289 overheats no matter what! or when! - Ford Forums

Archimedes · 09-04-2001, 21:42

I have a 1967 Ford Mustang convertible with a 289 engine, and a 4 barrel carb, 160 degree thermostat. This car overheats no matter what i do!. i have a new 6 bladed fan in in it, the radiator i think is only 2 core, but the over heating does not occure when im idle, i can be going down a road at 65 and it will not cool down. what do i do? I am ripping my hair out over this problem. I cant even drive to work without having it overheat. Some one tell me how to cure this problem without me spending a ton of money.

s-code · 09-05-2001, 05:56

Have you had your radiator flushed and cleaned? Sounds like it may just be clogged up pretty bad. Also check your hoses, make sure they aren't collapsing. They make hoses with a spring like structure built into them that keeps them from collapsing. You probably do have these, but if not, it would be worth the investment.

09-05-2001, 22:28

The following came from a posting on another board. I cannot verify anything on it, but it was just from a general discussion on overheating.

I replaced everything on my 289, waterpump, radiator, thermastat, hoses, belts, 3 fans with different number of blades. I still would overheat at idle within 10 minutes of running. I finally called K.A.R. auto group and explained problem. The 3 core radiator I had purchased new from a well know supplier was the size of a 2 core. I new this because I had to buy the 2 core brackets to mount the factory fan shroud. The radiator that Kar advised me to buy was almost one inch deeper and I could now put on the 3 core brackets for my shroud. I installed the new radiator from kar and idled for 20 minutes with the nose of the car in the garage. After running this long i took the cap off and no anitfreeze blew out. I then stuck a thermastat into the antifreeze and it was 190 degrees. The temp gauge showed a little udder half way. Kar has xclaimed they have cooled down a 289 bored 60 over with these rads. I have fought with my problem for 2 years and always drove the car when it was cool because I never suspected a new radiator was bad but it was. All I know is I cant believe the results. Email me if you have any questions.

Kar auto groups number is 1-800-341-5949. Ask to speak with Kevin or George. The cost of my radiator was 189.00 A little more than the other 3 cores I have seen offered but well worth the money.

09-06-2001, 23:02

I have seen the little holes (that allows coolent to flow threw the head) the head gasket get pluged. This will cause the exact problem U have.

09-08-2001, 15:01

Let me amend my post, if you have check everything else (passages, intake gaskets, etc) then its an option. Very strange problems though. I had an original radiator in my car and then wrecked it. The replacement radiator, and then the 3 row desert radiator never cooled the car like my original that was 30 years old.:(

SuperDave · 09-08-2001, 18:56

It could be a simple as a bad radiator cap. BTW, didn't you invent the lever and some ideas about displacement?

09-12-2001, 17:13

I read a story where an engine overheated and they couldn't find a problem with the cooling system. Turns out over the years, instead of replacing the engines freeze plugs, the previous owner just punched them into the engine. I guess they just clogged the motor's cooling area so badly, the engine just over heated. If you don't know the history of the engine, this could be an area to check.

dmark101 · 09-21-2001, 16:54

hmm.

my 289 would overheat frequently as well. i did the following:

had the radiator cleaned and rodded
replaced the heater core
replaced the radiator intake/return hoses (only the intake has the spring tim)
installed a gano filter (return hose)
replaced thermostat

this helped the car quite a bit, but it was still a little warmer than i wanted.

i had a problem with a head gasket, so i decided to replace both of them. turned out that when i took the heads off and inspected the gaskets, both gaskets had no holes for the passages in the front of the head. that's right, they were blocked, which meant that water was travelling through only one side of the head!

these were not the original head gaskets, but fel-pro replacements. the new gaskets i bought were the exact same way! i wound up marking the holes that should have been on the gasket to begin with, cut them out, and reinstalled them and the heads.

when i was done, the car stayed nice and cool, very rarely going above 1/3 on the temp gauge unless i was in summer stop-and-go (and only then did it ever get close to halfway).

HTH.

djporters · 10-05-2001, 16:40

I just bought a 66 K code w/ the 289 hipo engine and am curious as to what the temp reading should be? My average reading is about half way on the temp. gauge; is this optimal?
Would a closed radiator system keep the engine cooler?
What is the best ratio of radiator fluid to water; I live in San Jose, CA and it can get pretty hot.

84 Mark VII · 10-05-2001, 18:52

I have also heard of a case where the water pump blades were cooroded away and the water pump was not moving enough water. Have you checked to see if there are so many dead bugs and dirt stuck in the radiator that no air can go through. Use a light on one side of the radiator and look through the other side too see how much light gets through!