Cooling System Question

[goodnigh]

My M-code has been over heating the last couple of days. Since the cooling system seems to be intact, I suspect the thermostat. What heat range would you recommend? Currently has a 160 and has worked fine until the last few days but not sure 160 is proper for a 4V Cleveland. I live in a temperate climate.

mike

 

[will e]

Seems low. I would go 180.

 

[Tnfastbk]

Some good info from another site

http://351cleveland.wetpaint.com/page/proper+351c+thermostat

 

[goodnigh]

Some good info from another site

http://351cleveland.wetpaint.com/page/proper+351c+thermostat

Thanks for the info. I printed the list of choices from the site and will take it to Kragens/O'reilly tomorrow and see what they may have that is in the list.

mike

 

[not2old]

I run a 192 deg. in mine with standard 4 blade fan and that's where the temp stays,even on hot eastcoast temps in traffic.

Alan L

 

[FasTnNefariouS]

My M-code has been over heating the last couple of days. Since the cooling system seems to be intact, I suspect the thermostat. What heat range would you recommend? Currently has a 160 and has worked fine until the last few days but not sure 160 is proper for a 4V Cleveland. I live in a temperate climate.

mike

Hey Mike,

160 is too low for our year Ford motors with the exception of the straight 6. 180 is okay but 192 is best for our stock 4v Clevelands. I run a fail safe type thermostat. Oreilly has the Motorad brand and comes in 3 heat range. 160, 180 and 192. Part numbers are: 7244-160 , 7244-180 and 7244-192.

Did you remove the thermostat and run the car without it? Or you could put the thermostat in hot 160* water and see if it opens. Good luck bud and hope it's as simple as replacing the thermostat.

DJ

 

[TommyK]

As stated in the WIKI linked article make sure the brass restrictor ring is in the block under the tstat.

 

[FasTnNefariouS]

As stated in the WIKI linked article make sure the brass restrictor ring is in the block under the tstat.

Good point and I found it here on ebay item #120744365047 if yours is missing or deteriorated. I just looked at both my spare Cleveland motors and they both still have em and looks like part of the block. I tried to remove them, but both won't budge. I don't believe the Motorad fail safe T-Stats has the brass hat to make this restrictor operate properly, so you may want to check that out. I just like the fact that it's fail safe and hasn't given me any problems.

 

[Hemikiller]

I have run the Stant 13469 192* T-stats in all my Clevelands without issue. Be sure you get the Cleveland style thermostat, some parts monkeys will give you the Windsor stat without knowing any better. The linked post has the correct numbers as far as I can see. I'll copy them below for future reference on this site.

Stant 180 29468 Cleveland specific

Stant 192 29469 Cleveland specific

Stant 180 13468 Cleveland specific

Stant 192 13469 Cleveland specific

Stant 192 S-346-192

Gates 180 33128 Cleveland specific

Gates 192 33129 Cleveland specific

RobertShaw 180 333-180 Cleveland specific

Ford/Motorcraft 180 RT-310 Cleveland specific

Ford/Motorcraft 192 RT-139 Cleveland specific; 70-73 351C,351CJ, & Boss 351

Ford 180 D7PZ-8575-A Cleveland specific

Napa 180 197 Cleveland specific

You may also want to double check your radiator cap. If it's not holding pressure, that will cause a boil-over issue, not necessarily overheating though....

I used Stant 10229, it's almost a dead ringer for the OE Autolite/Motorcraft cap.

-

 

[goodnigh]

My M-code has been over heating the last couple of days. Since the cooling system seems to be intact, I suspect the thermostat. What heat range would you recommend? Currently has a 160 and has worked fine until the last few days but not sure 160 is proper for a 4V Cleveland. I live in a temperate climate.

mike

Hey Mike,

160 is too low for our year Ford motors with the exception of the straight 6. 180 is okay but 192 is best for our stock 4v Clevelands. I run a fail safe type thermostat. Oreilly has the Motorad brand and comes in 3 heat range. 160, 180 and 192. Part numbers are: 7244-160 , 7244-180 and 7244-192.

