trouble with my Ford

i got this problem with my 55 ford. i have a 302 in it and it runs great on the streets, but on the freeway it likes to overheat! I dont understand and i have checked everything and the water is flowing properly. so if you guys got any ideas i am open and waiting cause i would love to drive this car long ways, THANKS

 

we will need some more info. what type of gears ya got? also how long does it take to get hot on the freeway and while cruising.

 

Any chance you're running without a hood and have new whitewalls? cause i have this friend that has a ford that has this combination and it's doing the same thing.

 

Lack of airflow through the radiator is likely your problem. Mechanical fan? Shroud? Electric fan? Pusher or Puller(preferred)?

 

I had this problem with a 60 chevy. all I had to do was add a shrod and it solved the problem.

 

At speeds above 40mph There should be enough air flow through a radiator to make a fan unnesesary. Pull your lower radiator hose and check the spring inside it. If it's missing or brocken the hose will collapse when the engine is reved up. I've seen one do it when the throttle was blipped while the car was sitting still.

 

thansk for all the info i will check out some things. as for the more info no gears its pretty much a stock 302 with a c-4 trans and for the fan i have an electric puller fan that covers a good 2/3 of the radiator. and the hoses are brand new. i can drive about 15 minutes on the freeway then it gets hot

 

do you have a thermostat in it.?? if not, water might be going through the radiator too fast to be properly cooled. if you do have a thermostat in it, it might be restricting the flow too much and drilling a couple of holes in the thermostat body might help.

 

Your radiator may be partially plugged up. When you are going slower it may have enough cooling capacity to keep things under control but at hiway speeds, when the engine is under a load and making more heat, the plugged up radiator may be loosing the battle to keep things cool.

You could drain off some coolant and look down in your top tank through the radiator cap hole, and if the tubes have any corrosion around them this may be the case. You could also use a lazer temp gun and check for dead spots. Another test would be to go up on the hiway with your Ford's heater on full blast and the windows rolled down and see if it takes longer to heat up. Or swing by a good radiator shop and have them inspect it.

 

Partially plugged radiator is possibly it bt it could also be the distributor mechanical adance not advancing or enough, and if you don't have the vacuum advance hooked up it could be that too.

If the car is scraping the Botts Dots off te highway it might not have enough air exit space underneath it too.
Some fender well louvers might help there.

 

Yep, my bet is on retarded ignition.

 

If it doesn't over heat around town but over heats on the highway it's usually a partially plugged radiator. You may be able to feel the difference it temp with your hand. The plugged tubes will feel cooler. Find a buddy with a hand held infrared thermometer.

I had the same problem with a late model. Above 55 mph you could watch the temp ga. climb. Drop down to 40 and everything was fine.

 

Make sure you don't have a water pump for a serpentine belt drive, if your'e running V belts, or viceversa if your'e running a serpentine set up. Serps run backwards from V's. -Mike

 

retarded ignition, plugged radiator.

Have the radiator pressure checked and flushed. Place by my house will do it, plus fix fins for $40.

 

you need to tell us what your definition of "overheat" is.

is the fan coming on?

does it boil out of the rad. when you turn it off?

does it have an overflow tank?

what temp does it run in town?? on the freeway?

what carb? what dist.? vacuum advance? where is hooked to (manifold or ported vacuum)?

whats the timing set at? what did you gap the plugs to?

are you running straight water? coolant? an additive?

what thermostat is in it? Is it working? take it out and put it in a pot on the stove with a thermometer in it.. at what temp did it open? did it open all the way?

has the engine been rebuilt? what are the specs on the engine? "pretty much stock" isn't specific enough.

 

ok the radiator is brand new so im pretty sure its not that. it can be timing that is something i thought it would be and need to check i also got to check the plugs, they said they come pre gapped but i should know better. i need to get a thermastat i dont have one and didnt think that would be an issue but im still learning. motor hasnt been rebuilt has vaccuum advance distributor, im running half water half coolant, stock carb, and when its overheating its when im getting off the freeway it just blows the pressure release valve and goes into the overflow.

 

t-stats slow water so cooling happens and hold back water so your heater works

high temp stat holds longer for heater
lower stats open sooner so flow can cool down
common to have stat upside down too.(they may never open)
antfreeze mixed 50-50 will take more heat than water ever will
rad fan on backward common on transplant engines

proper pressure cap ?and if used overflow system with special proper cap that flows to tank and fills back when cool

is rad cap higher than the t stat housing or lower .. why some cars had that extra pressure tank ... if lower

a fan shroud will help if fan is on right

4-5-6 blade fan?
a temp controled fan clutch could help too they free wheel when they reach certain temp .... really good plan

a flex fan quits working at a low rpm and cools nothing at speed

good luck
paperdog

 

thanks a lot just went over to "chopped50ford"s house and he set tried to help me out so i just got do a few things he told me to do and ill take it from there, but thanks everyone very helpful