Had a few events where she has overheated now, usually in slow or standing traffic.
She has the standard belt driven fan and an electric Kenlowe fan.
Though I'd solved it when I found the Kenlowe wasn't working, but now the Kenlowe is working(the relay was bust) she still was overheating. Changed the coolant today, and it made a difference, it took her a bit longer to overheat but she still did.
Now here is the big query.....in the manual it states that the cooling system holds 19.5 US quarts (which works out at 18.5 litres) I took out about 8 litres plus what I spilled on the drive. Filled it up again and only got about 8 litres in her. I don't get it? Is the manual wrong or have I got something wrong? 18.5 litres sounds like a lot of liquid for a cooling system (even though it's a massive engine).
It's hard to get all the old coolant out. There will be some in the heater core, the heater hoses, water pump and engine block. About the best you can do is drain the old coolant out of the radiator, fill it up with water, run it for awhile (at least until it comes to full operating temperature, preferably a bit longer, then repeat until it looks mostly clear. Then drain it again and fill it with pure antifreeze, hoping you can squeeze in half of what's listed as the capacity in the manual for a 50/50 mixture of water and antifreeze. Then start it up again to mix the two. Don't run pure water. Besides the freezing risk in winter, the engine will corode internally.
Thanks we'll give that a go.
The coolant that came out was green, I've put blue in cos that what was recommended. Just checked the level and it's good after cool down, but looks green again. Sounds like it's a case of what you said.
Will it be OK with a mix of blue and green?
Gosh, I don't know. It was a lot simpler when the green stuff was the only choice. I believe that was ethylene glycol. Maybe look at the label on the new coolant bottle and see it says anything one way or the other about mixing it with that type?
Oh, and the later Galaxies like yours had a more complicated heater system I believe. I don't know for certain but it might only circulate coolant through the heater core if the heater is turned on. (I.e. valves may open or close to control the flow.) Mine circulates coolant all the time and the controls just determine if air is blown over the core. So you might need to turn the heater on to flush out the core.
I save time with a radiator flush tee, installed on the heater hose that comes from the intake.
Open the radiator valve, drain. Open the Tee, turn on the garden hose and set it n the tee. You can also go backwards, from the top of the radiator to the Tee.
Probably a better spot for the tee would be the hose that runs from the water valve to the heater but that spot is harder to get to.
Flushing is so easy with a tee I do it often. I don't use much antifreeze though. My temps stay down, though from time to time they do spike up enough that I have to slow down and/or turn on the heater.
I'll throw in a pint or two of antifreeze but I think plain water is cooler.
Ever try CLR for a flush? I've been considering it, the water here is somewhat hard.
The blue coolant and the green coolant are compatible. They are two different chemical makeups I don't recall exactly what is which, but compatible. ...the blue is the Peak brand here in the states.
You are chasing your tail. Changing coolant is good for maintenance, but would not solve your overheating, and you need to determine the actual cause of the excessive heat or lack of cooling. Causes for overheating at low speeds are many and often multiple, but range anywhere from incorrect idle ignition timing, to missing shrouds, failed fan clutch, scaled passages, slipping pump, leaking gaskets, blocked radiator passages or fins, and more.
I would verify your timing marks are correct, set base timing, check timing at higher rpm for proper advance; then take it to a respected local radiator shop or classic car mechanic for diagnostics. They know what to look for and how to test in order to determine root causes without applying band-aid solutions. The Ford Shop Manual set for your year is priceless for diagnostics, and you can do it all yourself, but it's up to you if you have the determination or time for that. I am only suggesting you fix your issues so it does not boil-over in the first place, and then you can use whatever coolant makes you giggle.
BTW, Puttster is correct that distilled water with anti-rust/pump lubricant additive ($3, or something like Water Wetter) is a more effective coolant with better thermal characteristics than anti-freeze in warm weather. If using anti-freeze, use only the recommended ratio for your anticipated temperatures, for best cooling. The more you use the less efficiently it cools. While many like anti-freeze or waterless coolant to inhibit embarrassing boil-over and driveway puddles, I could not care less about that (I actually want that) because I'll fix the boil-over cause, and want the best cooling and engine safety. Boil-over is part of the original engine protection scheme, and explanation of that is in other threads here. That's me. Do your thing!
David
From this chart, you can see that a 50/50 mix of anti-freeze has about 87% cooling capability of straight water, and 66% with straight ant-freeze:
BTW, Puttster is correct that distilled water with anti-rust/pump lubricant additive ($3, or something like Water Wetter) is a more effective coolant with better thermal characteristics than anti-freeze in warm weather.
David
I think I might have solved it partly.
She has 2 fans the belt driven one and an electric temperature operated Kenlowe fan. Turned out the Kenlowe wasn't working due to a blown relay. Fixed the relay and made the fan work, but it was still overheating. Took it to a radiator specialist, who straight away said "are you sure that Kenlowe is blowing the correct way?" Which I wasn't sure!!
Switched it on and straight away he said it's blowing the wrong way, so my 2 fans were fighting each other. Easy fix says I. Switched the wires around so it runs the opposite way, took her for a slow pootle around town, and hey ho!!! no more overheating, she does still get very hot mind, so perhaps a bigger kenlowe is needed.
Forgive my ignorance but I'm at a bit of a loss as to why you would need two fans. Maybe I missed something in your post but unless you've modified your engine etc a factory setup should work fine. Sorry I'm not much help mechanically only thing I would add is use distilled water if you mix your own fluid.
Good luck.
The dual fan thing is how I bought it, but it wasn't working. It doesn't overheat too much now I've fixed the electric one. Runs fine when on the motorway at speed, and there's good airflow. Which makes me think it's not necessarily a blocked radiator. (Although the flow could be restricted perhaps). We'll see how it transpires and maybe take the radiator out and get it to the shop.
Thank you, that gives me more of an idea on how to do it.
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