Series 3 running Hot! Need help, out of ideas

Good Day all,

I've got a 1977 Series 3, with the 2.25 Petrol engine in it. It started running warm a year ago, and since this is not daily driven, I parked it so that I could self diagnose the issues and replace parts as needed. It basically is running to 3/4 of the gauge while idling or fast idling. Current temperature here in DC was 85 deg farenheit last friday. Over the past year I have also replaced other parts on the engine, just ask for additional work if it helps. Engine oil is clean and full. Fuel filter has been changed, fuel used is lead added. I've owned it for 4 years now, and the cooling system ran fine upto 1 year ago.

I started with a new water pump. Pulled the old one off, everything looked fine. Did a couple of flushes. No relief.

Next I replaced heater core, hoses, metal hoses, removed thermostat, temperature sender, head gasket followed by a carb cleaning, and finally the radiator. All replaced parts were followed by system flushes, with no results.

I have replaced everything that could be causing problems. My most recent flush done last friday was still slightly brown.

The next thing I am thinking of checking is timing and the carb fuel mixture. Other than that, I am out of ideas! Please give me some ideas that I can look into. I will also check the temperature of the radiator with an external infrared thermometer today. So after I post you can use this in your thoughts.

Many thanks in advance for your help and knowledge.

Aaron
Washington DC

Silly question but how do you know that it's running hot.?
Did it "use" water or spit it out of the overflow pipe.

what colour is the ceramic in the centre of the spark plugs - whip one out and have a look.

You sure yer gauge int stuffed? Or the voltage regulator? Dun't seem many cooling system parts left to replace & are you completely sure it is actually running hot? Needle on mine can wobble abart all over the place, spesh off road when the voltage regulator is taking a beating or a soaking!

Hi, the water pump does have a fan on it? Some people remove theirs and fit an electronic one. 85deg does sound high what thermostat do you have in 72deg? Until you find the problem a high % of antifreeze will help the coolant not to boil if it goes higher.

In the past I have seen a massive build up of what looks like silt, or rusty looking sand, this was built up around the engine block unfortunately I had to remove the core plugs to remove it. The build up was that bad I could scrape it out with a screw driver, I also used a pressure washer to force the rest out.

blocked air cleaner might raise it a bit maybe's.....
what about worn bearings causing excess heat and vibs??

i got an air lock in my cooling system that caused a bit of overheating.

ETC7867 said:

85deg does sound high what thermostat do you have in 72deg?

Click to expand...

85 degrees wuz the ambient temp, not the injun temp in degrees C.

I still int convinced it's acherly running hot!

Blocked xhaust will cause hotness.

Well, heres the data obtained from today: I let it run for about 40 min, stationary

Ambient temperature 13 C All temps are in Celsius

Needle Position Exhaust Tip Manifold Temp Top O Radiator Bottom Rad
#1 #4
1/2 32 196 291 55 28
Partial Throttle 110 220 330 50 14
3/4 47 216 295 51 17


So I figure that it is infact running cool. However, I do want to do this again when the ambient temp is closer to 35 in the next few weeks. I figure that I should change the gauge, but since it does have the original, I should maybe go with an independant one for better reference. And put the thermostat in.

Aaron
1977 88" Series 3
Washington DC

I hope this is easier to read:

Needle Position Exhaust Tip Exhaust Manifold Top Rad Bottom Rad
------------------------------#1-----#4--------------------------
------1/2--------32----------196----291-------55-------28-------
Partial throttle---110----------220---330-------50-------14-------
------3/4--------47----------216---295-------51--------17-------

So it int running hot.............like wot I said!

kinell - that's a lot of effort and money to diagnose a duff gauge!

If you really want to know what your injun's doing go for a capillary gauge, but to be honest it doesn't sound like you've much to worry about.

Treworgey 90 said:

kinell - that's a lot of effort and money to diagnose a duff gauge!

Click to expand...

Wuz a bit! S'why I sed check it. Still, after all that flushing & replacing parts the geezer's probably got the best Series cooling system in the world!

fsquared11 said:

I hope this is easier to read:

Needle Position Exhaust Tip Exhaust Manifold Top Rad Bottom Rad
------------------------------#1-----#4--------------------------
------1/2--------32----------196----291-------55-------28-------
Partial throttle---110----------220---330-------50-------14-------
------3/4--------47----------216---295-------51--------17-------

Click to expand...

From that data- yer radiator is working fine-probly yr waterpump too 30C drop whilst stationary. I think you should get those stick on temerature strips n give it a good run out, then see if you've lost coolant an what the temp strips say ( I think most engine reconditioners use these strips now )

Q