1970 Fury GT found in Amarillo, TX.

Folks, I need some advice. Right now the car has a 15 lb radiator cap on it. When I'm driving my temp gauge says I'm fine, but when I pull off the road for gas, the radiator is boiling over after I sit not running for a minute. Should I be super worried? I just keep topping it off with water every time I get gas. I don't want to kill the engine. Help

Sounds like the t stat is sticking. The rad could also be clogged up
 
Folks, I need some advice. Right now the car has a 15 lb radiator cap on it. When I'm driving my temp gauge says I'm fine, but when I pull off the road for gas, the radiator is boiling over after I sit not running for a minute. Should I be super worried? I just keep topping it off with water every time I get gas. I don't want to kill the engine. Help
If you're near a Harbor Freight, I'd suggest grabbing one of those infra-red thermometers. You could have some sort of a cooling issue being masked by a bad temp sensor.

Are you in a place where you can flush the radiator? That might help.
 
Folks, I need some advice. Right now the car has a 15 lb radiator cap on it. When I'm driving my temp gauge says I'm fine, but when I pull off the road for gas, the radiator is boiling over after I sit not running for a minute. Should I be super worried? I just keep topping it off with water every time I get gas. I don't want to kill the engine. Help
Boiling over, or just draining out the overflow hose? What is the level of coolant when you open the cap? If you top it right up every time, the expansion will cause it to puke out fluid after you shut it down. The fill level is somewhere below the radiator neck.
 
+1 if its running right, let it puke til it finds its level.
get some irontape duct tape and extra coolant and water just in case and keep going !

if its the kind of cap that sucks back in, get an ocean spray or gatorade bottle or something and bungee it in there, stick the overflow hose in, and then keep going!


try not to die -

- saylor
 
Boiling over, or just draining out the overflow hose? What is the level of coolant when you open the cap? If you top it right up every time, the expansion will cause it to puke out fluid after you shut it down. The fill level is somewhere below the radiator neck.
When I stop it's bubbling and coming out the overflow hose and a bit from a tiny pin hole at the top of the tank seam. I'm installing a new thermostat right now. Thought it couldn't hurt.
 
Without a recovery tank in the coolant system the water level in the radiator should be about 1 to 1.5 inches below the bottom of the filler neck when cold. That allows for expansion as it heats and all is well. If you fill it more than that it'll percolate out via the overflow when you stop until it finds it's desired level. As long as it stays at that level (when cold) then you're just fine, although the little from the seam would likely mean checking level every morning and I'd likely overfill to keep that leak from getting it too low during the day - the pin hole will stop leaking once it's cooled off...... Good luck.
 
Without a recovery tank in the coolant system the water level in the radiator should be about 1 to 1.5 inches below the bottom of the filler neck when cold. That allows for expansion as it heats and all is well. If you fill it more than that it'll percolate out via the overflow when you stop until it finds it's desired level. As long as it stays at that level (when cold) then you're just fine, although the little from the seam would likely mean checking level every morning and I'd likely overfill to keep that leak from getting it too low during the day - the pin hole will stop leaking once it's cooled off...... Good luck.
Well it sounds like I probably was just fine from what you are saying. I was in fact filling it to the top. Not the inch below the filler neck. Dang it! Just made more work for myself taking the t-stat out. Ha ha.
 
Can I say it.
Can't hold back.
Gotta do it.
It's not the thermostat.
:rofl:

Sorry, Eric. In-house joke from way back.
 
IMG_1037.JPG
:thumbsup: Thermostat is in. Had some sludge in it, so going to flush the radiator now. Then back on the road again...
 
....it's bubbling and coming out ... a bit from a tiny pin hole at the top of the tank seam.

Edited the quotation for clarity.

It's no longer a pressurized system. When you drive, the airflow keeps the temp down below 212*. Coming to a stop, the temp goes up. A 15psi cap increases the boiling point of water to about 250*. Could be (probably is) that the radiator is just over-full and expanding when hot. Could also be that it's getting over 212 (or whatever the boiling point of antifreeze is) in an unpressurized system.

I'd be very careful on the remainder of your drive home. If it's leaking, and it's above boiling, you could have a pinhole become a large hole. Maybe slow down for a couple miles before getting off to refuel? Open the hood to allow engine heat to escape? It's probably okay, since we've all driven marginal radiators before, but still--taking it easy can't hurt.

Good luck!
 
Edited the quotation for clarity.

It's no longer a pressurized system. When you drive, the airflow keeps the temp down below 212*. Coming to a stop, the temp goes up. A 15psi cap increases the boiling point of water to about 250*. Could be (probably is) that the radiator is just over-full and expanding when hot. Could also be that it's getting over 212 (or whatever the boiling point of antifreeze is) in an unpressurized system.

I'd be very careful on the remainder of your drive home. If it's leaking, and it's above boiling, you could have a pinhole become a large hole. Maybe slow down for a couple miles before getting off to refuel? Open the hood to allow engine heat to escape? It's probably okay, since we've all driven marginal radiators before, but still--taking it easy can't hurt.

Good luck!
Makes sense. Should I just keep the 15psi cap for now? Or go for something else?
 
Is there any way to plug that pin hole? I certainly wouldn't want to be driving through the desert in the middle of the day with it.
 
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