Well, I think I've finally figured out my "overheating problem". For a
while now I've been trying to solve this problem. There were many
factors that confused the heck out of me. Here's the short version:
Turns out that before I had the head fixed, the car did overheat and
push water out so I thought the temp gauge was right. I replaced the
water pump, re-cored the radiator, new 160 thermostat, new temp sending
unit, new gauge volatge regulator, new hoses, and replaced the head with
a re-conditioned head from Smitty's. After replacing the head, I still
saw the gauge read as being hot. Well, a couple of things made me
wonder. The car did not push water out or boil over, and touching the
radiator when the gauge read hot did not burn my hands. I saw water
circulating through the radiator when warmed which meant that the
thermostat was working. I had decided to pull the pump and check for one
of those plastic impellors thinking that the water was not circulating
sufficiently and I was also thinking to go to a 3 core radiator. But I
still had a question as to the accuracy of the gauge so I bought a
mechanical (bulb type) gauge and installed it right at the water pump
fitting where the heater core usually connects. To my surprise, the new
gauge did not get past 185F while idling in the garage for about an hour
and the Lucas gauge was reading about 115C. In fact, while driving, the
new gauge drops to about 145-150, of course this is at night when the
air temp is low so I'll have to try it this weekend during the daytime
when the temp is higher. This made me very happy :)
I'm trying to troubleshoot the original gauge. I checked the voltage
regulator for the temp/fuel gauges and it' supposed to read 10V but I
can't get a steady reading out of it. I jumps between 6-12 volts while
the car is running. Is that right? Shouldn't it be reading a steady 10V?
Since this is recently new, I wonder if it is working correctly. Any one
out there with Series V that could check regulator?
In addition to the above problems, I also found a cracked vacuum booster
hose that prevented the engine to idle smoothly below 1000 rpm.
Life is good!
-- Sergio 1967 Sunbeam Alpine Series V 'AJNT 86' still working on it but getting closer!
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