After swapping in my 289 in place of the 3.8L I have been overheating like crazy! At first it would over heat in a few minutes because I forgot to put on the radiator shroud. I took care of that and it is much better. But my motor still runs very hot. I remember reading somewhere that the v-6 radiator is enough for a v-8. But is it really? It is just one core! Any ideas on what I can do to cool this v-8. I am already running a 180 deg thermostat which stays open almost all the time. The thing is that I havent driven this car since summer much so I have no idea how it is going to act in the cold, but I still need to fix this problem. Any ideas? Also, is there an aftermarket or mustang radiator that will bolt in ?
Did you use the 3.8 fan? Might be a reverse rotation fan :dunno: ,maybe one of the 3.8 people will chime in. :)
I cannot believe a single core radiator will begin to keep a 289 or any V8 cool in hot weather. If its OK now that the weather is cooler its a plain case of not enough radiator.
Nahh, I have a flexalite fan on there. I agree that it doesnt seem that a single core radiator would cool the car at all. Did the xr-7's come with a 2 core?
what waterpump are you running? what pulley setup is on the car? gotta remember, up untill i think 72ish, ford smallblocks had a standard rotation water pump, and from that year on, they started using a reverse rotation water pump, so theres the possibility that youre using the wrong pump/pulley/fan combination
The water pump is the type from an 88 xr-7, with a v-belt setup from a 75 Stang. The system has plenty of pressure, I am pretty sure it is the radiator, I just need to find a cheaper new one or a donor car.
The 3.8's stock radiator is a 2 core.
Yea thats what i was thinkin'...
If you have as single core, it probably originated in a 4 cyl Stang.
i think its most likely the waterpump and/or fan spinning the wrong direction
one core my V6 cougar has a 3 core radiator and keep temp in the half :asshole: :rollin:
I am suprized that the v-6 radiator is a 2 core considering how darn thin the thing is! Either way, I think I remember using an 88 xr-7 water pump because I knew the hoses would match up nicely. Is that a reverse rotation pump? Right now I am using v-belts instead of serpentine so that would be a problem.
88 xr7 would be reverse rotation you probly have very poor water flow.
i was having over heating problems in my 88 ls 3.8,pute a new radiator from advance auto in no more problems, i believe i paid around $80 for it
flip your Tstat around vs dealing with all that reverse water pump ,, if it cures the problem,, you know where you went wrong.