Radiator Woes, Please Help *Picture*

[Nick32vic]

Having some radiator trouble. heres an email my dad sent me while i was still asleep.

"Hey sleepy head, post our radiator problem to the guru's of the hamb and lets fix it. we will be COOL in LouisVOOL."

Now the problem. When we are driving on a 95degree day his car runs at about 185. When we go over 65 it keeps creeping up and has got to 210. So we can only drive about 60 on hot days. At night it runs about 185 all the time. Basically the faster we got the hotter it gets.

We just put a new radiator in it. With the old shitty radiator it NEVER ran above 180-185. Everything is exactly the same except the carb was adjusted a little bit. Running to lean? Causing more heat?

Specs:
<ul type="square">
1941 Ford
327 Chevy- 30 over
4 barrel Carter
Old Radiator-Custom made-Brass
New Radiator-Custom made to fit 46 ford(fits the car thogh) Brass
Pusher Electric Fan
160 degree thermostat w/new radiator
180 degree thermastat w/old radiator
[/list]

The lower hose does have a spring in it so its not sucking shut. The old radiator was just a little bit bigger. But not much.

Everytime we shut the car off after a drive, it pukes. The overflow tank, overflows on the ground. Never did that with the old radiator.

Please Help, Thanks,

Nick

Edit-I added a picture so people will at least loook. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Unkl Ian]

Did you have the pusher fan on the old rad ?
Does the car have AC ?
Vacuum advance ?

It's easier to pull air through a rad than to try and push it through.

As long as you have a decent radiator cap,210 wouldn't bother me too much.
Puking when I shut it off would piss me off though.

Personally,I wouldn't run a 160 thermostat.

What's wrong with the old rad ?

[Nick32vic]

Yes, pusher with the old radiator.
No AC
yes vacume advance on distributor, didnt check though. Will Check to see if working properly.

We have a 13 pound cap that is fine.

Why wouldnt you run a 160 thermastat?

Long Story short, the old radiator kept forming pin holes in the top tank and looked like crap too.

Nick

[Daisyduke]

Check radiator cap when i put thermostat in Daisy it kept spewing water out through cap as i used old cap bought new cap and it done the biz.

Daisyduke http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

ps. nice ride

[Unkl Ian]

I wouldn't run a 160 thermostat because
I want the oil temperature to get above 210 as quickly as possible to get rid of any condensation.
They motor will live longer,and not get loaded with sludge.

Oil temperature is approximately 20 degrees hotter than water temperature.
That's why all the latemodels run 190 thermostats,or maybe higher.

With a decent antifreeze mix and a good cap,boiling over shouldn't be a problem.

Have you got a puke tank on your Dad's car?
Bigger is better,with the hose running to the bottom.
Rad caps have a 1 way valve that allows them to suck coolant back when the motors cools down.

The radiator is the highest point in the system right ?
Vacuum advance needs to be run to a specific source,not just any vacuum source.

[cosmo]

Probably not relevant, but I did see one with a pusher fan wired wrong, it was pulling instead of pushing.
Otherwise, as the only other thing you did was adjust the carby, unadjust that and check.
Oh, is the distributor advance on manifold vacuum?? This could be it, though I wouldn't know why now and not then.
Funny, but my Citroën 2CV never puked any water....:)
Cosmo

[manyolcars]

check that radiator cap again!

[Nick32vic]

Ok, so should we go back to a 180 thermastat?

What kind of antifreeze mix do we need?

Yes it has a puke tank but it come out of the hose on that onto the ground.
We have a big hose on the bottom so thats good.

Yes the radiator is the highest point on the system.

Thanks alot!
Nick

O ya, its got a reverse flow water pump. Serpentine belt for chevy. It never mattered before.

[Deuce Roadster]

[ QUOTE ]
Ok, so should we go back to a 180 thermastat?



[/ QUOTE ]


A 160 thermostat opens at around 160 so it is open ALL the time running down the road. The water is always pumping from the block to the radiator to the block to the radiator ECT. It never stays in the radiator long enough to cool down. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Put a 195 in it.........you are running that HOT away. You will be surprised when it never goes over 195 or so again...... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I run 195 in both of my Fords with a SBC, and the Silverado and the Cadillac.

http://img53.photobucket.com/albums/v163/DeuceRoadster/MVC-007F.jpg

[Slide]

What antifreeze mix were ya runnin before? In summer months, lotsa people have a little better success runnin more H2O and less antifreeze since water cools better than the green stuff. I am told that 15% antifreeze is plenty safe enuff to keep the water from freezing.

I agree with the post on checking your fan wiring...just to be sure.

Also, try a kill switch on the fan for hiway runnin. We fixed a 37 Ford one time that was heating on the hiway, but ran ok in traffic. Turned out that the electric fan wasn't keeping up with the air that was going over the rad naturally at speed. It was actually IMPEDING air flow when the engine was working hardest!

Another thing, you don't have a mechanical fan on that backwards waterpump, do ya? If so, make sure it is designed for a reverse rotation pump pulley. (Blade pitch needs to be reversed.)

One last thing, you did replace all the stock air baffles, etc. when you installed the new rad, right? If these aren't in place, the air coming thru the grille will take the path of least resistance. If that means going AROUND the radiator, it will not hesitate to do so!

Let us know what comes of your problem and how you end up fixing it for real.

[Paul]

is it possible the water is going through the new radiator too fast?

the old one may have had a little more restriction to flow giving the coolant more "air time"..

if that's the case you may want to go with the higher temp thermostat like 2s Rhodester suggested.

just a thought..

Paul

[Nick32vic]

WOW! Thanks guys. We are gonna try all of this stuff soon. We dont wanna be runnin 210 while were drivin 80 mph down to Louisville http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Slide, right now we probably have 15% water! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
That will get changed.

Thanks so much everybody!
VIVA LA HAMB

Nick