440 heat problem help

[yannick47]

took out my 74 rr with a 440 today for the first time in summer...itss pretty hot here but anyways about 30 minutes of driving the dash got really hot.....like i could not switch on lights(i could but the nob was blody warm..even the cd player etc??is this normal?engine temp was normal as it was in winter....

 

[tpodwdog]

maybe you were just excited to drive your car for the first time. i know when i drive mine i get all flushed and worked up....LMAO..... probably the sun beating on it coming thru the glass and getting it hot...if nothing burned,,,youre in good shape!

 

[yannick47]

my first drive in a month...anyways this was during the night..but it was quite humid outside etc??don't think anything got burned but the dash panel light switch and everything was got hideously hot. and not sure it wont burn something in the future..could this be caused by headers?..

maybe you were just excited to drive your car for the first time. i know when i drive mine i get all flushed and worked up....LMAO..... probably the sun beating on it coming thru the glass and getting it hot...if nothing burned,,,youre in good shape!

 

[70rr-brian]

my first drive in a month...anyways this was during the night..but it was quite humid outside etc??don't think anything got burned but the dash panel light switch and everything was got hideously hot. and not sure it wont burn something in the future..could this be caused by headers?..

I would suspect a wiring problem first and foremost...but for something to get as hot as you describe and not start smoking doesn't seem logical.

If you headers were causing that problem I think you would feel it in your feet before the dash and maybe even smell the carpet burning. LOL

Is everything electical in working order? The wiring on these cars after 40 years is ALWAYS suspect. The ammeter is always a potential fire source...and before fire of course comes heat. Could be any wire though that is either burnt or crack touching ground. Do you have an aftermarket voltmeter? What is it reading and is it steady or jumping around like crazy?

 

[terzmo]

been some issues with light switches burning up. I would look behind the dash.

 

[yannick47]

i do feel it at my feet it gets pretty hot ..at least the last time i drove it...the cars runs all good but the lights do keep cutting out and coming back again after its gets hot..im going to look into the wiring thing today...the thing is the whole panel gets hot not only the light switch..the cd player to yeah

I would suspect a wiring problem first and foremost...but for something to get as hot as you describe and not start smoking doesn't seem logical.

If you headers were causing that problem I think you would feel it in your feet before the dash and maybe even smell the carpet burning. LOL

Is everything electical in working order? The wiring on these cars after 40 years is ALWAYS suspect. The ammeter is always a potential fire source...and before fire of course comes heat. Could be any wire though that is either burnt or crack touching ground. Do you have an aftermarket voltmeter? What is it reading and is it steady or jumping around like crazy?

 

[yannick47]

still having this problem???

i do feel it at my feet it gets pretty hot ..at least the last time i drove it...the cars runs all good but the lights do keep cutting out and coming back again after its gets hot..im going to look into the wiring thing today...the thing is the whole panel gets hot not only the light switch..the cd player to yeah

 

[Tunis]

To rule out the lights and light switch do this:

Take a multimeter and set it to read resistance (Ohms).
Disconnect the battery (always do this when working with wiring in a car)
Take out the connectors to the head lights and turn signal lights and connect one of the wires to the multimeter to one of the terminals on the light harness at the front. The other wire on the multimeter goes to the positive battery cable. You should have a reading of no more than one Ohm.

Don't forget to turn the light switch on! ;)

Test the different terminals in the light harness with the wire connected to the multimeter (with the other wire still connected to the battery) and you will get a good indication of the status of your light circuit. Low ohms = healthy cables!

While you have the wire connected to the positive battery cable, you can take a reading on the alternator output to see if the charging circuit is healthy. Again, a reading as close to zero as possible is good!

Hope that helps! And if that does not solve your problem, it lies somewhere else