List of issues for the new car.

[Duke Samouce]

Morning all,

Instead of constantly making new threads I tough I would put all of the items that need attention in one thread. Advice on any problem is very welcome.

Engine cooling – I replaced the thermostat yesterday. Installed a 180 degree Tstat. The engine is still getting really hot. I just drove the car in high 30 air temps. Cruising at 55 mph the water temp slowly increases to just about 250, I stopped. This really concerns me because highway cruising temp should not get above 180. Just driving around post the car gets to 200 degrees. The seller told me that he had the radiator (OEM) cleaned and tested just before I bought the car. Another factor is that the engine is being broken in. The engine has around 170 miles on it. Could this be a big factor in the cooling problem? My next steps are to pull the radiator and have it checked and rodded myself, replace the water pump, install an 81 Fairmont water pump pulley and Derale 17015 fan.

Rear end – the rear diff ratio is 4. something. Way to high. I need to have the ring and pinion replace. What is a good ratio for a comfortable 80 mph in 4th?

Speedometer – reads 10 mph too high and at 55 is fluctuating from 60-110 mph.

Tachometer – reads double. This is due to a due point distributor. I am having an OEM single point distributor rebuilt with a electronic ignition to replace the points. What will need to be done to get my tach to read right?

Front end – at 60 mph a severe shake develops that transfers into the steering wheel. I need to have the wheel balance checked but is suspect that it is the suspension. Grabbing the tire and forcing it back and forth, I do not feel any play though.

Of all the challenges, the engine cooling concerns me the most. With such a simple cooling system, the fix can’t be that hard.

Thanks for helping the newb out here.

[v-mad]

Do some searches here on cooling. I think it has been covered well before. Just a few quick thoughts:

One thing about rads, sometimes an old rad just clogs up and cannot be cleared (esp if they have ever been left to dry out), even by flushing. You may have to get a reconditioned or new one.

Another possibility is that the lower hose is collapsing due to negative pressure; check there is a spring inside to prevent this.

Is it really getting hot or is your sender/gauge exaggerating the temperature?

Do you have a fan shroud (these help improve cooling)?

Has the coolant pump been fitted properly with a backing plate (where required)?

And yes, a new tight engine will get hotter until it is run in. I hope the piston clearances in the bore are not too tight if you had a rebore. If its just new rings it should not really get too hot.

[Jeff Nichols]

Try these:

Engine Cooling – Was the engine rebuilt? Is it the original 260 bored out to what size? One cause of over heating is caused by overboring a 260. Ford recommeded nothing over .030.

Speedometer – probably needs a rebuild if fluctuating. If it reads too high or low I would suspect wrong tire size for the speedo gear in the trans or maybe the rear end ratio is throwing it off. The original ratio of 2.88 is good for highway cruising.

Front end – Could be tires out of round from sitting. Check the date on the tires and see how old they are. Are the bushings original? You may need to replace them.

[Bud & Donna Elliott]

When I finally got around to taking my radiator into the shop, they found that whoever re-cored it the last time did a sloppy soldering job and 1/3 of the tubes were clogged by solder.

[Duke Samouce]

I do believe I have found the problem.

I pulled the radiator and took it to a local shop to be checked.

The radiator is 50-70% blocked. I knew something was wrong when I pulled the radiator and it weighs at least 15 pounds more than it should.

It is getting recored with a GDI three row core.

Looks like the seller told me quite a story about it being "checked". I knew when I had to pull the water pump in order to get the radiator out that he was not straight with me.

Thanks guys for the help, now onto the other issues/challenges.

[Owain Lloyd]

pull the cross member and check the dimensions. the shock towers tend to collapse in. it needs to be jacked out straight and reinforced. while your at it you can put new fulcrum pins and bushings in, new ball joints and bearings, reinforce the sway bar mounts, and maybe even change the shocks. you can also check the engine mounts (which should be new if its a new engine) and check the steering rack. also replace all the bolts with new grade 8 versions and use loctite on them.

sounds like a lot but its quite cheap and you can do everything together. its extremely important to get the new fucrum pins, ball joints and reinforce the shock towers and the like.

if you’re not a member of CAT it can be worth it to get the their shop notes for about $25 which is a mine of information.

when you’re all done you should be able to align it well. with the cross member out of line (which it will be unless its been done recently) you’ll never get the front end aligned.

