When the engine is warmed-up (20 minutes of normal driving 85 deg outside temperature) the engine temperature hovers around 230 F. A couple of days ago it overheated just as I parked in the garage. It lost about a pint of 50/50 mix through the rad cap. My 5.0 liter ford belt configuration was modified due to a/c and power steering delete. A smaller serpentine belt was chosen. As a result of the delete process, the belt provided minimal contact around the water pump pulley - less than 1/4 contact. I'm thinking that the belt was slipping and caused the overheating so today I added an idler pulley where the power steering was. The belt now wraps around the pulley by at least 1/3 the circumference.
I drove the car for 30 minutes and although no slippage was detected, the temperature reached 230 F but did not overheat. Not sure if there is much more I can do to bring the temp down another 20 degrees.
The rad is completely filled to the top and the thermostat was replaced last summer. I believe it's rated to open at 195 F.
The electric fan is working well.
What do you think might be happening? Could I have a defective thermostat? Rad capacity issue, although I would not think so because these combos are tried and true from RPM?
I drove the car for 30 minutes and although no slippage was detected, the temperature reached 230 F but did not overheat. Not sure if there is much more I can do to bring the temp down another 20 degrees.
The rad is completely filled to the top and the thermostat was replaced last summer. I believe it's rated to open at 195 F.
The electric fan is working well.
What do you think might be happening? Could I have a defective thermostat? Rad capacity issue, although I would not think so because these combos are tried and true from RPM?