I was in my garage and found a GT40! It is one I have owned for some 17 years, but rarely drive. I made my mind up to change that this coming year and decided to move it to another outbuilding where I will see it more often and give it the attention it deserves. Basically a "barn find" in need of love. It is a SPF with Roush carb'd 427.
I got it to start, run, and to idle (it had been months since the last startup). While watching the coolant temp it took a little while to register (a normal amount of time as I remember it), then it started it's normal "slow-ish" climb rate. As it approached 70c it rapidly climbed to 90c within a few seconds (way faster than it should from my memory). I reached for the fan switch and the fans had no affect, so I shut it down. I waited, while doing other things, and tried again with same result. The temp needle again rose rapidly to 90c in a few sesconds, so I shut it down. I left to do other things and came back...the engine is warm, I can see coolant in the expansion tank, but the radiator is stone cold. I am thinking thermostat is stuck shut and/or maybe there is air in the system causing the temp gauge to act this way.
I was hoping, based on my limited experience with such things (my other play cars are aircooled), I thought I would ask for some suggestions on the proper approach to diagnose and sort this out. I see the thermostat is behind the seat and could be reached through that bulkhead panel, but if I am just dealing with air in the system, I am hoping there is an easier solution.
Your help would be appreciated!
Mike
I got it to start, run, and to idle (it had been months since the last startup). While watching the coolant temp it took a little while to register (a normal amount of time as I remember it), then it started it's normal "slow-ish" climb rate. As it approached 70c it rapidly climbed to 90c within a few seconds (way faster than it should from my memory). I reached for the fan switch and the fans had no affect, so I shut it down. I waited, while doing other things, and tried again with same result. The temp needle again rose rapidly to 90c in a few sesconds, so I shut it down. I left to do other things and came back...the engine is warm, I can see coolant in the expansion tank, but the radiator is stone cold. I am thinking thermostat is stuck shut and/or maybe there is air in the system causing the temp gauge to act this way.
I was hoping, based on my limited experience with such things (my other play cars are aircooled), I thought I would ask for some suggestions on the proper approach to diagnose and sort this out. I see the thermostat is behind the seat and could be reached through that bulkhead panel, but if I am just dealing with air in the system, I am hoping there is an easier solution.
Your help would be appreciated!
Mike