Hello All
Fairly New to the forum, been reading it for some time..
I have a FE Holden which I have just registered (Club rego) in the NT, was last registered in 1975 in SA. An FE was my first car in 1970.
It's in primarily original condition with original engine etc. Body could do with a repaint...that will happen in time.
The engine sound good and runs well....except...
My concern at the moment is overheating.
Ok at under 70kl/h for a long time but once I get to 80kl/h it starts to get hot and keep on rising..
I have searched the forum a bit but hard to collate all the past ideas, so without going over all stuff>>>..
The original "idiot" light comes on around (mounted on the manifold area) the same time as the VDO temp gauge (was already in the car when I got it and the sensor is taken from the thermostat housing before the thermostat) shows 220ish F. So, both are around right I assume.
I installed an Engine Guard system connected to a bolt on the front of the engine block, before the main thermostat housing, it is a bit slower to read temp but agrees with the other two.
I check temps with a temp gun, and they seem to be reading within 30F (4C)
I have changed / looked at / checked the following: -
New radiator, new thermostat (160), flushed the engine clean (was very black and thick originally), new/recon water pump, checked fan belt tension, checked timing, wired the exhaust / carby flappy thing open, recon carby so mixture/idle ok.
So, I have run out of ideas.
Any other leads would be appreciated please.
Thanks
Alan.
G'Day Allan
I have a couple of things to keep in mind and a couple of things to check. Firstly, grey motors are known to sludge up, especially around cylinder 5 and 6. If you hunt down the modified head gasket thread you will also find that there is a mod that can be done to rectify flow around this area. So with this in the back of your mind - there are a couple of more chack you can do. The first is to verify the timing curve (not just the static timing) as the timing may be retarded at at "cruise" speed because the distributor weights are bound up. The other is to confirm, through inspection of the plugs, that you aren't runing lean at cruise speeds.
If you are confident that the timing is correct and it has the right fuel the next step is to pull the donk and rip out the welch plugs and really get into the water jackets. Replacing the welch plugs is probablu good insurance anyway. If you see my latest posts on my ute rebuild you will see what I found when i filled the old donk with water for the first time - fortunately the donk was already out and on the test bed when it happened.
I trust this helps. Best of luck in your search for a solution.
Cheers n Beers
Jolls
Grey motors are renowned for sludge build up , the original design even when new and everything working ok it became evident that the water jacket and hence flow was the problem around No.5 cylinder ..that is why Harv went to the trouble of producing a modified head gasket to over come that problem ..when I rebuilt my engine a 1958 cast " L' engine , I was amazed how much rusty , slimy , crap came out , long bits of wire poking in and out where ever I could ,
the engine was out on a transport and just bare block and head off ..a pickle bath alone in my opinion is not enough , physical digging away every opening you can and pressure blaster and modified head gasket . clean up all water gallery openings top of block and opposing ones in head , the improved head gasket has some requirements to open some of the galleries ,brass welch plugs , add good coolant ..or machining oil as they did back in the day ..Vern ..
Thank you guys.
Jolls.& Vern.. checked the static timing and it was close, then I used a timing light and got the idle timing spot on, gave it a few revs and the timing advanced, but really could far, so I am guessing it is close. But will check out the weights anyway, thanks.
Plugs look ok, all are the same colour and have a clean but not burnt look, mainly around town driving though.
I was hoping you guys would not say about removing the engine!!!!! But would say this is the only way to have it long term and really clean it out so will look at doing that in the near future.
Will chase down the modified Head gasket as well as i read that somewhere else and they had the same experience of the gasket.
When I first "flushed" the engine, very black grimy sludgy shit came out, I kept on flushing it and was around the 4th time it started to come out "cleanish"...but had not been run properly for many years, so reckon more is there as you guys say, so sort of backs up you guys....
Thanks again, a few things to buy for the "tear down and build up again" process...At least I have a block n tackle and an engine stand......An extra engine and gearbox came with the car,, hmmm could look at that first hmmmm
Once done, will repost...
Hi Alan,
Best way to check the plugs for your overheating issue is to shut the engine down when the symptom occurs. Engage neutral, switch off ignition and coast to a halt. Do not let the engine run even st idle for more than a few seconds. Pull a plug on the side of the road to inspect. You may want to let the engine cool before you pull the plug which is fine, but if you run the engine you won’t get a genuine reading of the plugs. If it is running lean of course they will be white.
Cheers,
Clay
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Clay, will do for sure. I race classic bikes and do "plug chops" as an indicator, so will do similar.
