The car runs at temp, then out of nowhere it will jump from it's pretty constant 180-190 range to 225-230 then fall back down to temp. I just changed the thermostat to try and solve this problem as I thought maybe the thermostat was sticking, but that wasn't it.

I know the car could use a new fan clutch, but I don't think that's it as the car heats up when I'm moving or sitting still.

Could the problem possibly be that I'm not running enough coolant. The car probably has about 10% coolant in it so maybe the water is boiling and creating some air pocket somewhere. I'm clueless.

Feel free to ask any questions and all advice is welcome. I plan on getting a new radiator after my transmission install.

 

It still moves a lot of air, but after the car is shut off it spins for a second or so.

 

replace the clutch in the fan before u toast a good engine.

 

Sounds also like air in the system. When you got the new intake, did you use your old sender? If not try putting that back in, too.

 

I would assume so. I had fordspeed put the car together.

 

well u gotta remember show antifreeze isnt just for ANTI-freeze use it also helps absorb heat better than water does.

ethylene glycol reduces the freezing point and raises the boiling point of water, and helps reduce rust

so i would suggest using 50/50 and adding some special purple ice or something man


cuz it could be cooling normally and handling decently ya know but when the thermostat opens and closes, the temp changes cuz the coolant cant keep up man.


just my .02 cents

 

I had the same problem in my T-Bird so I took out the thurmostat and it runs nice and cool.

 

That's the next step. I have some radiator flush in it right now, after that I'm going to run about 40:60 coolant:water.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

Actually, the next step is this ... fan clutch. If the fan clutch is not the problem, then I will get a new radiator.

I flushed the radiator with some prestone super flush, filled it with a 50/50 water and coolant. Drove the car around, temps were fine, 160. I got on it to make some heat, after a couple pulls the car started to heat up. Got up to about 195ish and climbing ever so slightly before I got home. While the car sat there idling it started to cool off VERY slowly. So this leads me to believe that my cooling system is functioning fine, but either the fan clutch or the radiator itself is making it inadequate for the heat I'm making.

Make sense?