again with the cap off and put a little more coolant in and then drove it and it was fine! maybe i hadnt gotten the whole air pocket out the 1st time ? i dont know, im gonna drive it again in an hour or two and see what happens, oh yah and when i had the cap off i could see little flakes in my coolant, probably time for a new radiator right?

------------------
88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

fiveohpatrol · 03-21-2001, 09:51 PM

well, for about the 4th time i thought i fixed it and really didnt, temp went up about 5 minutes into driving it this time, i still need help

------------------
88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

speedfreak918 · 03-21-2001, 10:09 PM

My girlfriends notch is doing the exact same thing. Been lettin her drive it w/o thermostat to get by for now. Burped the cooland half a million times. Im fed up, so I am pullin the heads friday. This better fix it. Ive tried everything that has been mentioned in this post, no good in my case. 230 degrees and no heat, top off coolant and runs great 4 a couple of days then 230 degrees again. Good luck fixing yours!

Fox Body · 03-22-2001, 12:06 AM

fiveohpatrol

Do you think your radiator's clogged? When you run the car in park with the radiator cap off, can you see the water readily flowing through it (if so, then water pump is probably okay and so is radiator)?

Is the coolant in the radiator clear and colorless or green (both are good). IF it is not, but it is a rust color (orangish) or not CLEAR, then you have rust and other crap in your radiator and it is screwed. Get another.

Let's assume you have enough antifreeze, enough water, and your thermo is fine.

Next time the temp gauge reads 210 degrees, pull over and shut off car. You WILL either hear the coolant BOILING or see it overflowing into reservoir or somewhere. If temp gauge reads 210 and you hear NO boiling, then you are MOST LIKELY NOT overheating. IF this happens, I strongly suggest changing your temp SENDING UNIT. If that doesn't work you may have a screwed radiator.

-------------------------------
'79 Mustang Coup
4" Cowl
Weld wheels (15x6;15x8)
Stock 5.8L
C4 w/ shift kit
1.5" MAC full length headers
Holley 750 CFM
Edelbrock intake
2.5" Off road H-pipe, 2-chamber Flowmasters
8.8" Rear end w/ 3.55 gears (Now that's more like it!!)

Front: 225/60/15 Rear: 255/60/15 Eagle GT II
14 x 4” K&N air filter (getting the Xtreme setup soon)

"Red, thou art my companion. Hasten now your quickened metamorphosis to Green that I may conquer all who dare abide there beside me. May they be left thither behind burnt black." ---Fox Body

[This message has been edited by Fox Body (edited 03-22-2001).]

fiveohpatrol · 03-22-2001, 01:24 PM

when i run it with the cap off i do see very small flakes in the coolant but it is still a solid green color, also when running with the cap off for a little while the coolant comes to the top of the radiator and starts to spill out, is it supposed to do this?

------------------
88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

03-22-2001, 05:45 PM

There still might be air in your system. I know oem t-stats have a check ball that bleed air through to the radiator. Another cause is that you might have gotten another bad t-stat. Check you guages and sending unit.

Fox Body · 03-22-2001, 05:51 PM

Yes it's suppose to start spilling out if cap is off if you run it for a while (if you rev the engine a little, you'll see water go down and come back up when you let off).

But you need to check and make sure your sending unit isn't screwed. I would suggest once again, drive the car and if/when temp guage goes up to ~210, shut off car and listen for boiling or look for overflow or excess coolant in reservoir. If none of the above, then it is not overheating. So change your temperature sending unit.

It is NOT an odd thing for the sending units to go bad. Don't go buying a brand new radiator when it could be something as simple as a sending unit.

One more thing, when it gets to the supposed 210 degrees, when you go to shut off the car, it'll most likely idle in park at a higher rpm than usual and then when you shut it off, it MAY shut off and then kinda sputter a little (as if it wants to crank back up).

-------------------------------
'79 Mustang Coup
4" Cowl
Weld wheels (15x6;15x8)
Stock 5.8L
C4 w/ shift kit
1.5" MAC full length headers
Holley 750 CFM
Edelbrock intake
2.5" Off road H-pipe, 2-chamber Flowmasters
8.8" Rear end w/ 3.55 gears (Now that's more like it!!)

