Hi everyone here at the mustang forums, I have a 1967 Mustang coupe with a 289 in it. My car is always heating up, I got a new radiator for it but its steal over heating. I got a the new radiator cause the old one seemed to be stuffed, my car never leaked any water or anything it always blew out the top radiator hose though, I changed the hose at least three times. People have been telling me to take the thermostat out and dont replace it (in other words leave it withput a thermostat) and they said it will run fine after I remove it is that true? And if its not can I know other causes to this malfunction? Thank you for your time to read this and helping a fellow mustang owner I really appreciate it.
Your car should not overheat with a themostate and if you have to rum w/o one something is wrong. If your upper radiator hose blows off, sounds like you may have compression leaking into the cooling system. Could be a head gasket or a crack in the head or block. Start with a compression test on your car.
Ive been running without my thermostat these couple of last days and she has not been heating up at all and she seems to be running okey dokey but is this ok and what kind of symptoms can I get from driving without a thermostat?
what kind of symptoms can I get from driving without a thermostat?
1) Sometimes can actually cause overheating as the water moves too fast through the radiator
2) Slow engine warm ups
3) Running below normal temp in the winter
I agree with the poster here - there is something else going on -
Have you tried FLUSHING the system THROUGHLY?
It took me an ENTIRE SATURDAY to get mine done WITHOUT
using chemicals, as CHEMICALES can hurt more than cure a problem.
When cold, empty the radiator. Refill with cold water only.
Start motor, let it warm (4min) . Shut off motor, empty radiator.
WHILE it is emptying, start to run cool water into the radiator so
it mixes with the WARM coolant and does not SHOCK a warm motor.
Run the water into the system S-L-O-W-L-Y at this time.
AFTER the water starts to come out the bottom COOL, shut off
the hose and let it empty completely. Do this procedure at least
15 to 20 times, never letting the motor get too hot, just warm.
The reason you do not want a hotmotor, is that you are adding a
COOL liquid (water) to an already warm surface (motor interior).
If you do this by adding cool water to the fluid being drained, you
stand LESS of a chance to SHOCKING a warmed motor.
REMEMBER: add just enough to make the fluid you are draining
come out cool, then shut off your hose and let it drain completly.
AFTER all the fluid is drained, then add your water, remembering to
leave a little gap at the top of the neck for expansion.
Do this procedure untill there is ABSOLUTLY NOTHING coming
out of the radiator but water , no residue, no gunk , no antifreeze.
It took me 35 times on a recently purchased car to get it CLEAR.
When you "think" you are done, drive the car for 5 to 10 minutes,
around the block a few times with the HEAT ON, to empty the core, then see if it still comes out CLEAR when drained.
If you want, you can also take off the bottom radiator hose when
doing this, sometimes , it helps for a more complete emptying of
the system a little quicker. I opt NOT to do this however.
MAKE SURE THE FLUID YOU DRAIN IS COMPLETELY CLEAR,
before you finally add your antifreeze+water Refill.
*OH , one more thing , I ALWAYS check the Ph of the fluid after
it has been refilled, and if it is not near "7ph" (Neutral) then I will
drain again, and use bottoled water ( only 65cents per gallon )
of the cheap variety, and add antifreeze to that.
*Remember also
that your radiator cap pressure ADDS 3degrees-per-pound of
pressure to the boiling point of your coolant, be sure to do a
"pressure-check" of your cap - weather it is a pressure-release
type OR the captive system type.
With this last vehicle - I found the CAP to be the culprit,
although the system was a FILTHY MESS when I started, and
now the coolant has been "clear" for two months, and no
OVERHEATING.
Be Patient - Go SLOW with this process - and DONT add
cold water to an EMPTY warm system.
I have been doing cooling systems for over 45 years this way, and
if you add the cool water slowly, you won't harm the system.
GOOD LUCK - KEEP IT COOL -
Joe Z.
I flushed my system today, but it was in good shape and my car still over heats as soon as I get in a freeway and Im still runing without a thermostat ,I also checked my radiator cap and its fine,What is the mysterious cause of my car over heating, it really has me stumped! Thank You for your help I really apprecitate it!
Could be your lower hose sucking itself closed. There's supposed to be a metal spring inside of it to prevent collapse.
