PLEASE HELP ME SOMEBODY. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE. MY CAR IS A 90 RS WITH A 305 TBI. BASICALLY STOCK. IT HAS 90K MILES ON IT. I DROVE IT 2000 MILES IN THE LAST MONTH AND IT GAVE ME SOME TROUBLE. I NEVER HAD ANY TROUBLE WHATSOEVER WITH OVERHEATING. IT OVERHEATED ABOUT 2-3 WEEKS AGO. I CHANGED THE THERMOSTAT AND ADDED COOLANT. STILL OVERHEATED. NOTICED THE FAN MOTOR WAS DEAD. CHANGED IT. FLUSHED THE RADIATOR FAIRLY THOROUGHLY. ADDED 60/40 COOLANT TO WATER. GOT A NEW COOLANT TANK...OLD ONE HAD A CRACK IN IT. FILLED THAT UP TO "HOT FULL" WITH PURE COOLANT. RAN HOT BUT NOT OVERHEATING FOR A FEW DAYS. NOTE: I NEVER HAVE TROUBLE AT HIGH SPEEDS JUST STREET TRAFFIC. CHANGED OIL AND OIL FILTER....MOBIL 1 10W - 30 AND K&N OIL FILTER. HEATER WAS WORKING AND EVERYTHING BUT STILL RAN A LITTLE HOT DURING TRAFFIC. TODAY IN TRAFFIC I WAS RUNNING OUT OF GAS AND I STOPPED AT THE GAS STATION TURNED IT OFF WHILE IT WAS REALLY HOT 220. ALL OF A SUDDEN THE HOOD STARTED STEAMING BY THE WINDSHIELD. I POP THE HOOD AND IT IS STEAMING BACK BY THE DISTIBUTOR. IN THE BACK!!!! I NOTICE THE FLOOR....ITS DRENCHED IN COOLANT. I GUESS IT ESCAPED THE ENGINE. DID I BLOW SOMETHING...OR WHAT.....I ADDED COOLANT AND WATER AND DROVE IT STRAIGHT HOME. HEATER DOESNT WORK ANYMORE. PLEASE HELP. PLEASE.
RICK

 

The coolant in the interior is from your heater core. They are a fairly common failure in these cars. They cost about $35 or $40 on up, and are a real joy to replace. It takes 3 or 4 hours.

If you haven't replaced your radiator, now would be a good time to do that since it's in basically the same condition as your heater core. More than likely its fins are all plugged up with scale, which makes a great insulator besides impeding coolant flow.

Also, you don't need that much antifreeze in there, in our climate about 25-30% is fine. Water does a better job of carrying heat around than antifreeze does, so you can actually make your car overheat by having too much AF in your coolant.

The steaming from the vicinity of the distributor is probably from either the intake gasket back there, or if your car has a heater hose fitting at the back of the manifold, from the fitting or the hose itself.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."

[This message has been edited by RB83L69 (edited September 24, 2000).]

 

RB is correct, but I would take it a step further, a total cooling sytem overhaul, meaning a new radiator as well. As you said, even after flushing & replacing the fan motor, the engine ran hot, even though it did not overheat. With 90K on the car, I'd replace it. Also, I'd tone down the anti-freeze mixture to 50/50. Also, avoid topping off the overflow tank with pure a/f. Overtime, you won't know where you're at & will be over concentrated. Is Ca expecting a cold snap? (Just kidding).
Regards, FJK

[This message has been edited by FJK (edited September 24, 2000).]

 

Help please!!!!!

 

another question. i plan on eventually building a 350. i want it to have 400+hp. will i need a stronger radiator. might as well get it now since i am replacing it now. ive heard good things about BeCool radiators. also....how much am i looking at to build this kind of motor??

 

also when i took a look underneath the car i noticed the catalytic converter was steaming. is that bad?? the thing looks shot to hell and i am planning to get a random tech in that GP on cz28.com. thanks

 

the coolant wasnt IN the car it was under the car. but it was ALL on the floor...the radiator was empty now.