Front: 225/60/15 Rear: 255/60/15 Eagle GT II
14 x 4” K&N air filter (getting the Xtreme setup soon)

"Red, thou art my companion. Hasten now your quickened metamorphosis to Green that I may conquer all who dare abide there beside me. May they be left thither behind burnt black." ---Fox Body

fiveohpatrol · 03-24-2001, 02:50 PM

once again i think i may have got it, 2fastLx and i pulled the radiator and put hose to it, it was flowing like crap, poured some Muraitic acid in and cleaned it out really well, put the hose to it again and it was flowing a hell of a lot better, got it all back in and it stayed cool, drove it all the way back home the next day about another hour, and it was fine all the way till i got off the exit about 10 min from my house, temp went up for a short time and also lost heat, i guess lost flow for a minute, then was fine again, drove it an hour later and did the same thing whenever i got on it, came back and ran it with the cap off and topped off the radiator, drove it and it was fine, the cleaning of the radiator really helped but i think i need a new one to REALLY fix the problem

------------------
88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

2FastLX · 03-24-2001, 05:57 PM

You could try the acid again Drew and it may solve the problem completely until you can get a new radiator. If we had more time I would have let it sit in there for about 20 minutes then flush it out and done that a couple times. And you could do this with the radiator in the car. You'd just have to be careful when pouring the acid in and spend a lot more time flushing it out to make sure you got everything. Keep a close eye on her and don't let it get too hot man. I'd hate for you to have to go through what I am right now :P

------------------
Indiana Stangers Association
Buy your parts here

vande97 · 03-24-2001, 08:14 PM

i feel for ya man. my car really has no heat at all and it likes to play temp games with me also i know i have a shi$ in the radiator. but i am assuming that when the needle on the stock t-gauge is just below the middle i am at 180 but when i run it hard it like to climb a little bit. but other times it just stays above the first tick on the guage runs best that way it has not over heated on me yet but i think i am going to call a junk yard and see if i cant find a 3 or 4 core radiator for cheap and throw it in and see how it does. maybe you could try the same
good luck man

2FastLX · 03-25-2001, 09:33 AM

I forgot to tell ya, keep checking it and topping it off. It could be a combination of air in the system and a plugged radiator.

------------------
Indiana Stangers Association
Buy your parts here

Kool94Gt · 03-27-2001, 09:28 AM

To get rid of the air pockets: 1-Jack up your car. 2- Take off the radiator cap. 3-Let it run for 30 minutes. 4- Lower and top off with fluids.

Also, check your belt. I just spent 2 weeks running hot to find out my fan belt had streched out. Make sure the fan is working properly.

I hope this might help because I spent 2 weeks of misery before diagnosing the problem. One last thing, Could there be a problem with the new intake gaskets. Too much to think about- Good Luck, Ed

------------------

03-27-2001, 09:42 AM

One thing to check also is there is a coolant restrictor in the heater hoses in by the firewall. It was put in all GT's from 87 or 88 on. But it was put in all cop car Mustangs. Is your car an ex-cop car. If the restrictor is in there maybe it is plugging also. The restrictor should be on the inlet side. High motor speeds were causing heater cores to blow, so Ford put a restrictor in.

How is the heater core? If this is bad or old it could be chunking off into the rad, causing blockage.

Once again buy a thermostat with check ball and try to burp it of air. Air bubbles can be a pain to get out.

fiveohpatrol · 03-27-2001, 10:00 AM

well i dont know what the hell is up with it, i started a new post about it after i put a new radiator in and it still didnt fix it(i would need one down the line anyway), the car then started putting white smoke out the tailpipes, and the oil had coolant in it, but the coolant in the radiator and the overflow wasnt bubbling, i think one of the intake gaskets slipped and there is coolant getting in the lifter valley, im gonna rip it back off the weekend after next and find out, oh yah, it is an excop car and it has a new heater core in it

------------------
88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

Big Bopper · 03-27-2001, 11:51 PM

Is your thermostat in backwards? It could be a bad thermostat I bought 3 in a row that were all BAD!!!

03-28-2001, 06:49 PM

I had the same problem as you did, scared the crap out of me. I found that i had replaced the negative ground cable and the chassis ground (which was an exposed section of the wire attached to the frame) was the ground to the chassis and the replacement cable had no provisions for a chassis ground. My lights would dim when i came to a stop and my oil and temp gauges read very high. The coolant was at (according to the gauge) 240* and when i'd slow down it'd go down to 180*. I put on a new chassis ground attached to the engine where the negative terminal ground was, and i also noticed my radiator was somewhat plugged restricting flow so i replaced that too. the temp never goes above the N on normal (damn ford gauges) and i haven't had any problems in standstill traffic either. I hope this info. may be of some help. Good luck, i hope you find it.