Do you have the proper pre-bent bypass hose? (The 90º elbow hose between the water pump and the t'stat housing)
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1992 Deep Emerald Green Mustang GT Hatch, 5 speed, 2.73s, Mac fenderwell cold air intake, '93 Cobra MAF, Mac 70mm throttle body & spacer, Explorer intakes, Mac unequal headers & offroad pipe, Magnaflow catback, Walbro 110lph fuel pump, Jet adjustable FPR, MSD Blaster coil, Accel 8mm wires, FRPP aluminum quadrant, UPR firewall adjuster, stock cable, Granatelli upper control arms.
Waiting to go on: Granatelli lower control arms, and GT40 Iron heads!
I checked my hoses, my elbow hose that goes from the water pump to the thersmostat looks bend or not seated properly, its not crack or anything it just looks like its force in its place, I havent checked my lower hose too see if its working properly, I ran into another little problem today, I cheked my compression on one side and my spark plugs seemed to be full of gas, How do I reduce the amount of gas thats going in the cylinders so it can burn the gas properly,by thye way my compression on those 4 cylinders was great so theres no problem on that side, I have to get check the other 4 cylinders one of these days, Ill probably do it tomorrow. Oh and should I replace the elbow hose, it looks like its fine but as I said before it lloks like its bend or not adjusted properly. Thank You for your time to read this!
well if u are overheatimg it could be your themostat is broken along with other stuff but i dont have a themostat in my mustang because we couldnt get one that fit right so we put a big washer in the therostat housing to slow down the flow and i dont have any problems now with over heating and i drive it all day in 90 degree weather but in the winter it does take a long time to heat up
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new ride an 84 convert with msd, 1 1/2 in drop springs, some black ponys, edelbrook intake and carb, with a 5 speed
[quote=mantra] I ran into another little problem today, I cheked my compression on one side and my spark plugs seemed to be full of gas, How do I reduce the amount of gas thats going in the cylinders so it can burn the gas properly,by thye way my compression on those 4 cylinders was great so theres no problem on that side, I have to get check the other 4 cylinders one of these days, Ill probably do it tomorrow. [quote]
You can run hot/overheat with a rich carb, to hot of spark plugs and being mistimed. Correct the gas in the cylinder and that might solve your heating problem. What type of carb "4bbl,2bbl, Holley,Edelbrock?". What was you compression at? Does your compression tester have a shop air fitting on it, if so plug about 100psi of shop air in to the cylinder and lessen for air leaking. There might be small leaks so do several cylinders to judge your results. Don't freak out when your piston is pushed to the bottom of the stroke and keep hands or anything else clear of the fan and belts. Also remove your radiator cap and look for bubbles and pull your oil cap and lessen for leaks. Put a 160deg thermostat in the car. Vintage cars don't need any more unless you are running EFI.
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Ragoon Red 1965 "A" Code 4speed Pony Mustang GT Coupe
Candyapple Red 1966 "A" Code 4speed Pony Mustang GT Coupe "Waiting for Restoration"
I checked my hoses, my elbow hose that goes from the water pump to the thersmostat looks bend or not seated properly, its not crack or anything it just looks like its force in its place,
If someone forced a straight piece of hose on there, it's probably crimped at the bend, and restricting coolant flow. Parts stores sell the proper pre-bent ones. That should make a difference.
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1992 Deep Emerald Green Mustang GT Hatch, 5 speed, 2.73s, Mac fenderwell cold air intake, '93 Cobra MAF, Mac 70mm throttle body & spacer, Explorer intakes, Mac unequal headers & offroad pipe, Magnaflow catback, Walbro 110lph fuel pump, Jet adjustable FPR, MSD Blaster coil, Accel 8mm wires, FRPP aluminum quadrant, UPR firewall adjuster, stock cable, Granatelli upper control arms.
Waiting to go on: Granatelli lower control arms, and GT40 Iron heads!
The elbow hose is a Bypass hose and has little function when the thermostat is opened. Its job is to recirculate water from the engine back into the water pump to help the engine reach operating temp so the heater core heats up quick for those cold days. You should replace it with the correct elbow hose but probably won't solve your problem.
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Ragoon Red 1965 "A" Code 4speed Pony Mustang GT Coupe
Candyapple Red 1966 "A" Code 4speed Pony Mustang GT Coupe "Waiting for Restoration"
I have a Edelbrock 4bbl, my compression was at around 120. I need to check the other 4 cylinders though. I will check them tomorrow. I dont have a comprerssion tester with an air fitting on it. Thank You for your answers I really appreciate it. Thank YOU!!!
67 Mustang 289 Overheating 
