So this is a weird issue, the car has been running abnormally hot ever since i got it, i assumed it was the rad since it crumbled when you touched it, i replaced with a good working used one from an 86, that dint help...

 

The Car overheats in town but wont overheat on the highways, stays at about 3/4, thermostat? Where would that be on my 85 EA-81 GL? Help!

It overheats in town at low speeds or idling. Check the fan which doesn't sound like it's coming on. Problem could be the fan, the thermoswitch mounted on the radiator, or a missing ground wire (not replaced with the new radiator). Check the thermoswitch; if it has only one terminal, the ground return goes through the ground wire; if that's missing, it's the cause of your problem.

swaped the metal plug in the lower part of the rad which im assuming was the coolant temp sensor it was easier to do that than to splice the wire, also i didnt replace the ground, ill go rig one up then see if that fixs it, the fan dosent turn on, not even the old fan, it always runs at 3/4, well ill go rig up a ground, ill be back.. thanks for the help

my 86 GL was doing that the last couple months after years of staying at 1/4 to 1/3 on the gauge.

 

pulled the thermostat out, flushed out everything(motor and radiator), put in a new thermostat, and its back down to 1/4 & 1/3 on the gauge for the last 2 weeks.

not sure if the thermostat or the flushing fixed mine but either way sometimes it is the simple things. (thank God)

 

i was to the point of rewiring my "secondary" fan to stay on all the time but so far so good.

 

also, is your primary fan belt driven? if so is the fan clutch ok?(had a Ford run warm on account of that)

 

good luck, Bill

I wired the Fafn to run all the time no biggy, now instead of overheating in town it stays at 3/4 where is the thermostat on this car?

I wired the Fafn to run all the time no biggy, now instead of overheating in town it stays at 3/4 where is the thermostat on this car?

Check the upper heater hose and look for the round mound attached to the engine; two bolts and the theremostat is inside the round dome. Use an OEM replacement; they do work better.

thank-you

Also at highway speeds if your fan is running it will actually hurt your airflow through the radiator and put unnessisary strain on the fan. Its Either your ground or your switch. I would fix it to come on the way its supposed to.