------------------
'84 Mustang 5.0 T5, FMS aluminum radiator & 180* thermostat, 1 5/8 shortys/2.5" duals, '88 GT tail lights and wheels, Holley 4160 4 BBL, smog pump idler, more coming soon

fiveohpatrol · 03-28-2001, 08:46 PM

but if thats the problem then why would i be getting coolant in my oil? that wire is pretty worn out so i should replace it anyway, maybe its the reason why it is getting hot and it getting hot probably hardened the intake gasket to where it started to leak into the lifter valley, i dunno, i'll see what happens

------------------
88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

fiveohpatrol · 03-28-2001, 08:49 PM

i also noticed my lights dimming more than they used to, i just figured that it was the pulleys, but after reading this they seem to be dimming more than they used to

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03-21-2001, 02:48 PM	#21
fiveohpatrol I'd rather be basketweaving Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,551	son of a F%&@&# b&%#, the damn thing overheated again today, i drove the crap out of it for the last couple days and it was perfect, even drove it all the way out here to school fine, but drove it today and it went up again, it was fine until i beat on it and then it cooled down again so its a little different, could my radiator be clogged from draining it and filling it a few times lately? its the factory radiator so thats what im thinking, im confused because the temp said about 210 and the radiator was barely warm until i shut the engine off then it started to heat up and then got really hot, what the hell is going on? ------------------ 88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

03-21-2001, 05:05 PM	#22
withamc Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Posts: 396	Are you sure it's overheating? I have found that I've got a voltage regulator problem with my guages. It runs fine all day, but at night when I turn the lights and heater on my fuel, oil pressure and temp guages all read high. Haven't had a chance to tear into it yet. Something to consider though.

03-21-2001, 05:47 PM	#23
fiveohpatrol I'd rather be basketweaving Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,551	almost positive its overheating, its the only guage acting up, also when it does it its not putting out hardly any heat through the heater, this problem is odd, because i just went down and let it run again with the cap off and put a little more coolant in and then drove it and it was fine! maybe i hadnt gotten the whole air pocket out the 1st time ? i dont know, im gonna drive it again in an hour or two and see what happens, oh yah and when i had the cap off i could see little flakes in my coolant, probably time for a new radiator right? ------------------ 88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

03-21-2001, 09:51 PM	#24
fiveohpatrol I'd rather be basketweaving Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,551	well, for about the 4th time i thought i fixed it and really didnt, temp went up about 5 minutes into driving it this time, i still need help ------------------ 88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

03-21-2001, 10:09 PM	#25
speedfreak918 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Morganton, NC, USA Posts: 6	My girlfriends notch is doing the exact same thing. Been lettin her drive it w/o thermostat to get by for now. Burped the cooland half a million times. Im fed up, so I am pullin the heads friday. This better fix it. Ive tried everything that has been mentioned in this post, no good in my case. 230 degrees and no heat, top off coolant and runs great 4 a couple of days then 230 degrees again. Good luck fixing yours!

03-22-2001, 12:06 AM	#26
Fox Body Mustang Maniac Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: GA, U.S.A Posts: 2,266	fiveohpatrol Do you think your radiator's clogged? When you run the car in park with the radiator cap off, can you see the water readily flowing through it (if so, then water pump is probably okay and so is radiator)? Is the coolant in the radiator clear and colorless or green (both are good). IF it is not, but it is a rust color (orangish) or not CLEAR, then you have rust and other crap in your radiator and it is screwed. Get another. Let's assume you have enough antifreeze, enough water, and your thermo is fine. Next time the temp gauge reads 210 degrees, pull over and shut off car. You WILL either hear the coolant BOILING or see it overflowing into reservoir or somewhere. If temp gauge reads 210 and you hear NO boiling, then you are MOST LIKELY NOT overheating. IF this happens, I strongly suggest changing your temp SENDING UNIT. If that doesn't work you may have a screwed radiator. ------------------------------- '79 Mustang Coup 4" Cowl Weld wheels (15x6;15x8) Stock 5.8L C4 w/ shift kit 1.5" MAC full length headers Holley 750 CFM Edelbrock intake 2.5" Off road H-pipe, 2-chamber Flowmasters 8.8" Rear end w/ 3.55 gears (Now that's more like it!!) Front: 225/60/15 Rear: 255/60/15 Eagle GT II 14 x 4” K&N air filter (getting the Xtreme setup soon) "Red, thou art my companion. Hasten now your quickened metamorphosis to Green that I may conquer all who dare abide there beside me. May they be left thither behind burnt black." ---Fox Body [This message has been edited by Fox Body (edited 03-22-2001).]

