first early bronco.... cooling problems.

[rsharpnm]

Rad is new as is everything else. everything is apart right now. i flushed rad- free flowing. checked hoses- all clear. gona replace flowcooler pump with stock style pump and reassemble everything this weekend and give it another go. let you guys know what happens. If its doin the same thing i'm gona have to pull the heads. What else could be left?

It wouldn't hurt to try a run without the thermostat, but it really sounds like it's working correctly. Certainly not a permanent solution, though...

Good luck

 

[Illinois73]

OK so i replaced flowcooler pump with ford stock style pump and no thermostat. started it up and ran it with no rad cap and had tons of flow so i this water pump was working. Then i put therm. back in and she idled around 190 for 15 min or so. drove around block several times and idlled some more bringing the R's up for couple min. still at 190ish. it was only 65 out but it was only 8os when i was having overheating problems. Think i got her licked.( i hope). Got a bad flowcooler pump or my truck just didnt like it. glad i tried another pump before pulling the heads. thanks to all for the input and ideas. now lets put some miles on her.

 

[rsharpnm]

OK so i replaced flowcooler pump with ford stock style pump and no thermostat. started it up and ran it with no rad cap and had tons of flow so i this water pump was working. Then i put therm. back in and she idled around 190 for 15 min or so. drove around block several times and idlled some more bringing the R's up for couple min. still at 190ish. it was only 65 out but it was only 8os when i was having overheating problems. Think i got her licked.( i hope). Got a bad flowcooler pump or my truck just didnt like it. glad i tried another pump before pulling the heads. thanks to all for the input and ideas. now lets put some miles on her.

WoOt! Hope that did it!

 

[Bronchole]

Sorry for coming in late in the game, it is possible that if you were not runnig a "ballanced" thermostat that the higher flow of the flowcooler pump was forcing the thermostat closed. I had read about that happening several years ago when I was researching high flow pumps so I have always used the "balanced" design. The primary differnce is that the diaphragm that opes does not open against the flow of the water, but with the flow of the water. In this design if the pressure caused by the high flow pump is too great for the thermostat to hold its position it will be forced open, not closed.

Thats the theory anyway!

 

[Illinois73]

Sorry for coming in late in the game, it is possible that if you were not runnig a "ballanced" thermostat that the higher flow of the flowcooler pump was forcing the thermostat closed. I had read about that happening several years ago when I was researching high flow pumps so I have always used the "balanced" design. The primary differnce is that the diaphragm that opes does not open against the flow of the water, but with the flow of the water. In this design if the pressure caused by the high flow pump is too great for the thermostat to hold its position it will be forced open, not closed.

Thats the theory anyway!

Bronchole i am running a stock ford thermostat. maybe that could of been a issue. now i have stock style therm. and stock style waterpump and it seems to be working so far(got more testing to do). the flowcooler and the new stock pump are xactly the same, housing, impeller, everythings identical xcept the flowcooler has a plate one one side of impeler. Really dont no how it could flow that much more coolant anyhow. but i got a stock 5.0 so these stock parts should run fine. Just makes ya wonder if some of these hi perf. parts are worth it sometimes when starting with the basics usually seems to work pretty well, at least for me. But next time i run a high flow pump ill def try a balanced thermostat. maybe i should of tried the balanced t-stat before another pump. oh well im just happy to have it out on the road.

 

[Bronchole]

The addition of the plate to the otherwise stock impeller assembly keep some of the water from being slung off the side of the impeller teeth. With the plate all of the water is being forced to run the full length of the impeller blade. I am not 100% sure how much more effecincy this really adds, but I can say that for the 351W that I originally bought a Milodon unit for it did help.

My basic opinion on cooling system problems is that there are so many differnt things that can make your cooling system perform poorly, and all it takes is one of them to screw it up. water pump flow, radiator water flow, air flow across the radiator, engine compartment temp just for starters! Figuring out which one or combination of them is the trick.

Glad you seem to have found the issue.

Dan

 

[JoseyWales]

Welcome
Do you have anymore info on the engine? has it ever been rebuilt? other history on it? I'd double check that you have the correct fan.
I'd ditch that flowcooler pump and just get a stock water pump for your engine. I know several people that actually had engines run hotter with them. The bronco cooling system is small to small for a high flow water pump IMO.

I wish I had read this thread before I put the flow cooler pump on today. It never occurred to me that a stock pump would work better than a high volume.

 

[half cab]

Sometimes it pays to come on here and do a thread search on the next project your about to do!