Engine: Temperature Gauge Creep - has anyone experienced this?

[HissingElf]

Good morning.

With the 63 Lark v8, I experience slow temperature gauge creep towards the "H" when sitting in traffic or even the fast-food drive in. The thermostat must be working because the car heats up normally, and also doesn't overheat like it would if the thermostat was broken. I believe I have enough coolant, and there are no leaks.
And when i start driving again, the needle slowly creeps back to the midpoint between "C" and "H".

Thanks to any and all out there who respond to this.

Best,
Chris
(Sparrows Point, MD)

[JWL4541]

Recommend checking ignition timing and distributor vacuum chamber. Retarded timing and/or a leaking chamber can cause the condition you describe.

(o[]o)

[karterfred88]

Sounds like insufficient flow over the radiator fins, or through the radiator cores, it is partially clogged up, when moving there is enough air flow, but sitting still not enough. Might try back flushing the radiator and block at a competent, old school, radiator shop still in business. What you describe is simply marginal cooling ability of the cooling system. Flowing the coolant better in the radiator and making sure air flows through it should fix the potential for overheating. Remember these cars were marginal new, in most cases, add 50 years of gunk and todays driving conditions and the problems start to show up. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[52hawk]

Google: "Studebaker engine block crud".

[WCP]

Your car sounds normal to me. At normal idle, the temp. will rise in hot weather or on hot pavement. Just increasing the idle speed with a little foot pressure should bring the coolant temp. back down, if it bothers you. There is nothing wrong with an engine running at an elevated temperature, as long as boiling and coolant loss doesn't happen.

[Bordeaux Daytona]

Google: "Studebaker engine block crud".

Yep. Sounds like my 64. Knocked out the core plugs and flushed it out. Full of crud. Even found a wire with a stamped nut on the end. Must have been part of the core. Much better now.

[jackb]

does your temp gage read "high" on speeds >60mph ?

[T.J lavallee]

When in doubt flush it out. There are screw out drain plugs in the lower rear sides of your engines block. Remove them and continue to flush the system. You'll be amazed at how much debris has collected over the years in that area. You can also insert some mechanics wire into the passage to try to dislodge even more rust and scale. The engine sits lower in the rear than in the front resulting in this condition. This collection of debris will greatly interfere with engine cooling. In any event this effort is well worthwhile and inexpensive. If this doesn't solve your immediate problem you can then go deeper into the radiator. Check your timing as suggested in post #2 as well. Best of luck!

[SN-60]

Sounds like a ground problem at the gauge.

[6hk71400]

In Arizona, this is a common occurrence. The last time I experienced this was in July, lead driving in a funeral procession in Flagstaff doing about 10 mph in the middle of town. The car did not boil over or spit any coolant out but with todays gas it did vapor lock. Cooled down and drove it back. It was not my car so cannot comment about the condition of the block. It was a completely original car.

What is the pressure of your radiator cap? Lower pressure means lower temperature boiling point. Use the recommended pressure cap for your car. Another trick is to open the climatizer valve to get more coolant flowing. It works but usually in Arizona, it would be a sauna in the car in short order.

Bob Miles
Tucson AZ

[345 DeSoto]

My other car does this slightly. Never over heats, though...

[StudeRich]

/Cut/ Another trick is to open the climitizer valve to get more coolant flowing. It works but usually in Arizona, it would be a sauna in the car in short order.
Bob Miles Tucson AZ

The way you lessen the "too hot in the Car condition" is to Close your Right Air Flapper Valve or Fender Door to lessen the amount of hot Air coming in.

[6hk71400]

I usually have the right valve closed in Arizona. When I drove a 61 Cruiser back to Indiana in December, I forgot that until after I got to St Louis and opened the right valve to get heat going back in. It was a cold drive across Missouri in December when we are used to 75 degrees during the daytime in Arizona.

With the 55, I usually crack open the door to circulate more are. Oh wait one of my 55 built in Vernon came without the Climitizer. I also noticed that on the 47 Champion that I looked into getting did not have a Climitizer either and that car was built in South Bend. A previous owner of that car put an electric fan at the front of the radiator since it had been converted to 12 volt. I don't know if that car had a overheating problem.

Bob Miles
Tucson AZ

Bob Miles

[jclary]

Great suggestions, and many are given by folks having past experience with solutions that worked for them. Unless I missed it, I have not seen anyone mention engine "idle" rpm. On my six cylinder truck, I have a hand throttle. I use it for cold engine warm up, and have even used it for a poor man's cruise control on occasions where I have ventured into the flat lands where there are not many hills. Another benefit of a hand throttle, is that you can use it to adjust "idle speed" from inside the cab rather than the adjustment screw on the carburetor.

I have found that on very hot days, while in traffic, the temperature would creep up because I had the idle speed set too low for the fan to pull sufficient air through the radiator. In this situation, there is a "sweet spot," where increasing idle speed (with the hand throttle) will move enough air to keep the temperature normal. Without a tachometer to determine what the actual rpm is, you have to be careful not to overdo it. If you increase it too much, it can also raise the temperature. Therefore, my term, "sweet-spot."

Without a manual throttle control, you might want to try tweaking your idle speed screw setting on your carburetor. Of course, if the radiator, water pump, or cooling passages are at fault, those problems will need to be corrected first.

[Flat Ernie]

If your engine gets hot in traffic at idle, but is fine everywhere else, you have an airflow issue. If it gets hot on the highway, it's more likely a radiator issue (partially blocked). These are general statements - there are things that can degrade or fail that will complicate diagnosis slightly, but if everything is in good order, and all else being equal, you likely have an airflow issue...