Re: Another old trick to check the t-stat. You can check it out by boiling it in water while measuring the temp. If it opens up @ desired temp, your good. Sounds like you've ironed it out though w/ the water pump. Hope all goes well...Dave
The reverse pumps only turn a different direction. The flow is the same. Reverse flow requires an entirely different cooling system.
Hold it!! Stop the engine! How fresh is the rebuild?? Have you gone back and rechecked all the bolt torques, changed the oil? Compression test? Is it bored out, high compression pistons, big cam?? id say its fighting break in,,,, If it has less than 500 miles on it,, or 4 or 5 hours on the engine from initial start up,, new parts are breaking in, gaskets are swelling and contracting from heat from the extra friction created from fresh surfaces in the engine and new parts findin their groove. Heat is a sure fire sign of this,,, and a proceedure can be done to solve it. Its alot of time,,, you get to turn more wrenches,,, so check this out,,,, Do you have a compression guage? if not get one,,, run a compression test first,,, pull out all the plugs, put the guage in the spark plug hole,, hold the throttle wide open, and crank the engine a few times. Dont matter if its cold, or warm at this time,,,, your looking to get a baseline reading for all the cyls. Write the results down, and keep them close by. If they are within 5 psi of each other,, thats what your looking to get in the end,,,, to get the cyl pressures as even as you can after 15-20 hours of operation. I like to refer to hours rather than miles,, cause you dont want to drive it unitl you recheck somethings. Low cyl pressure readings will tell you the following,,,, If the rings are not yet seating, (needs more easy break in time) Head gasket,,,, New head gaskets, once they warm up,, shrink,,, and then the heads are loose. Leaking compression into the cooling system. Which may be why the hoses are swelling up so fast,,, (Warm up engine) (retorque the heads, drain the water, unbolt the valve train, and check every bolt) you will find some loose ones, dont go crazy overtightening,,, there will be a few where the gasket has shrunk and they get loose. While its warmed up they will crush better that way,,, Reassemble the valve train, new oil, and water, plugs if you need them, Once the check list is done, sealed up, fluids up, ,, before you put the plugs back in,,, rotate the engine a few times by key,,, till you see the oil pressure come up,,, then,, try to fire it up,,, DONT REV IT UP the first time it fires up,,, Keep it under 2500 rpm for a while until an hour or two is on the engine after you have had it apart like you just did,,, Be patient,,, and take your time,,,,, So,, it fires up, and its holding a idle well,,, make sure the timing is adjusted correctly,,, it may be out of whack by adjusting it a bunch,,, Ok,, engines running,, keep an eye on the hoses,, they should be soft,,, not too pressureized,, after about 10 minutes of idling,,, engine temp should be on the rise,,, oil pressure,,,, good,,, If its not overheating, hoses not balloned up,,, hitting on all cyls,, set the idle up on the carb,, if you have a tach,,, to about 1800 rpms on the tach,,, run it for about 10 minutes,,,, temp is good, oil is good,, now your gonna run it at 2500 for another 15 minutes,,,, here is where it gets tricky,,,, its gonna get really warmed up and if everything is right,,, the collant should be flowing, the hoses not to hard, but have some pressure,,, It may be a little warm,, but should not be hot,,, if its 15-25 over what the thermostat is rated for,, and its not boiling over,,, Shut it down for the night. Let it cool off completely..... Next day, it may be hard to start,,,, so have the charger ready, new plugs, gapped properly, But if it fires up and runs fine,,, it may misfire a bit,,, now, a bunch of shavings from the rings and the cyl walls are present,, and they tend to foul out the plugs. So, new set ready,,,, If it runs and runs fine,, set the idle up for 10 minutes,,, watch the heat, oil, etc etc,, leaks,, ,,, shut it off, and if you have not put in the new plugs yet, now is the time to put them in,,,,,, BUT!!!!! now is the time to run another compression test,,,,,,, be careful they can be hot!!! Readings should be higher than the previous,,,, record the numbers,,,, If the hoses are not swelled up at this point,, has circulation,,, then the head gaskets may have been leaking cyl pressure. OIL CHANGE AGAIN NOW!!!! New plugs in, fired back up,,,,, take it down the road,,, not a populated area,,, in low gear, run it easy thru the rpms to about 4000 for the first time and let it come back to idle,, by itself,, dont put in nuetral,,, let it coast back,,, keep eye on the temp and oil pressure,,,, Do that about 5 times,,, if its not hot,, oil pressure,, its running on all the cyls,,, take it for an easy spin, run it up to 45-55 mph for about 1/2 hour or more if everyhting checks out OK!!!! Take it home,, change the oil after 500 miles, and drive it easy till you get about 800 miles on it,, should be good and ready after that if everything mentioned,, Hope this helps,,, ChadS
Chad: It's a stock remanufactured 85 5.0 HO non-roller. The only aftermarket pieces are the manifold, carb and headers. I placed the older timing cover and water pump. I'll be going through the process you mentioned to a T (once the weather warms up of course; too dang cold here in Nebraska right now.) Thanks for the info.
Here's a thought (sitting here thinking); if my '85 normally uses a reverse rotation water pump, but I keep the old water pump & timing cover on the '85, wouldn't the thermostat now need to be reversed? Just a thought.
Anyone? With the reverse water pump, does that mean the coolant now flows through the intake and out the water pump?
Im not too sure on that one,,,, I have a 88 roller 5.0 in my 69.5,, and I kept the serpentine belt setup,,,,, I used the alternator bracket off a 88 tbird,, a belt from a 91 chevy Lumina 3.1,,, and I added a second alternator on the left side with a long bolt and a shim bushing to locate the pulleys. I used a pulley off a Chevy alternator,, a ford alternator,, and I made a custom bracket to hold the top of the alt in place. Worked perfectly!!! And,, kept the reverse water flow. Email me at ChadS3@hotmail.com, and Ill send you a picture of my setup. ChadS
PaulS was correct. The actual 'flow' is not really reversed through the engine, but just the rotation of the water pump impeller is. The V-belt rotates in the same direction as the crankshaft. The serp. belt rotates in the opposite direction of the crankshaft. The each belt system uses a unique pump/impeller. I don't believe you have made it clear which belt system you are running? Using the 70' pump & cover with the 80's serp. belt system would be trouble. Also, don't reverse the thermostat, period.
I went back and looked I meant to say reverse rotation. You should make sure that your timing cover and water pump match and that you are spinning the water pump in the correct direction.
That depends on the cover itself. If it is a replacement cover they are now designed to accomodate both. Ford or aftermarket.......
MarulMav, you should be fine with the pump & belt system. Does the radiator have good flow? You can check it by filling it with water and releasing the bottom hose, timing how long it takes to empty. Best done with the radiator out of the car. The water should empty extremely quick and not slowly drain. Check the lower hose to make sure there is a spring inside of it, otherwise it can collapse from the suction. So in short, if you have checked and know that the following are in good working order: Radiator, Cap, Thermostat, Hoses, Water Pump and Fan, then I would think the issue would be internal to the motor. Either blocking debris, air locks or improperly installed gaskets. Good luck.
