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420A Running Hot

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Kyle McL

Proven Member
62
0
Jun 28, 2014
Rierside, Pennsylvania
I have a turbo 420A. i am not posting in their since I am still a probationary member. I have a decent amount of heat coming from the engine. From what I read on other forums is to upgrade the thermostat to a 180. I was leaking coolant from the radiator cap and around the housing. When I opened the radiator cap. I noticed the line from the coolant tank to the housing was clogged with mud looking substance. After cleaning it. I now notice that the coolant is boiling. I also believe the coolant is water. The temp gauge on the dash does not show that its running hot. So any ideas? I am about to replace the radiator cap but don't believe it will completely help.
 
Do a radiator flush and definitely replace your cap. A bad cap can cause all kinds of problems including bubbling. If your also leaking around the tstat housing replace the gasket, and might as well replace the tstat while its off. My car runs extremely hot... See my post further down.
 
Replaced the radiator cap since I had a few bucks and was really only had time. I feel like a idiot since I do not believe their was no coolant now because it is sucking up the coolant and not leaking it. So the cap may be the majority of the issue. Still want to take our advice and flush the system to be sure and replace the thermostat and gasket.
 
sounds like your radiator cap to me. might want to check the water for any type of sealer, like what was said above could be a clog. Running straight water is the best for cooling, but the minerals in the water can cause oxidation in your cooling system, freeze in the colder months, and leave the water pump dry. I belive adding water wetter can substitute for some of the lube properties of antifreeze.
 
Motor was rebuilt about 10K miles ago from the previous owner. I would not say it was exactly "mud" but it had the consistency of mud. Since the radiator cap being changed. It runs slightly better but the coolant still boils (not near as much). Its no longer leaking anything around the housing so the radiator cap solved that. I still want to replace the thermostat and flush the system to be safe. I heard their were other sensors attached to the radiator itself. What other sensors are on the cooling system all together?
 
Motor was rebuilt about 10K miles ago from the previous owner. I would not say it was exactly "mud" but it had the consistency of mud. Since the radiator cap being changed. It runs slightly better but the coolant still boils (not near as much). Its no longer leaking anything around the housing so the radiator cap solved that. I still want to replace the thermostat and flush the system to be safe. I heard their were other sensors attached to the radiator itself. What other sensors are on the cooling system all together?
If you flush your system make sure to do it before you change the thermostat. If that stuff in there is block sealer you might open up a leak. other sensors I know of are on the water neck. temp to ecu the lower left facing car two prong. the cooling fan switch the upper one on the neck and the temp sensor for the gauge the lower right one prong
 
if you haven't washed the engine down maybe look for recent leaks from the head gasket. he might not have retorqued the head studs and had a leak
 
I'd go and remove the radiator and pressure flush that out of gunk and junk that resides in the bottom section. While you have that out , pressure flush out the block to rid of what resides in those cores.
 
Do the flush first to see if this eliminates your cooling issue before spending money on something not needed.

Stock DSM fans can pull the air in quite nicely, which is your most important thing right now.
 
Pleeeease don't tell me you still have the original radiator. Those things are time bombs. You can get a decent replacement for like $70 from rockauto. The coolant temp sensor (and temp gauge sensor) are located on the front of the tstat housing, but that shouldn't cause "boiling". I assume you mean the liquid in the reservoir tank? If your not overheating, your fans are OK. Start your car with the rad cap off and make sure your tstat is opening once she's warmed up. No matter what, all these things should be causing overheating, so idk WTF?
 
I do believe it is the original radiator(not sure if the previous owner replaced it when the motor was rebuilt). I however will look into getting a new one if flushing it does not work. I also really would not say its overheating. The temperature gauge shows that the car is running at a decent temperature. Keeping that in mind, I also believe that it is incorect too since when I open the hood, you can feel the heat coming off decenentl.
 
I open the hood, you can feel the heat coming off decenently.
Then, "Welcome to the world of the ottoman engine."

When you got over 1500 degrees of temperature in the combustion chambers when the fuel fires, you got lotsa heat being generated.
The oil is reaching a normal temperature of 250 to 275 degrees to do two things: to lubricate the motor and to pull the heat off of the block to return it to the oil pan to cool down a bit before going back into the motor.
Coolant (50/50 mix) is controlled at 196 degrees with the t-stat so it can do two things: T-stat slows down the coolant flow so the coolant can also pull the heat off of the block, and the coolant is lubricating the water pump shaft.

Cast iron block holds the heat for quite the long time after it's shut off. Why automakers uses aluminum alloy to rid of this heat quicker and makes for a lighter motor.

You know what is real funny that these ottoman engines works at their prime when they get this hot. These motors (all kinds and sizes) are built to run hot. You cool them down and havoc is created with poor operation and loss of efficiency.

Should feel the heat generated from a big iron block 426 ci V-8 motor after a hard run.

This is why you see that hunk of tin foil cover insulation mounted under the hood so the heat doesn't burn off the paint along with burning your hands when you touch the hood.

Nothing wrong with a hot motor - it's being very happy at this temperature.

Also, you turboed a NT motor that wasn't designed for turbo usage in the first place.
Thus, plan on it running hotter than normal.

-DSM
 
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The coolant or ethylene glycol is added to the water for a couple reasons; to inhibit corrosion, lubricate the water pump, keep the water from freezing, and increase the boiling point of the water. If your running just water it can boil, with a mix of coolant it will increase the boiling point.

Pressure also helps keep it liquid past its boiling point hence the reason for a good radiator cap. On a side note ethylene glycol by itself will not transfer/extract heat from the motor so too much coolant can cause the motor to run hot. A 50/50 mix will work for the continental US but you can mix it according to your area.

A front mount intercooler and the removal of the stock air ducting can cause the car to run hot by inhibiting flow across the radiator. I installed the stock air ducting on one of my cars and now I can hardly get it to run at 190 degrees with a 195 t stat on the highway. I have also ran a stock radiator in my daily driver for 11years and its never caused a problem.
 
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