sunivroc – Fall 2009

I pulled the car out this afternoon, and took the kids for a ride. After a couple of miles the temperature was up at the top of the dial. I pulled over and waited a while -- then topped off the radiator with fresh coolant, and assumed my problem was solved. But -- very quickly the temperature went right up again. I drove home and cracked open the manual to see what the potential problems were -- but the troubleshooting section doesn't have anything about the cooling system.

Before I do anything drastic, does anyone have some suggestions for what I should look at first. (The system looks intact and my 2-blade fan is running fine. My idle is high, but I don't know if that is enough to create the problem.)

EAE – Fall 2009

I have been having a problem with my 47 CC. When it gets hot, this is usually after 3 to 4 miles I start to get antifreeze coming out of the overflow tube. How can I determine if the radiator is plugged, the water pump is not working or the thermostat is not opening? I was wondering about running without a thermostat, is this recommended. I have been told thermostats for our cars are not available.

A50CrosleyTrk – Fall 2009

Are the air dams in place? This forces air to go though radiator. Check and or set the timing. Is the radiator and block clean? Is belt snug, not tight? Is pump drive turning pump?

RW – Fall 2009

I had an over heating problem with my CD. What I learned was very important, the other suggestion I would try first and then try these. Check the radiator and make sure the cores aren't clogged. Check the thermostat and make sure it isn't stuck. Pull the side plates and check that it has the diverter on the inside, left side plate and that the water passages in between the cylinders. Does not have any build up. I found out that mine was the build up in the water passages in the block.

GM – Fall 2009

I had a lot of trouble with overheating on my '47 pickup. Blasted out the block (which was clean), did everything I could think of, no help. Finally, I drained the coolant, and put in a gallon of white vinegar, ran the engine for a while, and let it sit for a week. When I drained the vinegar out, it was white with dissolved calcium or something, and the engine ran considerably cooler. Still does. Worth a try.

JimB – Fall 2009

With the pump grease they have now it is easy to over grease your water pump. Extra grease melts into the coolant and can leave deposits in the engine and radiator. I solved most of my over heating problems after doing many of the other suggestions by draining the radiator and adding clear water with Simply Green (degreaser). I ran the engine till warm and drained and repeated several times. Then much flushing to get the suds out. The radiator looked like new inside and runs much cooler.

RacerPete – Fall 2009

You should not run the car without a thermostat, as the thermostat provides a restriction in the cooling system. That way the water does not run through the radiator too fast too cool off. Thermostats are available from our vendors.

JimB – Fall 2009

I don't buy into the water moving to fast to transfer heat theory, I do believe the end result is the same, but it is caused by turbulence in the water leaving air gaps around the cylinders.

Crosley19 – Fall 2009

The Crosley radiator was actually oversize for the car. If you are pushing water out of the radiator overflow, I would bet your radiator is blocking up. You can run a Crosley without the thermostat, but the engine will never reach operating temperature. If the engine does not reach between 160, and 180 degrees it will not burn the fuel correctly, and rob you of power.

Akutan – Fall 2009

If anything's been done recently to the ignition system don't forget to check your ignition timing (I'm a firm believer in the ancient engineering principle of "first check the last thing messed with").

Crosley19 – Fall 2009

In a normal car, I agree with everything said about slowing down the water so it stays in the radiator to cool longer, but a Crosley radiator is actually too large for the BTU output of the Crosley engine, and the simple 2 blade impeller water pump is not capable of pushing the water too fast thru the radiator. Even with my big blocks, and no thermostat, running advanced timing I can't get them to overheat with a Crosley radiator, and a 4 blade straight impeller water pump. I had to make a special adapter to install a thermostat on the big blocks to get the engine up to operating temp. There is a military 4 blade impeller with curved vanes that does cause alot of cavitation at high speeds, and causes hot spots on the cylinder walls. Crosley redesigned that impeller and made the vanes straight to stop the cavitation, and slow down the water flow. I have seen a few cars with 4 blade water pumps that were pushing water out of the overflow tube, but those cars had partially blocked radiator cores.

EB – Fall 2009

Cavitation in the water pump can be a problem. There may be some internal obstructive irregularities within the cast block. While disassembling some post-Crosley boat engines, I found casting "sprues" or semi webs, along the midline, blocking some flow across the areas at top of cylinders. These should be cleaned out by grinding, cutting, or punching off the webs.