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Re: 1987 pace arrow w/454 overheating Ray 7-4-09
Did you find the problem?,I too am overheating, 87' 454....I did run it out of water, had a leaky rad and the temp gauge i thought was working, failed, oem gauge was sitting just below the half mark....anyhow, after that, I installed a new rad, therm, hoses,clutch fan, etc...put an anolog gauge in plus hooked up the oem....took out the dash ac, and it had been running pretty good...this was two years ago...
recently, went down the Interstate, 200 mile trip, and at 60mph, temp ran past 230, backed it down to 51mph and it ran 220, so for 200 miles had to run at 51mph...
at destination, I took out the clutch fan and therm, and bought new ones again...clutch fan always did work when cruising around 35 to45 mph...but not hearing it come on at 60mph(now I know why..Later)..so heading back up to home, 200 mph, the temp climbed again...Hell with it...at 60mph, it got to 245...ouch..scared me, so I backed it down to 55mph and it stayed at 230- 235....ran it that way...
been talking to hundreds of people, hot rodders who always have heating problems, parts houses, etc,....The best is the radiator shop....
A motorhome with the firewall sealed up, side motor sheet metal intact, etc. the air HAS to pass through the radiator and at 60mph + you don't need a fan to keep the water cool....that is why u do hear the fan at 35 to 45 mph..not enough air flow.....So the real problem is the head gaskets....even though you don't have water in the oil, the head gaskets are guarantteed to be the problem...There are some test that they can do, chemical, and other stuff to determine the problem...also, sometimes I would pull into a rest area, and the emgine temp would be down around 190 by the time I slowed into the parking spot....I'd go outside, open the hood, and no leaks, smell and I could put my hand onto the radiator fins and the radiatior would feel cool.....
I bet the time I overheated the engine, plus old age, plus 115k on the motor, plus maybe poor factory factory designed heads and gaskets, this got to be the problem...
Ok, I took the Rad out, had two rows and the tubes were 1/4 in openings...Installed a new Rad, 3 rows and the tubes are 1/2inch..went down the road, same, maybe a little worse...
now, pissed,decided to take out the water pump, have to take out the Rad again to be able to get the brackets off that hold the alternator, air pump, etc...big job....this is an 87' 454...serpentine belt with no tension pulley, it goes around the crank, clutch fan, alternator, and an air pump...tension is adjusted via the alternator....the old water pump looked good inside, brass impella looked good...installed the new one, bolted up the barackets, put the serpentine belt back on,(not sure how tight to make it) but always leave 1/4 to 1/2 inch play...
installed the Rad, cranked it up, and quickly at idle it shot up to 235..ouch...pissed..now what?
I got lucky, decided to tighten the hell out of the serpentine belt just for the heck of it....intantly it was working, not overheating at idle....wow...maybe that was the whole problem to begin with, a "not so tight belt"....
Before going down the toll road, I bought a new belt, but did not put it on, plan to do it in the future...
About 10 miles down the toll road, again the temp reached 235, shit.....backed it down to 50mph and limped into a rest area..waited to cool down, then took the covers off the engine to get at the serpentine belt, check the tension, and decided to put the new one on...socked it up tight....
Headed down the road, guess what,got up to 60mph, the temp gauge was climbing, got to 225 and the cluthc fan ROARED like I hadn't heard for years...and sure enough the temp came down to 210,crepted up again to 225 and the clutch fan ROARED again to bring the temp back down....Dam new serpentine belt? solved the problem..wow....
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