My car runs anywhere between 195 - 215 degrees. It seems that a lot of coolant pukes out the overflow line prior to the thermostat opening. After the car cools and I open up the radiator cap the coolant level is very low. I fill it and it's just a vicious cycle of puking, running hot, refilling. Any ideas?
hey Dan why not just run a recycle catch can? the one I have on my car was only like $15 and I think it was Barry that had his hidden behind his inner fender in front of his tire.....That way you could retain the factory look.
if it pukes out before the thermostat opens i think i would first try a new thermostat. are you running a shroud? whats your timing set at? i always throw a bottle of vp cool down in whenever i change out the water. also are you using a mixture of water & anti freeze? seems to me that the thermostat should open before it gets that hot though.
Shroud ... yes. Timing is set to factory. I was thinking thermostat also although it is new. If it pukes before the thermostat opens that must mean that the pressure of the heated water has to be forcing itself back through the water pump, lower radiator house and into the radiator .... strange ... Also ... would advanced timing or late timing make it run hotter? Doesn't a Maverick run an open cooling system? Even if you run an overflow container I don't think it will function the same as a late model car. The coolant will not be sucked back into the system ... the overflow bottle would just keep the coolant from hitting the ground ... required by most all dragstrips I think ...
an add-on recovery can will work correctly if you use the proper cap. i have one and it works fine. around town i am about 180 in hot weather with just an electric fan using the I-6 radiator on a 302. gets up to about 195 doing 3800 rpm on the interstate.
sorry Dan I did'nt read all of your post the first thought I'd have is test the cap and make sure it holds the pressure it is rated at.....
dan, can you see water in the rad. when it cools down? if you don't put the water back in will it get any lower? i had one once that ran just over the top of the fins. it would blow out any i put in above that. maybe not the way it should be but it worked fine for years....frank... p.s. we are not having that blown head gasket thing again, are we?
The water drops below the top row when it cools. No blown gasket ... it doesn't over heat but the guage goes up and down between 195 and 215 ... No smoke and anything in the exhaust ... I know it's puking out .... ... I'll just fill it to the top row and see what happens ... I also heard a trick of drilling a small hole in the thermostat to prevent trapped air ...
I filled it to the top of the top row and let it idle for a while. It did not puke and my gauge sat at 180 the whole time. I also took some steel wool and cleaned the inside of the radiator where the cap seals to hold pressure. It was a little dirty so maybe it wasn't holding 13 lbs that well. Thanks .. Frank ... hopefully that is it. I'm getting ready for my road trip to see Dave in Ohio and part out that 72 Grabber. I'll have to test drive my car next week and see if it holds at 180 ....
I know I went through a couple radiator caps a couple years ago before I got one that would seal in the radiator neck. I think bits of old hose breaking down were getting between the seal and neck when I took the cap off keeping it from sealing. After that I was fine and would not puke even when the water temp got up to 225.
I think I found the culprit. The PCV connection from my carb to the valve was leaking bad causing a major vacuum leak due to a mis-match of OEM and AM parts. I would guess it was running really lean ...
