1971 Kaiser runs hot

[Lenny]

We got this truck last Winter and have been working on it the last few months. So it hadn't really been driven much.

This Spring we got it out on the toad and noticed that it was running up around 220 after going up and down some hills for a few miles. I drained the old antifreeze, which looked pretty rusty and dirty, flushed the engine, and as a test refilled with clean water. I also pulled the thermostat and checked it in hot water and it checked OK. So I decided to leave it out for awhile to see what happens. The past few weeks idling it in the yard while working on it it was running around 165.

Today we had a couple of trees to cut and winch into the woods so we took it on a job. It was a hot day and the work necessitated idling, sometimes for 20 minutes at a time. I noticed the once again the temperature started rising . More than once it climbed to almost 200 degrees before I shut it down.

I felt the radiator and the top three inches was a little bit warmer than he lower section but not by much. The core wasn't excessively hot, there was pressure, and it was full. Does anyone have an ideas?Thnks,
Lenny

 

[pjwest03]

Check this thread out:

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?31977-Deuce-overheating-help

A lot of good info. The best process is to first confirm the temperature with an IR thermometer or another method. Check the temp at the radiator tanks and the thermostat housing.

 

[Wildchild467]

A deuce is supposed to run at 180. Now, some LDS engines were equipped with a 165 degree thermostat, but I do not think this is the case with yours.

First step is to do like PJ suggested, confirm the temperature with an IR thermometer. If your result is close to the same as what your gauge on the gash reads, then I would go after your thermostat. Before you drain the water out of the engine, start it up and let it run/drive it a bit to get the water all stirred up before you drain it. This will help remove more sediments and such from the cooling system. If the drains drain slowly, you might want to consider pulling them out or cleaning them so they drain faster. Faster the drain, the more sediment that will probably come out. Change your thermostat and check your results again. it should come up to 180 and stop there. yes, on hot days, it will get a pinch hotter but shouldn't be over 200. It was hot here in Michigan last week and my temperature was about 190 driving down the highway. I wasn't concerned. be sure to let your truck idle for a while before you shut it down. it allows the turbo to cool and helps the bearings in the turbo.

I used to live in Chenango Bridge (my parents) and then bought a house in the Town of Maine. I moved out here to Michigan 2.5 years ago. I bet somehow, some way I know you or know abouts where your house is or drove by it, etc... like it would be like, "oh you are the guy that has the construction company there" or "you are the guy that has the 69 Camaro"... its s small town and it feels like you know everybody in the car/truck hobby after a while. haha! Let me know if I can further help. I wish I was there to help you work on it, they are not too bad to work on if you do your research before the project. There is a lot of good information in the manuals for these trucks and provides a vision to see what a small project like this entails. sometimes its straight forward, sometimes its a little more in depth where its nice to have extra information.

Happy New Deuce

~Tom

 

[Lenny]

Thanks very much for the great suggestions guys and PJ for the link to the older post. There is a lot of useful information there. And with the temperature to resistance conversion chart now I can test the integrity of both the gauge and sender as well.My son is also lending me his IR temperature gun and I plan to verify the block temp too. Wouldn't it be nice if there really is no problem and all I need is a new sender? I'll report back as soon as I complete those tests. Lenny

 

[cattlerepairman]

Yes, please post temperatures measured vs. temperature indicated on truck gauge!

 

[gimpyrobb]

Pull the rad and fill it with some CLR, or better yet, take it to a shop and have it rodded/boiled/hot tanked.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

June 18th, 2016.


You may want to be very, very careful about how you flush your truck's radiator. I did my deuce and a half in Texas even though it behaved for me. Had a deuce mechanic flush it, and on the way back I lost more antifreeze then you could imagine. What happened was that the crud blocking all the cracks in the brass radiator went in the flush, and the truck then lost fluid at a rate little to be imagined. As it is a "Bucket Tank" radiator, the cores are no longer made to repair this unit. Long & short, I was lucky to find a new brass radiator and had it installed, no problems with heat after that, but it did bite me for about $650.00. At least the old radiator earned me about $250 to 300.00 for scrap.

