Ok, Kinda embarassing but my '60 Lincoln with a 430 has been a real PITA with radiators. The one in it was fine, it didn't overheat and everything was great... BUT, we noticed a pinhole leak, and (in hindsight) like a dumbass I had it recored by these clowns. Recored radiator #1 very quickly started leaking at the upper seam where it was soldered. Recored radiator #2 blew open because the puke tube was, apparently, clogged shut when they recored it again. OK, fine, I get this. Now we have recored radiator #3 in the car, it's not overheating... exactly. However I'm running a 7lb cap, car calls for a 14lb cap, however when driving it's hissing out of the puke tube... I can hear it. When I stop after driving steam is coming out of the puke tube under pretty good pressure. In a hundred miles or so I've had to add a gallon back. I'm thinking throw a 14lb cap back on there, but... I've had cars where going from a 7 to a 12-14lb cap will cause it to puke a lot less, but I've never had one act like a Stanley Steamer before. Before all this the car didn't overheat, head gaskets not blown, no exhaust getting into the coolant, etc. Radiator guy swore a 14lb cap will cause radiator damage and that's why the first recore went bad. Could a 7lb cap on a 14lb system be that weak that it's going to throw off steam? It's not THAT low on coolant either, maybe an inch or two under the top of the core when I popped the cap off a few minutes ago. It's also a factory air car with a 5 row radiator and the big fan, etc. Heater is bypassed at the moment, but it also was before all these shenanigans started.
How many cores in the rad? If the original was a 3 or 4 core and they tried to cheap out with a 2 core like modern cars use, that could be the problem. Every car today uses a 16 pound cap. If they knew how to do their job a 14 pound cap would be no problem. For a start you could check the spec on the original rad and see if they used the right core.
i thought the radiator cap on those cars were in the tank mounted over the thermostat housing? or is that in the later years?
I'd try a 16# cap. Any good radiator should hold 16#. Hell I had a 16# cap on my original '41 Ford radiator and once it got so hot/ pressurized that the top tank bulged. It never leaked a drop. Blew anti out the overflow but didn't leak.
Pressure caps actually raise the boiling point of water, more pressure translates into a higher boiling point.
For every pound you increase your cap it will hold another 2 degrees of temp is the unwritten rule. And I would've expected at least a 13lb cap on a 430. .
My 2c. First the 7lb cap is needed because that is what was used when the car was new. Can a new radiator take more, sure it can, but what about the heater core. It might not be hooked up now, but how strong is it? As also posted the higher pressure cap will only raise the boiling point, not keep the engine cooler. And as posted overheating isn't the problem. So why is it steaming? Because the cap is rated at 7lbs. and that raises the boiling point. A little passes by the cap and you get steam. Perhaps another cap is in order? You also stated that the coolant level is low, but not too low. Keep running the car like it is and keep tabs on the coolant level. If it stays where it is now, you are ok. Remember that coolant expands as it heats up. So if the coolant tank was full when the engine was cold and now it is 200* then some coolant will leak out. The coolant will find it's own level and stay there and I bet the steam will stop passing the cap also.
Go with post #9 and see what happens. I would still consider a NEW radiator since the Lincoln needs all the cooling help it can get. Bob
Why would you second guess the engineers that designed the system? They recommended a 14lb cap so you decide that a 7lb cap will be better. How many years of mechanical engineering did you study to be smarter than the original designers? They don't just pluck theses figures out of thin air. Put the right cap on it and then see if it steams out of the overflow. At that point then you have a problem as of now I think you just have the wrong cap.
Yup, there is also a difference between a closed-system recovery cap and the one the Lincoln came with, which is not a closed-system. With a GOOD radiator, I'd go with the 14-lb cap too. 7-lb caps were always a crutch for an iffy radiator. Bob
To "Hot Rod Lincoln "..................... Me Thinks, It's time to Trade fer a '61 !!!!! Too Bad this is happening "to the car, not UR ole' LADY " Smoke
Thanks guys. I probably didn't clarify I guess. The car calls for a14# cap, and as Tommy said, my dumb as should be running one. I picked one up last night and I'll see what happens. I had to drive my POS OT car to work today to get tires on it so I'll play with the Lincoln tonight. I was more worried that a 7# cap would case CONSTANT overspill, that's more my concern. Maybe I'm reading into it too much...
On a hunch I decided to test the thermostat. It was in backwards. I'm a dumbass. I'll finish putting it back together tomorrow and see what happens. Dammit! That was stupid.
I think we can all relate to a mistake, but it takes a man to admit he made one and say so. Hopefully that is your problem and also an answer to your original question. Keeping a mistake hidden doesn't help anyone using this site to learn. Are the "clowns" that recored your radiator "still clowns" or ? BOutlaw
Well... I think my dumb ass fixed it. Got it put back together tonight and took it for a short drive. No hissing, no puking. It does now have a 13# cap on it. When I got back home I let it idle for about 10 minutes. I picked up one of those infrared thermometers at HF and here's what I saw... At idle, after about 15 minutes of total run time including 3 miles of driving, the radiator temps were within about 15-20 degrees of each other. The drivers side on the top of the rad was 145-150 or so, passengers side near the cap/upper radiator hose was around 170 or so. Lower part of the radiator was around 130 drivers side, 140-145 passengers side. This was with a temp reading of about 165-170 on the upper hose and 185 on the t-stat housing. I'll drive it some more tomorrow but I think she's happy. Not a drop out of the puke tube. And I figure with temps like this it shouldn't be building excess pressure either. Talk about a humbling experience! Thanks for the advice, I'm going to go smack myself in the forehead again.. Sheesh.
Actually yes First radiator basically leaked out of the box. It had 2 bad solder joints. Second one had a clogged puke which didn't help as there was nowhere for the excess pressure to go. These guys also "sealed" my gas tank by doing... Nothing. First time I dropped it again, it was full of rust with blobs of old sealer floating around in it. Second time they managed to get a lot of the rust out, but there's still a little in it. I have a pre-pump filter in it that I'm watching closely. If I can deal with a tiny bit of rust (that the filter can catch) ill wait till the winter and send it to gas tank renu or use the POR-15 setup. Basically them doing lousy work caused me to overlook the real problem but I'm still a dumbfuck. I REALLY ought to know better.
I used to have a rubber mallet sitting on the desk to smack myself on the head every time I did something like that. It was recommended that a 2lb. ball peen hammer would have worked better. Glad you solved your probelm without a hammer.
Well radiator #3 has an internal leak and coolant got into the tranny fluid... The transmission is, to quote Marcellus Wallace, "pretty fucking far from ok".
Transmission is officially shot from this. Going to go with an external cooler this time. Think I need to save my shekels and get in touch with brass works about a good radiator.....
A good radiator shop pressure tests everything before it leaves the shop instead of leaving you to test it in the vehicle.
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