All "good fun" for sure.
Thanks
Coupla thoughts:
My FC was a chronic overheater. The modified head gasket helped a lot, but a heavy-duty three-row radiator core was the magic ingredient. Expect to pay around $1000 for a three-row recore. You won't regret it. Just don't put an expensive recored radiator on an engine that still has sludge and scale in the water jackets.
It's not absolutely necessary to do an engine-out to clean all the gunk out of the water jackets. You can do it in place, but - you have to take the transmission cover, gearbox, clutch and flywheel off. Then you can remove the rear welch plug. And you'll be working inside the car with a Gerni . . . (Did this also, when I fixed the FC's slipping clutch).
Is your fan original FE? If so, replace it with an FB/EK/EJ fan.
Check your new water pump for correct clearance between pump body and impeller. Should be 0.008-0.015 by memory. (Fellow car club member had overheating troubles in his FX ute. Could not work it out. Finally measured impeller-to-body clearance. 70 thou. Water pump went into bin, replaced with one with correct clearance, no more overheating.)
And once you have cleaned the gunk out of your water jackets, go to Bunnings, buy a big bottle of Diggers Rust and Stain Remover. Warning: oxalic acid powder. Poisonous. Very effective bleach. Wear old clothes. Put a couple of cupfuls into the radiator, then fill with water. Take the car for a good drive. Drain the cooling system while hot. Repeat as often as needed until the cooling system stays clean.
Now you can put a three-row radiator core in.
Rob
Dunno about that ..If every thing is correct a stock cooling system should work ..maybe not on a 42deg day , but who is out and about any way ?
Hello All
Just some feedback to your suggestions.
I checked the water pump impeller gap, was 40thou, now down to 12 thou, made a significant difference to water flow and temp.
Flushed the engine (has a new radiator core) with oxalic acid, that really stirred things up, many flushes and now clear water come out, not to say that all the water ways are clear but did help.
Now running at around 70c around town, was going to 90-100c, stop at lights and it goes up a bit but goes down again to 68-70c.
Have not tried it out the road yet, only up to 80kph.
Bought a new head gasket, the modified one, so if what I have already done does not fix, the only thing left is that.
Although I could go to a three-core radiator suggested by the last post, and change the original fan blades. ( trying to put off the inevitable head gasket fix)
But yea, will do the engine removal path, me thinks if nothing else fixes it..
So, test on the open road tomorrow and then go from there.
Thanks all so far.
Alan
Best of luck with the open road test.
Mate. You may be ok ..rising temp when standing and then dropping again when moving is a good sign ..the system has the capacity to cool down again , which also means its working ,so that tells me you dont have a radiator cowling fitted , just standard radiator and fan ..when standing and idleing the fan only draws air roughly in a circle through the core equal to the diameter of the fan , then when you move air is forced through more of the core so temp drops ..a cowling going out to the edge of the core makes the fan air draw through most of the core so temp doesn't rise ..modern cars have that , or electric fans , and fan clutches , all to address the hot Australian conditions ..there are many stories told to grandkids by grandpa about being about an hour from home on way to holidays and multiple cars on side of the road boiling ..sound familiar ? ..only on summer holidays ..if in winter its a clogged up cooling system ..blokes using creek or dam water in their poor old boiling FJ , or Austin .. Vern .
Hello All
Three core radiator fitted, F/EK fan blades fitted, don't have the thermostat in at the moment so I can just concentrate on one change thing.
Went for a drive, at around 55mph for a while the temp only got to 62degrees. Got up to 70 at the light (not many in Darwin) but quickly went down to 60 again.
So, reckon for the moment all is good....Reckon adjusting the water pump impellor to 10 thou (from 40) was the main key, thanks to you guys. And probably the engine flush job....
Going to reinstall the thermostat (71degrees c - 160 degrees F) and see how it all goes...Don't think 60 degrees is good for too long??? But it was only 30 c here today.
Thanks again guys and forum...
Great to see that even after all these years, and with the dreaded Facebook doing its best to replace communities like this, the FE-FC Forum still comes through with the good oil for an enthusiast in need.
cheers
RET
Quote from: RET on March 24, 2026, 10:39:11 PM
Great to see that even after all these years, and with the dreaded Facebook doing its best to replace communities like this, the FE-FC Forum still comes through with the good oil for an enthusiast in need.
cheers
RET
Agree 1000% RET, Facebook and all the idiots on there will never replace forums such as these
Yep!
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Agree!!
I'm impressed!!!!!!