 

[m109a2]

The fuel and temp gauges on my deuce are bald face liars.Al

 

[Lenny]

I had intended to work on the truck today so I took it out for a short ride to get it warmed up so that I could do my testing. On the trip out I had one decent hill and the rest was downhill from there. When I arrived at my destination the gauge was reading just under 200F. On the trip back it was more challenging with the last mile pushing a reading of 220F. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to make it when I finally pulled in to my driveway. I popped the hood and quickly hit it with the laser thermometer. I hit the thermostat area, the freeze plug on the side of the engine, the valve cover and various other areas as well. To my utter relief the readings were all 160 +/- 5 degrees F. I double checked the gauge and noted a reading of just under 220.
.
Now I'll have to try it again with the thermostat in but I'm still a bit a ways from that. Of course it will depend on what happens when the thermostat goes back in but at least now it's a pretty good bet that I don't have a cooling system problem.

The next thing I did was check the sender resistance against the chart I found in the other thread. The chart was as follows:

TEMP (F) SENDER RESISTANCE (ohms)
120 2360
160 1220
180 917

These are the values I obtained from the truck:

TEMPERATURE, (as obtained from laser meter) READING ON TRUCK GAUGE SENDER RESISTANCE
142 160 1780
121 158 (?) 2315

I couldn't check 180 degrees as the engine apparently never got up beyond 160.
I could pull the sender out and check it in water but it may not come to that. I don't understand the 158 reading with the engine temperature at 121 degrees though, especially since the sender resistance changed, and almost made it to the chart resistance of 2360.

The next thing I did was make up three resistances equal to the three chart values. I disconnected the sender and substituted each resistor one at a time and read the truck gauge for each one. The results are as follows:

SUBSTITUTE RESISTOR FOR SENDER TRUCK GAUGE READING SHOULD BE
2360 140 120
1220 190 160
917 220 180

Since this last chart takes the sender out of the equation and since the previous sender resistance readings at the two engine temperatures that I was able to check seemed to be close to the original chart this now seems to point to the gauge. I pulled the gauge and put it on the bench. I ran DC voltage into it until it indicated full scale deflection (240). The voltage across the gauge was 9.65 volts. I tested the gauge at various voltages with the results as follows:

VOLTAGE ACROSS GAUGE READING
9.65 240
7.06 200
5.27 160
3.35 120

The above table was extrapolated from my assumptions that this gauge is apparently a ten volt DC meter. The voltage across the meter changes proportionally with the change in sender resistance caused by change in engine temperature. With variables possible at both the gauge as well as the sender this measurement method seems to leave a lot desired though. I hope this information may help others with similar problems. In the meantime can anyone confirm any specs on the gauge? That would really helpme a lot. I think that this is what I need, but these are expensive and so I really don't want to shotgun this. It was made by Faria corp of Connecticut. The numbers on it are:
MS 24543-2
4335351
4060-5-140D

Thanks, Lenny

 

[603hellmutt]

Very good write up, i found a few of the guages on a popular auction site for very reasonable money ~$50. Best of luck to you from a local.

 

[Kaiser67M715]

I have never been a fan of electric gauges, So I like to run mechanical, I currently have a mechanical water gauge, working on getting a mechanical oil pressure gauge. I still like to keep things stock, especially on military vehicles, but it is always nice to see something off, then double check it across something you know would be right, so you can just look at it later and not pull off the side of the road because you thought something was wrong.

where about NH you located?

 

[Wildchild467]

Make sure your grounds are good too. I daisy chained all the gauges on my dash and then installed a connector that took that to the ground of the cab. Bad grounds can cause some weird stuff too.

 

[Lenny]

Sorry Kaiser I didn't see your question until now. I'm in Chester which is just South of Manchester.Where are you? Lenny

 

[Kaiser67M715]

I'm in Troy, south of Keene


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[Lenny]

Will you be going to Weare next month.

 

[Kaiser67M715]

Yes, I plan on bringing my deuce and my dad is bringing his '48 CJ2A


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[Lenny]

Hopefully I'll see you there. My deuce (if it's ready for the trip) is
(poorly) painted in camo, The previous owner was a real hack, has a
winch, and also a tan soft top. I may also bring my PRC77 along for
the ride. Best regards, Lenny