danoreilly
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2010
- Messages
- 138
- Reaction score
- 4
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
- My Car
- 71 Mach1 351C 4V
02 Deluxe Convertible
67 Fairlane GT 390
I've been having a problem with overheating lately in the rebuilt 351C in my '71 Mach. I expected to see somewhat higher temps with a tight motor, and I have about 1100 miles on the rebuild. This is a non-AC car.
Yesterday while driving in warm temps (maybe 85 degrees), the gauge went pretty far to the right and stayed there for a while, then dropped down to the halfway point, then below, fairly rapidly, and stayed there for the remainder of my trip (maybe another 15 minutes).
I was doing maybe 60mph at the time. Before jumping on the highway, I had been doing a fair amount of sitting and idling in traffic, so I had expected the temp to go up some, and it did, to maybe just above halfway on the gauge. But it started to really go up once I hit the highway, the reverse of what I expected.
To me, this strikes me as maybe a faulty thermostat (I did replace the thermostat when I built the engine). I'm running the factory-recommended 195 degree thermostat. Any other thoughts? I checked the coolant, and none had overflowed that I could tell.
Yesterday while driving in warm temps (maybe 85 degrees), the gauge went pretty far to the right and stayed there for a while, then dropped down to the halfway point, then below, fairly rapidly, and stayed there for the remainder of my trip (maybe another 15 minutes).
I was doing maybe 60mph at the time. Before jumping on the highway, I had been doing a fair amount of sitting and idling in traffic, so I had expected the temp to go up some, and it did, to maybe just above halfway on the gauge. But it started to really go up once I hit the highway, the reverse of what I expected.
To me, this strikes me as maybe a faulty thermostat (I did replace the thermostat when I built the engine). I'm running the factory-recommended 195 degree thermostat. Any other thoughts? I checked the coolant, and none had overflowed that I could tell.