1983 Ford Mustang Dont know where to start

83FOUREYEDFOXBODY

MEMBER
1983 FORD MUSTANG
V8
2WD
MANUAL
13,000 MILES

I have an 83 Ford Mustang gt 302 4 speed I bought it with a few problems but I have narrowed it down to the last thing. The overheating. The radiator has this orangy brown sludgy color to the fluid. There is a pinhole in the radiator at the top but I want to know if the sludge can cause a thermostat to stay closed or cause a water pump to cog up. There is no leaks on the heads for a bad head gasket. On either side nor is there any water getting blown out the drag pipes behind the tires. Today I was going down the highway with it. And when I pulled out of an addition and kinda romped on it a little there is a little hose from the firewall dripping excess fluid and I dont know where it comes from and smoke came inside the car. The cooling system is a mess. Where do I even start. Also the windsheid fluid/overflow canister is full of boiling water when I got home.

1 Reply

2CARPRO JACK

MECHANIC
11,533 POSTS

For acooling system to work properly it cant have any leaks, it relies on pressure in the system to keep the coolant from boiling. The leak at ehfirewall+ thesmoke in thecar sounds liek the heater core is leaking. For now just unhook it at the firewall and use a connector to connect the two ends together. You will also need to have the radiator pin hole fixed. If thefluid is orabge colored it is most likely rust from the previous owner using water to keep it full. Have the engine flushed and the thermostat replaced. Fill it with good coolant with all leaks repaired and see where you stand from there