[Duke Samouce]

quote odl21:

with the cross member out of line (which it will be unless its been done recently) you’ll never get the front end aligned.

Thanks odl21,

Here are a couple of pictures of the cross member. It has been powder coated. Can you determine if it has been serviced?

[v-mad]

[quote="Duke"]Morning all,

Rear end – the rear diff ratio is 4. something. Way to high. I need to have the ring and pinion replace. What is a good ratio for a comfortable 80 mph in 4th?

Speedometer – reads 10 mph too high and at 55 is fluctuating from 60-110 mph.

Put these two factors together, and you have the answer why your speedo reads too high. The original ratio is 2.88 which gives just over 3000 RPM at 80 MPH; not bad. I think its about right with a stock engine that has plenty of torque at low revs. The fluctuation is caused by the inner cable not running smoothly. Check for any kinks/tight bends, and grease it; better still, fit a new one; I did and its rock solid 🙂

Tachometer – reads double. This is due to a due point distributor. I am having an OEM single point distributor rebuilt with a electronic ignition to replace the points. What will need to be done to get my tach to read right?

A dual point distributor will not give double pulses unless it is way out of adjustment, but bad points or condenser/capacitor may cause erratic readings. Fix them: If you then still get a double reading, you probably have a tach fault (see old threads on this or ask again).

Front end – at 60 mph a severe shake develops that transfers into the steering wheel. I need to have the wheel balance checked but is suspect that it is the suspension. Grabbing the tire and forcing it back and forth, I do not feel any play though.
Spin the wheels and look at the tyre edge: does it run true? You may have flats on the tyre. Otherwise look at the fixing points of the upper and lower suspension joints; check/tighten bolts which may not be secure.

[Owain Lloyd]

quote Duke:

Here are a couple of pictures of the cross member. It has been powder coated. Can you determine if it has been serviced?

difficult to tell from these pics. if you look at where the shock towers are welded onto the crossmember, the original welds were not complete seams, just dashes. these should be completely seamed. in my case, i could see visible stresses at this point and where the rack is bolted on.

however, it may have even been serviced back in the 70’s or 80’s in which case it could still need doing. its only 4 bolts to pull it and then you can check the various dimensions, the most obvious being the distance between the shock towers. some of these measurements are in the workshop manual and i have others if you need.

[theo]

Check that your "instrument voltage stabilizer" actually puts out 10 volts. If your temperature gauge and fuel gauge are getting 12 volts, then they will read high. One surefire way to tell if this is going on, is to check the fuel tank readings for various actual amounts of fuel in the tank. If you put in 5 gallons and it reads about 8, and you fill it and the gauge goes way off past the full mark, then your instrument stabilizer is toast (or, like mine, it’s just not properly grounded).

[anonymous]

When you get your radiator back and if it’s still running hot, check out the Rootes Review, issues January & February 2006.

There is a comprehensive analysis of the cooling problems and solutions to them.

I had a 260 running at 215F, using a Stewart-Warner temperature gauge mounted in the cubby. I installed the smaller fan pulley, a 5-blade flex fan, blocked the horn holes and had the radiator cleaned.

Now the car runs at 185F all day long.

Total cost: about $150.00

Remember, any decrease in engine temperature translates directly into passenger compartment comfort.

Before charging into the front suspension I would have the car’s front end aligned and the wheels/tires rebalanced. Cheap check that would probably be done if you tore the front end apart.

Fred Baum

4

[Duke Samouce]

Thanks again to for the comments.

I have had lots of discussion about the crosmemeber with several members and experts on the matter. Mine is currently is good shape and will be reinstalled in the car. I will be replacing all of the a-arm bushing before I do that. At a later date, I will remove it and have to reinforced.

The newly cored radiator should be ready any day now. I have a smaller pulley and the 15" flex fan on its way. I have read Cooling the Tiger several times and will be blocking the horn holes and bottom of the radiator to cross member opening.

Once the front wheels were off, I discovered that there was not one balancing weight on them. No wonder I had the shakes. I will have them balanced ricky-tick.

I have a new dash on its way so when the old one is out, I will go through all of the dash wiring to make sure all is as should be to include the voltage regulator.

[Author]

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