Did you remove the thermostat and run the car without it? Or you could put the thermostat in hot 160* water and see if it opens. Good luck bud and hope it's as simple as replacing the thermostat.

DJ

We replaced the water pump, hoses and thermo a couple of years ago and everything ran fine until a few days ago. Drove the car today until the temp gauge was near the top of the scale. Measured the temp; the upper radiator hose read 180, the lower hose 130, intake manifold 130 and water pump 218.

mike

 

[FasTnNefariouS]

My M-code has been over heating the last couple of days. Since the cooling system seems to be intact, I suspect the thermostat. What heat range would you recommend? Currently has a 160 and has worked fine until the last few days but not sure 160 is proper for a 4V Cleveland. I live in a temperate climate.

mike

Hey Mike,

160 is too low for our year Ford motors with the exception of the straight 6. 180 is okay but 192 is best for our stock 4v Clevelands. I run a fail safe type thermostat. Oreilly has the Motorad brand and comes in 3 heat range. 160, 180 and 192. Part numbers are: 7244-160 , 7244-180 and 7244-192.

Did you remove the thermostat and run the car without it? Or you could put the thermostat in hot 160* water and see if it opens. Good luck bud and hope it's as simple as replacing the thermostat.

DJ

We replaced the water pump, hoses and thermo a couple of years ago and everything ran fine until a few days ago. Drove the car today until the temp gauge was near the top of the scale. Measured the temp; the upper radiator hose read 180, the lower hose 130, intake manifold 130 and water pump 218.

mike

Cool Intake and boiling water pump? Sounds like a problem to me LOL! I would start with timing just to make sure it never jumped and retarted itself, thermostat, hose and radiator blockage and then water pump.

Good luck!

 

[goodnigh]

Cool Intake and boiling water pump? Sounds like a problem to me LOL! I would start with timing just to make sure it never jumped and retarted itself, thermostat, hose and radiator blockage and then water pump.

Good luck!

[/quot

It's a problem, you got that right. Car will idle smoothly down to 400 RPM, you can hear each cylinder fire, so not a timing issue. Hoses, radiator and pump all good. Then I find from reading an article from this forum there are Cleveland specific thermostats. Never would have guessed. Could take the car to a radiator shop, have the system flushed, and they likely would have installed the wrong thermostat.

mike

 

[72HCODE]

You could pull the thermostat, leave it out, and then see how the cooling system reacts.

 

[FasTnNefariouS]

Cool Intake and boiling water pump? Sounds like a problem to me LOL! I would start with timing just to make sure it never jumped and retarted itself, thermostat, hose and radiator blockage and then water pump.

Good luck!

[/quot]

Could take the car to a radiator shop, have the system flushed, and they likely would have installed the wrong thermostat.

mike

Mike,

I think you meant you took the car to a radiator shop and had the system flushed. If this is the case, then yes, they may have installed a wrong thermostat or a factory defective one. However, a none "cleveland specific" but correct for 351C / sbf engine will still work cause I've been running a non Cleveland specific thermostat (Motorad part #7244-192) without the brass hat and haven't had a problem.

You could pull the thermostat, leave it out, and then see how the cooling system reacts.

That's a great idea and I would use this trouble shooting method after I checked the timing.

 

[goodnigh]

Mike,

I think you meant you took the car to a radiator shop and had the system flushed. If this is the case, then yes, they may have installed a wrong thermostat or a factory defective one. However, a none "cleveland specific" but correct for 351C / sbf engine will still work cause I've been running a non Cleveland specific thermostat (Motorad part #7244-192) without the brass hat and haven't had a problem.

You could pull the thermostat, leave it out, and then see how the cooling system reacts.

Will do just that. I replaced the thermostat a couple years ago and did not know there was such a thing as "Cleveland specific". I doubt a radiator shop would have known either. Tomorrow we pull the stat and drive the car to find the proper one.

mike