overheating

The Pantera NEEDS the bipass hole in the water pump. It will be ok on a Mustang but the Pantera system doesn't tolerate it.

What year car is this and what radiator in it?

You need the L radiator with the divided tanks.

If this is an early car, make sure the lower hose has the updated kit to it. The original tends to kink and cause flow problems.

Do you know the history of the engine? It is possible that you have a drag racing block in there where they used the block cement to close up the water passages to strengthen the block.

If you are sure that the cooling system is all ok, then it might just be that there is an internal engine problem?

Hope it's all a simple fix for you. Good luck.

Sucker Fans belong on the backside of the radiator. Fans mounted on the front side need to be Pushers.

Have you had the radiator out of the car & cleaned (rodded)by a radiator shop. If original, it could be plugged up.

What fans are you using?

Thanks a million guys, pantera doug it is a 71 pushbutton with a fim forcellini rad, 1973 pantera: that is what i thought but the inlet and outlet are in the middle on right side of rad, Indy dave what is rodded actualy


#1154

Sounds like you have the '71 overheating blues?

Those cars are notorious for this.

The stock Pantera L radiator is fine if it is in good working condition.

The L radiator had the intake tanks separated internally to create a cross flow radiator. It modifies the stock radiator so that the top half is the intake and the lower is the exhaust.

Stock '71 does not have that separation and puts the intake and exhaust into the same tank. It needs to be modified to the L configuration. Any radiator shop can do this for you. It is not rocket science.

You probably have the stock '71 gooseneck connection to the water pump also. That had a factory (dealer) recall on it to modify it.

The original had just a hose that tends to kink and block the flow.

The recall puts a small goose neck pipe in the system there.

You also probably have the original four blade radiator fans? Those were changed to 8 blade fans for more air flow.

Some of the early cars also have a manual switch to turn on the fans. The later cars come on automatically when the coolant in the radiator reaches preset levels.

This is ALL early Pantera issue stuff that was all corrected with the L models.

You can debate all that you want to over what the thermostat should be. I put a 160 in. It is not going to compound your cooling issues. It will give you a little more leeway with the system.

"Those that refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it!" - Winston Churchill.

Winston was a cool guy, he didn't look like it but he liked his cigars as I do

Rodding is using flat rods to push out the material that is clogging the tubes. Done by hand, cleans out the tubes.

Doug brings up a good point, the 71 tank needs to be converted.

Totally agree with the other diagnosis on the 71 radiator issues. You can confirm what it is by using a laser infrared sensor to diagnose what is going on with your 71 radiator. Should be hotter at one tube and cooler at the other tube with a definite heat pattern to the radiator as well. If most of the core is cool, this is bad and an issue with the splitting of the radiator areas internally.

The other thing you could check is if you have a cracked cylinder head or a failed head gasket that is pressurizing the cooling system. There is a sensor that measures carbon monoxide in the engine coolant. I don't know what it's called, but this special sensor will detect carbon monoxide in the engine coolant.

Best of luck!!!!!

Mark

Thanks Mark, greetings Urbain