89 F150 - 302 - carburator - just replaced the cam

A few days after I put it on the road again it began to over heat. I drove it for about 5 days after it was reassembled and it was fine. now I have no idea what the problem is. Checked the thermostat, worked fine in a pan of boiling water. replaced the radiator cap. seems as if the water pump is functioning fine. What i do see is the upper radiator hose is becoming very firm. The lower does not seem to be. the heater hoses don't seem to get as warm as they should be. And my temp guage is irratic. I just purchased this new today and installed it. goes up to 230-250, then back to 160 and again up and down. I have a 195 thermostat in it right now. i also noticed that one time the upper hose colapsed. There is plenty of coolant in there too.

 

Sounds like you have several problems. (The main one being a carburetor!)

A firm upper hose when the lower is soft says your WP is working, and the radiator is severely clogged. If your fan is still on a clutch, jam it when the engine is cool & OFF, hose down the radiator, and then let the engine idle with the fan stopped. Watch the radiator carefully. When the thermostat opens (upper hose will get hot suddenly), the radiator will dry quickly. If only one section dries, leaving a DISTINCT wet line, the wet areas are blocked. If it's more than ~1/4 of the radiator, replace it.

But the upper hose collapsing suggests that the pump is turning backward. When you converted to carb, did you also convert to V-belts? Or did you swap in a carb engine & put your serpentine belt on it? If you did either of those, your pump is spinning backward. The belt system has to match the fan, clutch, pump, & timing cover.

 

Ok these are the things I have seen since I wrote last.

-counterclockwise rotation of the waterpump
-belt on correctly
-pressure buildup in radiator when cold.
-by that i mean coolant overflows when I tried to take the cap off
-pumping of the upper hose brought the coolant down to about half level in
the radiator
-is this the radiator just plugged up?
-if so why all of a sudden after I installed a camshaft, when it was operating properly just prior (cooling system)


thanks

 

You managed to NOT answer any of my questions or even TRY the test I suggested, so I can't help you.

 

No I didn't. I don't know. If I did the swap myself I probably would've figured out why it was overheating on my own. I purchased the truck this way.

-It's a sepentine belt system.

-An Edelbrock waterpump turning counterclockwise with the belt.

-Thats about all I know.

-What else i found out the other day when I tried to drive it was that the head gasket was bad. Large clouds of white smoke from my tail pipes. Don't know if this was it, or a result of what ever the problem was.

 

White smoke alone isn't a guarantee of a bad head gasket. You could have a leak from the transmission to the intake, which is an EXCELLENT way to produce thick white smoke (I had that one time).

Since we know you have cooling system problems, try this: remove the thermostat, let the engine idle, & then see if you can tell which way the coolant is being pumped. If you can't tell by looking into the radiator filler, disconnect the upper radiator hose with the engine running & it'll be obvious. It SHOULD be moving from the engine to the radiator, but it could spill in both directions for a moment, so let it dump enough to be sure.

You can top it off with water until you get it all figured out & replace all the coolant correctly.

 

Try the fan clutch. Had a problem with my jeep overheating all the time. I changed the coolant and thermostat 4 times, replaced the water pump, and fan belt. Turned out to be the fan clutch. Take a look to see if your fan spins faster when you increase the throttle when the engine is hot.

 

I would *replace* the thermostat on general principle.

 

I'm not one for waiting. This is my main mode of work transportation. I need it for Monday. This is what I have done.

-replaced both head gaskets (had two from the gasket set from installing the cam about a week ago)( plus the actual miles were unknown)

-replaced thermostat

-replaced coolant (that sucked, 1 week old)

-intake manifold gaskets (that sucked, 1 week old)

-reassmbled engine

-replacing spark plugs tomorrow (sunday)

-checked radiator (is good)

-cleaned or replaced, oil breathers

-changed oil (that sucked, 1 week old)

I appreciate all of the responses. I will check the fan clutch tomorrow when I start it for the first time. I will also be back here to post my findings. I for myself hope it was the head gaskets. I had three different looking in color cylinders when I removed the heads. Kind of a light brown/whiteish color on #3 & #4 and #7. the others were black carbony looking. The color showed itself on the head not the cylinder itself. Maybe a little on the pistons.

Getting late and I have to wake my neighbors up early by starting my truck in my garage.

 

You can find a TSB about how to test a fan clutch in this thread.

 

Are we positive the water pump is not running backwards yet?

 

THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE REPLIED TO ME ON THIS!!!!

Ok so here it goes...

-Yes the water pump is spinning the correct direction.
( took me a while to figure it out,but it is )

-radiator is good for sure

-turned out when the head gasket went it was pumping air/ehaust into the cooling system causing the hoses to inflate and the coolant to blow out all over the place when the cap was removed when cool. I started it up this morning and it operated perfectly. just as I was told what to look for in the previous posts. Runs at about 185 degrees at operating temp just as it did before I had all these problems. Again, thank you everyone.

 

Thank you for the fan clutch checking procedure.

I did as it said and what a pain in the a**. But, the clutch is operating properly. I figured I should check all my bases so I don't run in to problems a week from now like I did before.

Thanks again