Hi there,

Ok, I've got a EA falcon now, when i'm driving on the highway or in hot weather the temp goes up near the top, the thermo is newly installed.

The fans are spining, I've been told my radiator is 50% blocked?? wat i've described is this the reason for the heating problem?

So even if it's a very hot day the car should remain in the middle temp?

Cheers.

EA Series I or II? Series I I'd probably go straight to second step.

My guess is do a radiator flush. Not too hard, just need a spare day and a whole lotta coolant.

If that doesn't work, get an aftermarket radiator. I've got one in my series I and it's excellent. The car has never seen the hotter side of 50%.

That's my guess. Ask others, I'm still a pretty big n00b when it comes to helping people.

How many km's are on it? you may need to do your water pump the impeller is probably rusted to s**t and aint pumping much anymore! pull your radiator out... you'll need to anyway and throw a hose in the top hole on full bore and see how the flow is out the bottom hole, if it flows good then id say its water pump.

If you've been told by a reliable source your rads. half useless, change it. A flush will probably not fix it enough, it's too far gone. Take it out and try flushing with mains pressure water if you like, at the same time clean the usual debris out from behind the aircon condenser. Do not aim high powered water at the fins on either the condenser or readiator, they'll bend very easily, blocking airflow. also as FLASH says, replace your water pump. I recently pulled 2 water pumps, both working, from EB2s. One had 116k klms and the other 268k klms, both were nearly rusted out and I could not re-use them. It's the years, not the klms that got them so bad.
Less than $50 per [new] pump and from $50-$300 for a radiator depending on what you want to buy. A good flowing used rad. could still have many years left in it, just make sure the seller checks the flow in front of you. If you've already got thermo fans and your temps that high then do the above ASAP and get the temps Airved and many of us are getting.
Cheers,
Paul

Nice. Paul corrected me, but didn't make me look too much like I know nothing

You could try the thermostat first...cheaper option?

I agree with the water pump, it's pretty much an old car and rust will take the better of it over a long time.

If you get a garden hose and flush the radiator, after you removed it, to check the flow, if it flows well...I say it could be still in good condition to use. Though if you have the money, get a new one.

phong =P~

Airved,
You got it pretty right, only no need to use coolant and radflush etc wont help this blockage much.
It's just that if 50% of an older radiator is blocked even a professional steam or chemical clean will probably not clear it all. That could easily cost as much as a replacement. As for flow results, even a 50% radiator seems to flow well to the unpracticed eye, with a mains hose jammed in it.
The old fashioned way is to block all outlets and fill the rad from the top. Remove hose then remove the bottom most plug and watch how fast it drains with gravity, ideally catching all the outflow, measure it and compare to the capacity of a new radiator.
We know the answer as Dorian tells us his rad. is 50% blocked and he has a new t/stat etc, Try flushing it, yes, but don't expect good results as the years of crap inside it has probably set like concrete. Some PO probably used tap water not coolant and allowed the scale and impurities to set.
Cheapest, quickest option is therefore to replace the radiator and the wisest is to replace the waterpump as well, both of which can be done at home, saving $$$$.
Once a cars been running hot all the hard to get at hoses should be carefully checked for swelling, it's always the hidden bastards that'll catch you out, like the ones under the battery box and inlet manifold.
Cheers mate, good luck Dorian,
Paul

Thankyou Paul and everyone. Cheers.

oh I thought he was talking about thermos, not thermostat...my bad. Good luck dorian_delorean.

phong =P~

coolant system needs flushing and top tank needs removing and the core cleaned out as this will be blocked.

easy way to check for a blocked radiator, is when the engines hot, and u have access, carefully feel the radiator face at different spots. A blocked section stands out a mile in temperature feel. if it is blocked trying to flush it urself does nothing. i was quoted $150 to get my radiator pulled apart and cleaned. $200 for a new one from repco. i picked the latter. when my ED kept overheating like urs, i changed the water pump, and thermostat as well. the car has 150K on it so it didn't hurt. after i replaced everything, my temp gauge when warming up in the morning used to go to 3/4 hot. then drop back down to normal temp. my mate is a ford tech and to fix the problem remove the bypass pin on ur thermosat, so it allows more coolant passing thru when its shut. this stopped that temp "spike" on start up. he said it was a common problem for the early fords.