Pinto Overheating

[Rally Pack 2000]

Ive been trying to address an overheating issue with a Pinto Escort. Ive changed the water pump, thermostat, installed a triple core radiator, flushed the engine, new coolant but still reads high. On the RS temp gauge it reads at the second white line. All other Rs2000s I have seen run ad the first white line on the gauge. Any thoughts or suggestions? Could this just be a case that the little gauge in this particular MK2 RS instrument panel just displays too hot?

[katana]

Duff sender? Has it always read high? Correct sender? - ours in the UK have a white band - I believe it denotes different resistances for different gauges?

[JP.]

How about fitting this MrGasket 2470 radiatorcap..

 

Is a stock 13psi replacement for our old Fords and works great. Just pop the hood to see the real temp in a blink of an eye.

Run several of these myself for years.

[Rally Pack 2000]

Duff sender? Has it always read high? Correct sender? - ours in the UK have a white band - I believe it denotes different resistances for different gauges?

 

Forgot to mention changed that too. I put in a White Band one I got from Burtons.

 

For some time it and the fuel gauge didnt work at all till I replaced the voltage regulator (a secondhand one) It has been reading at the same high mark since getting it all working again.  Could the gauge have been damaged when the regulator failed possibly?

[Rally Pack 2000]

How about fitting this MrGasket 2470 radiatorcap..

 

Is a stock 13psi replacement for our old Fords and works great. Just pop the hood to see the real temp in a blink of an eye.

Run several of these myself for years.

 

Thats an interesting device to double check. I will look into that thanks. I see on the Davis Craig website they list two, one large and one small that doesnt give much indication which will fit.

[mk1del]

Burtons do a 82 degree thermostat, also another trick to do with older cars is to drill a extra hole through the stat, about 1/8  just helps the flow through helps keep temp down

My rs had a. 88degree stat and it ran warm, so drilled the hole has mentioned

My mate runs his rs without stat

[John escort mk1V6]

And just what mk1del says dril a little hole in the outside ring of the thermostat , that helps also with getting the air out of the systeem.

Also some youngers cars have this.

[Rally Pack 2000]

Burtons do a 82 degree thermostat, also another trick to do with older cars is to drill a extra hole through the stat, about 1/8  just helps the flow through helps keep temp down

My rs had a. 88degree stat and it ran warm, so drilled the hole has mentioned

My mate runs his rs without stat

 

I get a bit confused with the idea of using the cooler stats.There seems to be some ambiguity between the opening temp and the operating temp.  Given the operating temp its well above the cooler ones incl the standard 88 degree one that all thats achieved is a slower warm up time? Or am I getting things wrong here? I thought the under pressure operating temp was something like 102 degrees? Im currently trying a larger valved supposedly high flow type. I noticed however its at the high end of suggested opening temp ranges its 91 degrees. I had a 87 degree one before that. I boiled them both and noticed yes the hi flow one had a larger valve but it didnt appear to open anywhere near as wide even at full open which to me negated the whole larger valve deal and also opened quite late. So the drilled hole sorted the problem for you? Im kicking myself because I was going to drill a hole in the high flow one because I saw a youtube clip from the same manufacturer and they demonstrated the hole they put in from the factory. When I got mine however it appeared to be a different spec one to the American versions and didnt have a hole so I just put it in as is.

[katana]

I believe the lower stat temp theory is bogus as you suspected. The temp that it opens will lower initial (5 - 10 minute) running system temps but unless the rad can keep it there when combined with ambient temps, and if you can't get rid of the heat - the overall system temp must go up till it reaches an equilibrium!

The s/hand voltage regulator for the gauges could be bad - they are 30 - 40 years old and are renowned for being flakey! I'm trying an electronic solid state replacement on mine but until the loom is finished I won't know if it works or not. Be interesting to see where the needle settles as i'm using a zetec which is designed to run hot ie. around 100 degrees

[Rally Pack 2000]

I believe the lower stat temp theory is bogus as you suspected. The temp that it opens will lower initial (5 - 10 minute) running system temps but unless the rad can keep it there when combined with ambient temps, and if you can't get rid of the heat - the overall system temp must go up till it reaches an equilibrium!

The s/hand voltage regulator for the gauges could be bad - they are 30 - 40 years old and are renowned for being flakey! I'm trying an electronic solid state replacement on mine but until the loom is finished I won't if it works or not. Be interesting to see where the needle settles as i'm using a zetec which is designed to run hot ie. around 100 degrees

 

That was an option put to me to rebuild the regulator with a solid state component. But the instrument guy didnt have a clue what voltage the gauges even were, he claimed they were 10 volts or something and that both gauges had burnt out because they took the full 12 volts. I didnt think that possible as the fuel gauge was working but could never read to full. rRather than let him rewind both gauges at considerable expense a friend game me a replacement regulator for free. I tried it and both gauges sprung back to life. The fuel one does read full now when I fill the tank. Arent these gauges 5 volt or something? Was that the voltage of the solid state bit you have used?

[HotRodMatt]

Here's the regulator/stabiliser I used on my Mk1 after the original failed. Works fine.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=380954988585&alt=web

[Vista]

Yes, they're 5 volt

[Rally Pack 2000]

Yes, they're 5 volt

 

Thanks. The fact that the fuel gauge now reads correct when full (where before it would only go to three quarters) while the temp gauge reads slightly hot wouldnt that suggest the replacement regulator may be working ok and that temp gauge is in error?

 

Can anyone say what the correct operating temperature for a Pinto engine is?

[Vista]

Possibly but I have also heard of aftermarket sender units giving suspect readings too. What is the outlet temperature of the water from the block before it enters the rad when it's reading 2/3 on the gauge? Do you have an infrared gun or other means of measuring it?

[Rally Pack 2000]

Possibly but I have also heard of aftermarket sender units giving suspect readings too. What is the outlet temperature of the water from the block before it enters the rad when it's reading 2/3 on the gauge? Do you have an infrared gun or other means of measuring it?

 

I dont have anyway of measuring it sorry. I was thinking of trying one of those caps mentioned about if i can find out what temp im meant to be achieving.