03-22-2001, 01:24 PM	#27
fiveohpatrol I'd rather be basketweaving Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,551	when i run it with the cap off i do see very small flakes in the coolant but it is still a solid green color, also when running with the cap off for a little while the coolant comes to the top of the radiator and starts to spill out, is it supposed to do this? ------------------ 88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

03-22-2001, 05:45 PM	#28
88GT5.013.02 Guest Posts: n/a	There still might be air in your system. I know oem t-stats have a check ball that bleed air through to the radiator. Another cause is that you might have gotten another bad t-stat. Check you guages and sending unit.

03-22-2001, 05:51 PM	#29
Fox Body Mustang Maniac Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: GA, U.S.A Posts: 2,266	Yes it's suppose to start spilling out if cap is off if you run it for a while (if you rev the engine a little, you'll see water go down and come back up when you let off). But you need to check and make sure your sending unit isn't screwed. I would suggest once again, drive the car and if/when temp guage goes up to ~210, shut off car and listen for boiling or look for overflow or excess coolant in reservoir. If none of the above, then it is not overheating. So change your temperature sending unit. It is NOT an odd thing for the sending units to go bad. Don't go buying a brand new radiator when it could be something as simple as a sending unit. One more thing, when it gets to the supposed 210 degrees, when you go to shut off the car, it'll most likely idle in park at a higher rpm than usual and then when you shut it off, it MAY shut off and then kinda sputter a little (as if it wants to crank back up). ------------------------------- '79 Mustang Coup 4" Cowl Weld wheels (15x6;15x8) Stock 5.8L C4 w/ shift kit 1.5" MAC full length headers Holley 750 CFM Edelbrock intake 2.5" Off road H-pipe, 2-chamber Flowmasters 8.8" Rear end w/ 3.55 gears (Now that's more like it!!) Front: 225/60/15 Rear: 255/60/15 Eagle GT II 14 x 4” K&N air filter (getting the Xtreme setup soon) "Red, thou art my companion. Hasten now your quickened metamorphosis to Green that I may conquer all who dare abide there beside me. May they be left thither behind burnt black." ---Fox Body

03-24-2001, 02:50 PM	#30
fiveohpatrol I'd rather be basketweaving Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,551	once again i think i may have got it, 2fastLx and i pulled the radiator and put hose to it, it was flowing like crap, poured some Muraitic acid in and cleaned it out really well, put the hose to it again and it was flowing a hell of a lot better, got it all back in and it stayed cool, drove it all the way back home the next day about another hour, and it was fine all the way till i got off the exit about 10 min from my house, temp went up for a short time and also lost heat, i guess lost flow for a minute, then was fine again, drove it an hour later and did the same thing whenever i got on it, came back and ran it with the cap off and topped off the radiator, drove it and it was fine, the cleaning of the radiator really helped but i think i need a new one to REALLY fix the problem ------------------ 88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

03-24-2001, 05:57 PM	#31
2FastLX The Photoshop Guru Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Mecca, Indiana Posts: 1,419	You could try the acid again Drew and it may solve the problem completely until you can get a new radiator. If we had more time I would have let it sit in there for about 20 minutes then flush it out and done that a couple times. And you could do this with the radiator in the car. You'd just have to be careful when pouring the acid in and spend a lot more time flushing it out to make sure you got everything. Keep a close eye on her and don't let it get too hot man. I'd hate for you to have to go through what I am right now :P ------------------ Indiana Stangers Association Buy your parts here

03-24-2001, 08:14 PM	#32
vande97 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: okemos Posts: 205	i feel for ya man. my car really has no heat at all and it likes to play temp games with me also i know i have a shi$ in the radiator. but i am assuming that when the needle on the stock t-gauge is just below the middle i am at 180 but when i run it hard it like to climb a little bit. but other times it just stays above the first tick on the guage runs best that way it has not over heated on me yet but i think i am going to call a junk yard and see if i cant find a 3 or 4 core radiator for cheap and throw it in and see how it does. maybe you could try the same good luck man

