225 Dauntless V6 Cooling Problems

That is kind-of the same place I have my engine oil cooler mounted on my 3B but it is directly under the radiator and covered by the same shroud. Not sure that would suffice for a transmission cooler but it is a 16 pass unit and probably wouldn't work with the stock cross member or a Ross steering system. FlowKooler water pumps do work really well. If you haven't already tried it, also add a bottle of water wetter to the system. That stuff actually works.

 

X2 on what duffer said.......

 

Check that your vacuum advance is working by pulling a vacuum on it. If possible, borrow someones timing light or get a cheapy from HF.
I had a new one that did crazy things. Too late to return and the cost of repair and shipping was close to the price of new. Now I have a
spare bulb and cord. I could not see the timing mark with the new light until I turned the distributor. That is how bad it was. If I advanced
the original light it would go retarded yet put vacuum on the advance and it would show advance. Gotta love the foreign stuff. I can still
remember when we said that about Japan. Need to check and recheck everything these days and compare with a known good light.

 

I could be all wet, but have you verified that your mechanical fan is actually *pulling* fresh air, rather than pushing hot engine bay air? I don't know why, but when I look at the picture, it just looks to me like the fan blades are oriented the wrong direction.

Like I said, I could be crazy and just have my glasses on upside down or something.

 

210f... If it is boiling over you have a pressure cap or head gasket issue.

A generic internet search for "normal engine coolant temperature" doesn't show much concern on an Iron head iron block engine until 220f-230f


My 4.3 did this about a dozen times before I went to TBI with overdrive accessory pulleys. Of those it only actually boiled three times. Iron block and head v6 are some of the most tolerant to heat due to the lower expansion rate of the material compared to aluminum and the surfaces aren't very large in any one plane to distort much. If this was a straight 6 with aluminumium heads it would be a problem.
20200301_144110 by Joe with a jeep, on Flickr

 

Looks fine to me, serpentine fans spin the other way

 

I looked at that too, and it is correct. Flat side of blade down is the direction it turns. I like to use the stock temp gauge and a mechanical to
back up the readings. Oil pressure gauge to back up the idiot light. Summit lists tons of trans coolers. Passive and fan operated. Jeeps are limited
for space though.

 

I verified everything stated above. Fan is spinning correctly, advance is good, mechanical and vacuum. Keep in mind, my temp problem is only when the trans gets hot. I have a trans temp gage also.

I'm worried about a head gasket leak so I'm keeping an eye on the coolant level. My experience and something I have witnessed in the past is that you can have a pin hole headgasket leak between cyl. and coolant passage. Pressure from combustion will pressurize cooling system and push coolant out of the system and result in bubbling at all temps. This causes a lot of bubbling and coolant gets dirty quick. I'm not seeing this.

 

This might be a quick 'No F-ing way' idea but here it is.
Temporarily relocate the trans. cooler someplace like the passenger floorboard or the roll bar. The idea is to get the cooler completely out of the airflow equation. You mentioned relocating the cooler if you're relocating it, do it far enough to know that it is or isn’t the problem. If this stops the overheating issue then the chore is only to locate the cooler, if the problem persists but the cooler back (it isn't the problem) and continue the search.

 

I agree with NickG
I would actually move the trans cooler, that PA speaker and the pusher fan, then give it a try.
You shouldn't need the pusher fan with that radiator, shroud and fan.

 

That's an F-ing YES way idea. I'm all in. I need to pull that stupid PA out also. I have a feeling it's going to work. I need to get some long hoses but I think trans is low pressure so I could use just about anything.

 

Can you rotate the trans cooler away from the radiator? Like tie it up against the side of the grille shell, almost as if it were slid in through one of the slots in the grille?

 

Unfortunately I need to unbolt it and the only way is to remove the radiator.

 

Fixed!!!!!

Moved the trans cooler and problem solved. Crawled up a valley in the desert where it would normally temp would quickly climb and I'd have to let it cool. Trans hit just over 200 and engine never went past 190.

Set my dwell and timing to dial it all in. Here's my cooler location. Going to put a fan below Trans cooler.

When the desert hits 100+ we'll see how it does.

 

New location on jeep. Drilled and tapped winch plate and welded in a couple bolts to mount it. I'm going to add a small electric fan also.

 

Whoohoo! Nice solution.

 

Perfect!
Come play on the Rubicon with us!

 

Definitely on my bucket list. I live on the edge of a popular desert spot so I stay really busy with my dirt bikes.

 

Wow, I wouldn't think that trans cooler would make that big of a difference! Good job finding it!

 

I was going to say to try a larger diameter fan blade that comes a lot closer to the fan shroud. You wouldn’t believe how much more air gets pulled through the radiator when the fan has 1/2” or less clearance to the shroud.
-Donny