Mustang Parts Talk/ Road Trip? Check you rides cooling system.

I can’t tell you the embarrassment I’ve felt  when on a long road trip, and having major overheating problems.  Fortunately for me this only happened once. Taking my 85′ T-Bird on a long road trip to Oregon back in 97′, and Whoosh!! All of my radiator coolant comes vomiting out of my overflow tank. My bad. I didn’t take the time to do the simple job of inspecting  my cars cooling system before a long road trip. Especially one that involves high altitude in the mountains (also the middle of July doesn’t help either.) Yes, the car was a Thunderbird, but this reigns true, T-bird, or Mustang.

Always make sure your hoses, including heater core hoses, and water pump to engine hoses are in tip top shape. No cracks, no bulging, or squishy hoses either. Those are the enemys of a properly  running cooling system. Also depending on weather you ride has the 5.0 pushrod V8, or the more refined 4.6 electronically controlled modular V8. With a motor that has a mechanical fan, and a fan clutch, you want your temp guage to remain around the quarter mark pretty much most of the time, with the exception of the AC running, a little higher up on the guage is OK.

With the 4.6 V8 however, it’s okay to have the guage needle right around the middle mark. In the case of the 4.6 Litre, it should have an electric fan, so the colling remains a little more constant. Even with the AC on, that needle should remain in the middle. Remember that a cold engine, or an overheating engine is not a happy engine,  a engine running at normal operating tempeture is.

Another thing to do is check your coolant. Make sure that the antifreeze your using is still got it’s strength. Whenever possible, you want to use distilled water when doing a 50/50 racio of coolant, and water. Tap water has minerals in it  that can slowly eat away at the radiator, and cause corrosion. Your water pump should not be dripping out of the “weep hole” which is located under trhe pump. (sign that your bearings in the pump are going out) Aso a thing overlooked too often is the thermostat. When in doubt, replace it. Before your trip, if your car has had cooling issues prior to your trip, you can put the thermostat in boiling water on your stove top, and see if it retracts. If it does, it’s fine, if not get a new one. They might run you $10 to $25 depending on where you go.

This is just my take, and experience on the subject. Maybe you’ve had a different one, but taking these precautons sure beats being stuck on the side of the road. ( on the way to OR, 3 times, on the way back, 5) If you do plan to take your Mustang on a trip of 200 miles or more, remember, don’t fix it if it ain’t broke, and just take a little time in this area to make sure you get to your long destination in a timley matter.

-Simon Black

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