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I just completed major engine compartment overhaul including rebuilt 5-blade fan & clutch(Fred Oliva);DeWitt's radiator, hoses & clamps; Pirkle's generator; and alot of Corvtte central others. It doesn't take any more than 10 minutes to reach 220 and when I stop after a short trip, the expansion tank drip hose is steaming and some anti-freeze/water solution escapes. This doesn't worry me as much as checking espansion tank after the engine cools and finding it needs filling to half-way point each time! Now I know I shouldn't have to check & refill fluid after each trip, so something's not right. I figured I would ask for some assistance before bringing it back to mechanic to complain. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I signed up a show this Sunday and it's a good 40 minutes away. I'd be alittle worried about taking the '61 that far without addressing overheating concerns. Thanks..Bruce NCRS#39024-'61 red .
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Re: 61 running hot
Bruce,
My guess is you have the normal air problem in the system. Unless you filled the system carefully you will accumulate a lot of air while filling. I would carefully drive it locally and continue to monitor the coolant level. It should eventually purge itself of all air pockets. -
to help prevent air pockets
try filling the engine with the thermostat and housing off till you reach the top of the intake manifold opening. then reinstall the thermo and housing and continue to fill the rest of the system.Comment
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Re: 61 running hot
Bruce,
This subject keeps coming up time and time again but I might as well get my two cents in. My 60 also reads hot but it really isn't. I know this because (1) It never boils out when it's running. When you shut it off, it will naturally get hotter and puke out any excess antifreeze. Try NOT filling it back up and see if it pukes it out after subsequent tries. If it doesn't, 'full' may be a lower level than you thought. (2) I taped a meat thermometer to the upper radiator hose (per a suggestion on this discussion board) and found that the operating temperature varies between 170 and 180 and goes up to 195 after the engine is shut off. About what you would expect. I now know that my problem is either the guage or the sending unit. I've already tried a new sending unit from Mary Jo so if it is correct, the problem is in the guage. I'm not tearing that guage out so i'll try to find a resistor that will make the guage read the same as the meat thermometer at 180 and let it go at that.
Then on the other hand, your engine may be running hot.
Ted #32350Comment
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Re: 61 running hot
Bruce,
You have an expansion tank where the 60 does not. The expansion tank was added to allow expansion in the cooling system. After the system stabilizes it should always be 1/2 full when cold. Clems idea of filling the system from the t'stat opening is the perfect way to eliminate air completely.Comment
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Re: 61 running hot
Bruce,
I think that the operation of your system sounds pretty close to normal! You do not want the tank to be full when cool, you want the tank to be full when hot.
If you fill the tank to the overflow when it is cool it will puke every time the radiator heats up, until it displaces all the coolant it needs to and will draw that coolant back into the radiator when it cools. As long as the level in the tank stays the same after several trips, then do not worry about it. The purpose of the tank is to accomodate the expansion of the coolant when it heats up, and you are defeating that purpose every time you fill the tank. Just my $.02.
Regards, John McGrawComment
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Re: 61 running hot
To help bleed the air, I take the strap off of the expansion tank and lift the tank up so that it is the high point air bleed in the system. At least on my '61 the inlet on the bottom of the expansion tank is lower than the hose leading to it from the block, thereby creating a trap for air.Comment
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Re: to help prevent air pockets
I have had to (on several different cars) jack up the front of the vehicle, somtimes 3 feet in the air, then fill through the thermostat housing to purge air. Last time in my wife's 73 it took several hours of fill and "burp" to get all the air out.Comment
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i do not fill
thru the thermo housing,i fill thru the rad or the puke tank and wait for the liquid to come up in the thermo housing in the intake manifold. then i reinstall the thermo and housing and contine filling the system. with the thermo in place the air has a hard time being pushed out of the block.Comment
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Re: all a bunch of hot air!
all i have read about is air problems. not one person has said anything about timing. has your distributor been checked for the correct curv? what is the timing set at? do you have a vacuum advance? what are you running for a thermostat? is your cap new? the system will bleed itself if you run it to temp with the heater on and the cap off. i have a 62 fi with everything just restored with an nos aluminum radiator and i run at 180* all day long. on hot days in traffic it goes to 195* then back down to 180* when moving.Comment
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Re: i do not fill
Ahhhh! you're correct Clem, I do the same, I just did not explain myself correctly. I did however jack up the car, fill the radiator until the water shows in the thermostat housing, etc. JohnComment
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