Thermostats

[rob love]

I found that years back the offshore produced thermostats were very late to open. On my jeeps, if I used a Canadian tire aftermarket thermostat, it would not open until almost 240, then drop down to the 180 mark. You might get away with that on a modern vehicle, but when you only have 7 pounds of pressure, you are hitting the boiling point at 240. A carrier is even less.

I had the same problems everyone is describing when I first ran my carrier. Even if idling, it would very quickly reach the overheat level. I had the rad cleaned, and also ran quarts of CLR into the block to try and remove some of the scaling. There are better products to remove the scaling, but you cannot use them with the water pumps in place as the harsher chemicals will destroy the pumps and possibly the head gaskets.

End of the day though, it all came down to having a fan as close to the radiator as possible, and having the shrouds in place. Because I am running an 8BA engine, I am not using the carrier generator. I managed to get a fan extension off a different Ford car or truck that worked out. It required a total manufacture of the shrouds though since the fan is in a different height than the carrier fan would be. I used the original shrouds as a pattern to make the replacement shrouds, and they worked perfectly and look the part.

I did try running without thermostats, and it did not make one shred of difference to the overheating. In the end, I think it really came down to the shrouds, and I now run 160° thermostats.

My rad cap is missing the guts to make it pressurize, so I am running without any pressure. Also, due to the climate here, I am running 60/40 antifreeze mix. Running stronger antifreeze mixes can also cause overheating, but I suspect that for most of the MLU guys on this thread, over-strength antifreeze is not an issue.

[Lynn Eades]

Rob, there is a guy stateside that makes a valve for a model a v8. (on Fordbarn forum) It connects to the overflow pipe and i think is adjustable. Or you could advertise to the Australian carrier guys on this forum for one of their valves, also adjustable.

[RichardT10829]

Thanks Phil, I have modern 160deg stats which I spun down, I did check them in the pan and both seemed to open at 160deg, reckon I will cycle them a few times though to be safe as you say !

[charlie fitton]

What Lynn said, and

if you are concerned about an airlock, drill a 1/16 or 1/8 " hole through the cap in a convenient position.

This will also allow a tiny bit of water to move about in the riser on the head.


f

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

Rob, there is a guy stateside that makes a valve for a model a v8. (on Fordbarn forum) It connects to the overflow pipe and i think is adjustable. Or you could advertise to the Australian carrier guys on this forum for one of their valves, also adjustable.

I think I am going to experiment with installing a cut down, low pressure, radiator cap off something else and installing it (or the guts from it) into the existing carrier cap. But since my carrier runs fine with no pressure, the project is not a high priority.

[Lynn Eades]

Charlie, if you look close, most thermostats have an air bleed, if not a hole, then a small notch. You do need to look close.
Rob, Thats a good thought on the pressure cap. With the advent of the small Japanese caps it should not be too hard. I hadn't thought of that.

Edit: Having now had a look, the standard sized cap is the likely donor.

[rob love]

Reallly, it comes down to creating a sealed seat that lifts off at a certain pressure. An adjusting screw built into it would enable it to be fine tuned. Of course, you also need a check valve of some design to prevent a vacuum from forming as it all cools down.

[andrew honychurch]

Not fitted and doesn't over heat at all. The T16 , and I guess all Carriers are not subject to running cold due to the enclosed nature of the engine and low natural air flow. I would rather have an engine take its time to warm up,, rather than over heat due to a 70 year old thermostat failing to open. No brainer.

[Lynn Eades]

Rob, All of that is of course incorparated in a modern cap. It might just require de riveting the cap part of an ordinary cap, and making a packer and gaskets to fill out the gap to the required spacing and setting up a jig with a pressure tester to check and adjust it.
Andrew, use a modern thermostat. Millions and millions of them are working perfectly everyday and if I recall correctly, Waxstats fail in the open position. The older style alchohol type bellow stats fail in the closed position. (these can cook an engine) As I said in a previous post; Thermostats are there for a reason. They often get the blame for cooling system problems, which are usually the result of other areas of neglect.