03-25-2001, 09:33 AM	#33
2FastLX The Photoshop Guru Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Mecca, Indiana Posts: 1,419	I forgot to tell ya, keep checking it and topping it off. It could be a combination of air in the system and a plugged radiator. ------------------ Indiana Stangers Association Buy your parts here

03-27-2001, 09:28 AM	#34
Kool94Gt Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Weston, Florida Posts: 10	To get rid of the air pockets: 1-Jack up your car. 2- Take off the radiator cap. 3-Let it run for 30 minutes. 4- Lower and top off with fluids. Also, check your belt. I just spent 2 weeks running hot to find out my fan belt had streched out. Make sure the fan is working properly. I hope this might help because I spent 2 weeks of misery before diagnosing the problem. One last thing, Could there be a problem with the new intake gaskets. Too much to think about- Good Luck, Ed ------------------

03-27-2001, 09:42 AM	#35
88GT5.013.02 Guest Posts: n/a	One thing to check also is there is a coolant restrictor in the heater hoses in by the firewall. It was put in all GT's from 87 or 88 on. But it was put in all cop car Mustangs. Is your car an ex-cop car. If the restrictor is in there maybe it is plugging also. The restrictor should be on the inlet side. High motor speeds were causing heater cores to blow, so Ford put a restrictor in. How is the heater core? If this is bad or old it could be chunking off into the rad, causing blockage. Once again buy a thermostat with check ball and try to burp it of air. Air bubbles can be a pain to get out.

03-27-2001, 10:00 AM	#36
fiveohpatrol I'd rather be basketweaving Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,551	well i dont know what the hell is up with it, i started a new post about it after i put a new radiator in and it still didnt fix it(i would need one down the line anyway), the car then started putting white smoke out the tailpipes, and the oil had coolant in it, but the coolant in the radiator and the overflow wasnt bubbling, i think one of the intake gaskets slipped and there is coolant getting in the lifter valley, im gonna rip it back off the weekend after next and find out, oh yah, it is an excop car and it has a new heater core in it ------------------ 88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

03-27-2001, 11:51 PM	#37
Big Bopper Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Sechelt, B.C., Canada Posts: 200	Is your thermostat in backwards? It could be a bad thermostat I bought 3 in a row that were all BAD!!!

03-28-2001, 06:49 PM	#38
84stangLX Guest Posts: n/a	I had the same problem as you did, scared the crap out of me. I found that i had replaced the negative ground cable and the chassis ground (which was an exposed section of the wire attached to the frame) was the ground to the chassis and the replacement cable had no provisions for a chassis ground. My lights would dim when i came to a stop and my oil and temp gauges read very high. The coolant was at (according to the gauge) 240* and when i'd slow down it'd go down to 180. I put on a new chassis ground attached to the engine where the negative terminal ground was, and i also noticed my radiator was somewhat plugged restricting flow so i replaced that too. the temp never goes above the N on normal (damn ford gauges) and i haven't had any problems in standstill traffic either. I hope this info. may be of some help. Good luck, i hope you find it. ------------------ '84 Mustang 5.0 T5, FMS aluminum radiator & 180 thermostat, 1 5/8 shortys/2.5" duals, '88 GT tail lights and wheels, Holley 4160 4 BBL, smog pump idler, more coming soon

03-28-2001, 08:46 PM	#39
fiveohpatrol I'd rather be basketweaving Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,551	but if thats the problem then why would i be getting coolant in my oil? that wire is pretty worn out so i should replace it anyway, maybe its the reason why it is getting hot and it getting hot probably hardened the intake gasket to where it started to leak into the lifter valley, i dunno, i'll see what happens ------------------ 88 Notchback 5.0, 3.73's, Explorer intake, pulleys, Crane 1.7's, BBK headers, off-road H-pipe, flowmasters, subframe connectors, 65mm TB, shift kit, March ram air kit, motorsport wires, MSD coil, upper and lower control arms, 155lph fuel pump, cheap 2800 stall, Crane Adj.FPR, best time- 13.99@99.75, not yet tested times after rocker and intake install

03-28-2001, 08:49 PM	#40
fiveohpatrol I'd rather be basketweaving Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,551	i also noticed my lights dimming more than they used to, i just figured that it was the pulleys, but after reading this they seem to be dimming more than they used to