Ok, here's the deal- I've had an overheating problem for a little while. I double checked everything- thermostat, hoses, coolant level, etc. So finally I took the radiator out and took it to a nearby rad shop. I guess it was pretty clogged and unable to be rodded out. So I bought a new Modine aluminum radiator and that solved my problem, for the moment. Now it doesn't overheat the FIRST time I drive it, but if I go up the store turn off the engine and start it back up in like 10-15 minutes, it starts climbing towards that dreaded red zone. What would cause it to run fine and then start overheating afterwards? I'm stuck, I dunno where to start, AGAIN. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, thanks.

 

Alright, I believe I have found my demon. I must have an intermittent fan or something. I've checked my fan operation a million times and right now when I went out there it wouldn't kick on. I have it hardwired so it comes on all the time. So maybe it has some wiring problems or the motor took a dump. Anyways, thanks for the help!

 

What year, engine etccccccccccccccccccccc. That's always a help. 87/up suspect the fan relays. Notorious for being intermittent. If you shut down and then start up within 10 min or so temp will be higher than when you shut it off. Thats because the engine begins to boil the coolant because of no movement through the rad. Generally it will cool down fast whe it's restarted.

 

It's an '86 305 TPI. The fan is a single fan. What I would really like is a wiring diagram of this. I know that the first time it ever started overheating, the fan stopped working. So I pulled over to an Exxon and a mechanic there hardwired it for me. It's worked well ever since so I just left it. So I may suspect the relay of being bad? I want to wire it back up to normal and find out why it went off in the first place.