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Radiator overflow part 2, with pictures

Z

Zachary Hoyt

Well-known Member
Thank you Janicholson for your advice. The coolant was 2-1/4" below the seat when I checked it this morning. I got the kit you suggested, but when I get the engine warm the coolant foams up so that the bubbles get sucked into the tester and dilute the blue liquid. I can't see that the bubbles are coming from any direction, they just seem to form, even at 130-140 degrees. I am thinking I must need to pull the head and replace the gasket if it is obviously compromised, but I'd like to know if those with more experience than I think that is the thing to do at this point. The coolant is rushing in visibly from the back, so I'm sure the water pump must be working. I've never done a head gasket, so I'll need to buy a torque wrench and read up on it in the archives. I can get a Fel-Pro brand gasket from NAPA. Thanks very much for any advice.
Zach
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I think you can use the water below the bubbles to do the check. I do believe it has a combustion leak. Jim
 
Jim, thanks very much. The kit I bought says you have to have the coolant down far enough so that all you get in the test cylinder is gases without liquid, but in my case I don't know how much coolant I'd have to drain before it wouldn't bubble out. Thanks for the thought on the combustion leak, I'll go ahead and order a gasket kit and hope the head isn't cracked.
Zach
 
In the case you have, a pint jar turned upside down ofer the neck of the rad would fill with gasses not foam, Try that! (just thinking out of the box. Jim
 
The next thing you need to do is take a cylinder compression test you even think about removing the valve cover let alone removing the head! I am thinking if you have two cylinders next to each other that would indicate a blown head gasket between those two cylinders. Also if you have a low reading on one cylinder and the rest read about the same(average or above) the low cylinder gasket could be blown and letting combustion pressure into the coolant system. Also look at the spark plugs for traces of water damage as you remove them. Their should be some other opinions to back me bu or correct me and also other ideas as to what to check. Let us know what you find. Armand
 
In my 55 years working on water cooled engines that air leak would be a solid 10 on a 1 to 10 scale. Pull the head.

Gordo
 
E-bay gets you a good deal on torque wrenches right now. I bought two snap-ons in the past six months and don't have two bills into the pair.
 
(quoted from post at 16:54:23 05/27/10) In my 55 years working on water cooled engines that air leak would be a solid 10 on a 1 to 10 scale. Pull the head.

Gordo
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Bingo!!!

Leave the cap off and throw some load on it for a bit and watch it foam at the mouth. Maybe a gasket will be the lucky charm, but I wouldn't hold my breath on the deal.

On the good side, heads are not that hard to R&R.
 
In good natured response, a leak between cylinders will rarely leak to the Water jacket.
The tiny bubbles also indicate a pinhole type leak that might not affect compression much. I also think it is a gasket, and hope it is not a cracked head. Jim
 
Should I be able to see by looking at the old gasket if it had a leak? I have a notion that the leak makes a stain on the gasket, but I can't recall the details. Thanks very much.
Zach
 
(quoted from post at 18:58:59 05/27/10) Should I be able to see by looking at the old gasket if it had a leak? I have a notion that the leak makes a stain on the gasket, but I can't recall the details. Thanks very much.
Zach
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Before you pull any head bolts, use a torque wrench on the head bolts to check tightness. Often times they were never re-tightened and over the years the gasket finally lets go because it isn't being held down. (That problem is an old Fel-Pro specialty. Too thick and too soft.)
 
Zach,

Before you get all carried away, I'd run it without the radiator cap and let it find it's own level. Watch your temp gauge.

Those Binders like a lot of headroom.

All my tractors run about 6" down from the neck seal lip and just above the radiator grate. Fill 'em any higher than that and they'll unload the excess out the overflow every darned time.

Think ya still got 'er way, way too full.

Just tryin’ to help,

Allan
 
just get a good size balloon and zip tie it over the radiator filler. if its getting combustion gas in the cooling system when you start it it will blow it up. do this all the time at ford dealer on fuel injector rails to test injectors. iwould want the coolant level lower first though.
 
Thanks very much for the suggestion. When the coolant is cold it is about 2.25-2.5" down, but as soon as it warms up it just foams up all over the place. If I run it 6" down will there still be enough to keep the block full when I am driving downhill? Thanks again.
Zach
 
Here it is. You stick the cone part in the radiator neck and squeeze the bulb to force air into the radiator, which forces air from inside out again, so say the directions.
Zach
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I don't know if this would work, but seems worth a try at this point. Start the engine and let it run until it foams up, which evidently doesn't take long. Then shut it off and immediately stick the cone into the filler neck. Wait a few minutes for the foam to settle down, then squeeze the bulb. Presumably, you will capture air that was trapped inside the bubbles until they burst.
 
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