Talk to me about what my radiator is doing

Rodeo man

Member
I noticed a little steam, coming out of the cap. I let it cool down, and took the cap off. It appeared low, so I mixed up some 50/50 water/coolant. It only held about a half gallon, maybe less. Fired it up, and went for a little drive. 5 minutes in, it's blowing water out the cap. The water doesn't seem boiling hot though.--------WhaTs up with it?
 
does not sound right to me. that steam is a red flag to me, leak or stopped up radiator!!!!!!

drain the coolant out of the radiator. (be sure to keep it out of the way of your animals, they love the taste of that old green antifreeze)

hold your hand over the bottom radiator hose opening, fill the radiator with water.

now release your hand and see how fast the water runs out of the radiator.

if it gushes out, you are good to go, but if it dribbles out, runs out slow, then your radiator may need cleaning out.

also, I would assume you have washed the fins out on the radiator from motor side to front of radiator and insured the front of the radiator is not covered in leaves and dead grass.

fan belt is tight and turning the water pump at the proper speed.

may not be able to do this on your ford, but my radiator repairman told me to run my radiator cap loose, he said these old tractors have plenty of cooling capacity and do not need the pressure.

do you have the right pressure radiator cap on the tractor, I do not know your cap pressure but you should know and insure its right.
the one on my tractor is 6 or 8 lbs, but again I keep it loose,

have been bush hogging heavy stuff lately with no coolant problems.

good luck and do not let the tractor motor get hot.

losing oil pressure is the fastest way to ruin a good engine.
letting the engine get too hot is the second fastest way to ruin a good engine.
 
I would add, it seems rpm related. It's fine when you putting, throw the throttle open, and it sprays everywhere.
 

Mine did same thing and it was just over filled.. Fill up let it spew out all the water it wants . then drive her for a while. mine doesnt blow out steam it will come out a little . maybe like cigerette smoke. You got to remember its only a 3to 8 lb rad. cap. dont take much for stuff to come out..
 
Thanks for the replies. With no temp gauge, it's hard for me to tell what's going on. Against good common sense, I stuck my finger in the water. It wasn't very hot.
 
The time mine blew out steam it was working harder than usual. I discovered that the radiator air flow was partially plugged by dandelion fuzz. Cleaned it out with a hose and no more steam. I did have to let it dry off a bit before it would start again.
 
Mine seems to have some kind of packing material, where the hood and radiator meet. Is that standard? Can't say I've ever seen anything like it before. I want to to take the hood, and dog legs off, and give it a real good cleaning. When I do, I'll run some water thru the block, as suggested.
 
(quoted from post at 19:14:13 08/10/14) What about this bizarre packing material? Do I put it back in?

Its should be there to keep metal on metal rubbing down.. well i dont know about packing material. but people do crazy things. If you take rad. off there will be or should be something between rad, and where it connects to frame. to keep metal from rubbing and making hole in rad. If that makes sense... I cant explain as good as some of the others on here...lol
 
This at the top, between radiator, and hood. Looks like some sort of homemade rubber washer at the bottom. I have seen this stuff before, I just can't remember where. It looks as old as the tractor.
 
YT sells replacement mesh for the hood pad here.
Fits over the radiator neck between the top of the radiator and hood.
 
I really really appreciate everybody's help. Modern equipment is all I've ever ran. Maybe when I run this tractor a little longer, and ask a few more questions as things arise, I'll get this thing figured out.
 
" Maybe when I run this tractor a little longer, and ask a few more questions as things arise, I'll get this thing figured out. "

Yep. It is a bit easier for us FOG's who grew up w/ the old stuff.

Start w/ tip # 39; a set of manuals will get you going in the right direction.
75 Tips
 

If your better half has a candy/baking thermometer you won't have to buy one. I picked up a nice one at a thrift shop years ago. :)
 

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