F-163 Overheating

Have you found out any more on your overheating problem? It may be worth taking out the thermostat and boiling it in a pot with a high heat thermometer to make sure it opens properly at the right temperature (I don't really trust cheap import thermostats). If the timing is too retarded you will also run into overheating. I've had two AC-40's and never had any overheating issues.

Water pump might not have any fins on it.  Sometimes rust just eats 'em up.

Did you turn the head gasket around so it may have blocked water flow. I am told it can be done to some of the old AC engines

It still sounds as the engine is air bound, you will need to add a vent valve before the thermostat to verify the block and head get full of coolant, AC put one on my 7G crawler engine to vent to confirm full to get coolant to move around. And no, just running a engine may not move the air pocket out, ask any Ford 7.3 owner, we also have to vent the system to get a complete fill.

I would also agree that the engine is air bound. I have a Jeep Comanche pickup with the 4L engine and it is really challenging to get the air out of the engine and circulating properly and it acts the same way. This may have been a problem in the past and may have caused your cracked combustion chambers. I helped my son change a water pump on a Dodge Caravan and it took forever to get rid of the airlock and circulating properly.

reported 3

If you have the thermostat "cap" off (where the upper rad hose goes on) and you see a tiny hole in the thermostat, that is there to let air escape to the top....if there is no tiny vent hole use the smallest drill bit you have and drill a hole in it. Beyond that you don't have to pull any plugs to fill the cooling system in order to get the air out. Once the engine runs for a few minutes turn it off and top up the radiator if it needs it.

There is a tap that comes off below the thermostat itself where coolant gets diverted to the propane regulator to heat the propane. Wouldn't that let the trapped air go back through the cooling system and be "burped" automatically? I have finally gotten a proper pump, getting another belt, drilled a hole in the thermostat as suggested, so should have a report soon and hope that its fixed. Anyone have a thought on electronic ignition replacing points and condensors?

Having to redo the gasket on the pump as it was set on slightly "cockeyed" before i got it. Thought sealer would work, was not the case as I proceeded to pump water in all directions. Now to disassemble and try again. Also, seems like the alternator has fried too. When it rains, it pours. Just go with a standard GM replacement or is there another winner?

razorsharp15 wrote: I did however, pull the block drain on the right side of the forklift and it was clogged. Cleaned it all out and now wondering where I should start for purging air from once I get the new pump installed.

I haven't worked on one of these forklifts, but the problem you've described vexed me on an engine a while ago... everything appeared to be perfect... and no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to cool.

Most older equipment was designed with the cooling system oriented so that air pockets couldn't appear in critical places... BUT...
There are areas where the manufacturer included passageways and holes that allowed air to exit upwards.

Since you found corrosion crud blocking a drain plug, I would be most suspicious of other places in the block having same problems.

The solution, is to drain the engine, yank the head, and anything else that grants you physical access to the block and head.  Get a piece of woven piano wire about two feet long, a coathanger, a bicycle spoke... a piece of a MORSE push-pull control cable... whatever you can find... (I use my old guitar and bass strings!) and chuck it in a cordless drill, and run it down every coolant orifice, through every passageway, and to every nook and cranny... every lower corner of every cylinder jacket... let it fray and scrub the crap out of everything. 

Next... hose the inside of the block out.  Yeah, you'll get water in the cylinders... it won't hurt anything, vacuum it out.  if there's oil passages through the head gasket interface, you'll have water in the crankcase... drain it out.  You'll see crud from the paleozoic area come out... rod it some more. keep rinsing and rodding 'till you're sure the water coming OUT is cleaner than what came IN.  Now rinse the radiator... flow water in backwards (opposite normal flow).  Set it on a table, and vibrate the table (sawzall with no blade, bench grinder with slightly chipped wheel, something like that), then rinse it again.

Then dry it out (shop-vac is your friend!) and put it back together, try it again, and either cuss, or cheer.

I doubt you'll have to cuss...

Well, that battle is over. New pump, new thermostat (with courtesy hole drilled), complete flush of the cooking system, and we have a solid system with no leaks and stays under 190 degrees.

I have also ordered the Pertronix electronic conversion for the distributor and a new coil for good measure.

The hydraulic pump on the tail end of the forklift has quite a whine. Should I be concerned? Still working on getting the brakes to function, solving a few hydraulic leaks. Also, does anyone know what the proper capacity of ATF for the transmission. I can't find a proper spec nor whether to check it while running or shut down.

But for now, its usable.

If air is getting sucked in somewhere, wouldn't fluid leech out where air was coming in? I am going to get several of the hoses changed as they are a bit old and the outer rubber is coming off. Could it just be a 30+ year old pump whining its last?

Is there a way to check for possible air in the system? Should I have the pump rebuilt (i.e. new seals, etc) and just eliminate that possibility? I do hope to make this unit bullet-resistant as it'll never be bulletproof.