Well I was driving around town today, stop and go traffic. Running the AC, and found that when I happened to look down that the temp gauge was on its way through the roof. Cut of the AC and the engine begins to cool slowly. SO I left it off. I need a list of things to do for this. FOund a couple of different options in the search but they all seem to be unique.

SO here is my list of fixes, please help correct me if so.
1. thermostat
2. radiator flush and fill
3. pressure test
4. pull the head

please help its getting hot here. BTW I do have a body lift but I did not have cooling issues last year. same heat if not more.
thanks fellas

I would move 'pull the head' down the list. I would add 'check the clutch fan'. I also wouldn't drain and refill the rad till you find out if the radiator is good/bad, check the clutch fan and change the thermostat.

I just got through pulling my intake to start on my supercharger install, adn I can tell you that is a bear to get to all the fuel lines and just getting the drivers side rear injector clip off <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" /> sucks.

Anyway you do have to remove the entire intake just to change the thermostat.

Check your rad. for debris or mud. Did you remove your shroud when you did the body lift?

Joe

Intake . . . Air? or Manifold?

Whoa Nellie! Pull the head? Put that one WAY down on the list. Do you have electric fans to pull air through your radiator or belt driven?
Thermostat or glazed/loose drive belt are most likely if the onset was sudden. If the fan is electric check the relays.

I had a real peculiar happenstance when the bracket bolt that held my alternator in place broke. No bracket=no belt tension=no cooling. Look for the simple solution.

pulling the head will now be moved off the list for not. Just to ad a side note. In the last 2 weeks or so I have had an accasional smell of oil burning. Almost as if it was driping off somewhere onto the exhaust. Checked all over itthough and cannot find any on the exhaust. I dont think that the thermostat is bad cause when the engine is hot the lower line is also hot. meaning it is not staying closed at least. I will search for an oil leak though as well.

What can I do to check the fan clutch. I honestly would like to remove the engine driven one and replace it with the electric that I have sitting at home. But before I do what can I do to test it.

BTW thanks for moving the thread where it needed to go. I do not want to do a head job fo sho. what about the water pump. that could be driping and causing the burnign smell correct.

The bad thing about anti freeze is it's flammable. I rediscovered that fact on an old pontiac when an oil drip on a hot manifold became an oil fire on a hot manifold and I (in my panic) decided to douse it with the only liquid I had in the trunk... If only I had gone to cooking school I would have remembered that a good vehicular flambe' requires a slosh of alchohol. Ahhh... memories...

Anyway, a water pump drip is going to be a different smell than oil and you can usually see a green puddle if that's the culprit. Have you checked the coolant level? A hot engine puts out a whole bunch of odors. The fan clutch is generally a viscous drive that will turn easily
by hand. If the engine's running and it's turning it's OK. It's really only working when you're standing and idling. When you're driving the air movement through the radiator is the forward motion of the vehicle.

The real question is "is the coolant circulating?" and that's harder to answer. Do not assume that warm lines from the radiator mean that the coolant is circulating freely. The thermostat could be stuck in a partially open position restricting the flow and causing the overheat. The water pump impeller could be beat and not pushing enough flow. If you take the belt off the water pump drive and jiggle the pulley there should be no play in the shaft, no in and out movement. If there is, the seal is likely shot allowing air in. Replace the pump. Water pumps can't push air and air in the head galleries will overheat the valve seats in a hurry.

Last thing is the radiator, but that's not going to be a sudden onset. I've seen threads about changing radiators, but in my thirty years of driving I've never had a radiator plug up internally with crud if you keep a quality anti-freeze in it. Check the face of it. I have had to pressure wash the accumulations of bugs, mud and debris out of the fins.

You have to remove the intake manifold. The thermostat housing is under the aluminum manifold.

Joe

I suppose that the overheating problem started right then, and the oil burning smell is the consiquence - the oil was too hot, and it was squeezed through the gaskets, in tiny amounts, on something hot.

Welcome to the world of a 3"B/L on the 2nd gen Rodeo <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

I am planning to drop The Turtles radiator this weekend.

Since you had to take off the lower shroud to clear the fan,look and you'll notice that over 1/2 of the fan is under/off the cooling fins now.

This has been a problem of ours since the B/L 2 yrs ago.The band-aid fix for wheeling was,I installed the electric fan to help cool the engine while wheeling.

Temperature also rises on long grades etc.

Atleast you don't have an auto tranny to help add to the heat issue.

Also check and make sure the little fan in front of the condensor is working while the engine is hot and ac on.

I'll let you all know how this weekend goes.

Bansil