New (reman) 351W Overheating!!!

[66 New 351w]

I just recently modified my 66 from 6cyl stick to 351W w/C4

All new components except for reman 351W from S&S engines in Spokane Wa.

Started and runs great, only it overheats rapidly and I have some combustion (hydrocarbons) in the coolant along with visible bubbles.

Have not even been able to drive yet due to this problem.

I just pulled heads and sent to local machine shop my company deals with. They pressure checked and magnafluxed and cannot find anything wrong with the heads.

Head gaskets were installed correctly, square corner up front on both sides. nothing visible that would indicate anything not sealed or leaking.

I've searched the internet for overheating problems and have addressd, I believe all.

I have a standard rotation flowcooler hi flow water pump, it is working well, with good flow.

New 4 core radiator, Hayden high preformance std rotation fan.

March serpetene belt for waterpump/alternator, again this is turning standard rotation, not counterclockwise like a "full serpentene set up"

Pump and fan have good speed and volume.

Typhoon high rise manifold which has a rear coolant passage, which most after market manifolds don't have.

I tried a standard 180 thermostat, then heard about problems with high flow water pumps, so changed to special 160 thermostat designed for high flow pumps. I also tried no thermostat thinking there may have been a air pocket, no change, same results.

I'm thinking about making the small water port holes in the new head gasket larger to allow more coolant flow. (ANY IDEAS, OR HAS ANYONE TRIED THIS BEFORE)

I understand from the internet chat that this and many Ford engines specifically have the larger front block/head coolant passages blocked so that the coolant flows to the rear of the engine up, then eventually out through the thermostat neck to the radiator.

I used a infered thermometer to track temp as well as a mechanical guage. Ideling for 10 to 15 minutes with get the block temp to 240 or so and while the 13 LB radiator cap was on, blew out my heater core. Radiator is working and coolant temp is dropping about 20 - 30 degrees at the bottom of the radiator.

I let the engine run for a while longer with cap off and created old faithful gyser and spewed out at least 1/2 the coolant/water mixture.

That is when I decided to pull the heads.

One thing I have installed and not thought to much about is the stainless steel upper radiator hose, looks awesome, but man is it hot and will easily burn when hot. The ridges may be holding air trapped in the upper part of the stainless steel flexible hose, is about the only thing that I can see that may somehow be trapping air.

I'm also going to add a tee into the rear of the intake manifold and have it return into the heater core return hose. This is a tip I gleaned from the internet chats.

I'll welcome ideas and or suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Seabronc]

I can't think of anything you haven't checked on the engine. What is the CFM rating of the fan? I'm thinking it may not be moving enough air through the radiator. I use a Lincoln Mark VIII V8 4.6L engine 4200 CFM fan on mine and it stays rock solid just above the tstat (195 degrees F) cruising or at idle, (it's like a hurricane behind it when it is on). I had to upgrade to a 3G 130A alternator to support it (100A start current which settles out in about 1 second to 33A running). I have read complaints that most electric fans on the market don't pull enough air and people have engine cooling problems with them at low speed where there is no extra air flow across the radiator from the truck moving, (if you could find some sort of large fan to put in front of the truck, you could simulate it moving down the road and also bump the RPMs up to say 2000 while testing). One problem you may also be experiencing is that the water pump is least efficient at idle, (lowest flow rate), you could reduce the pulley size to increase the speed of it.

Have you talked to the guys that rebuilt it?

Good luck,

>-

edited to put the correct CFM for my fan 5/23/07

my fan:

 

[Forever Off Road Diggin]

Sounds like it had quite an air lock. The rear coolant runner shouldn't matter because the intake gaskets should block off that passage as long as they weren't put on wrong and they had the front coolant passages blocked.

 

[bhoffman]

This is probably not the fix for your problem, but when I installed a re-built 302 short block, it ran at around 220-230. I think something may have been too tight? I was told to dump in some Slick 50. (I used Prolong) Just doing this alone lowered the temps to around 180-190. I have not had a problem in 8-10 years.