bmodeltman
Member
It looks to me between the front two cylinders at the bottom coolant hole there could be an issue.It looks discolored from the front cylinder to that hole.Might just be the picture but it seems like a leak.
Blown head gasket?
- Thread starter Russco
- Start date
bmodeltman
Member
Russo.It`s been awhile. wondering how you made out.That`s one cool coupe you got.Hope you got it figured out.
Kurt in NJ
Well-known member
In pic 1,and 2 the cyl on the left in the pic shows good headgasket contact, on the right it looks suspect by the coloring, it also looks like there are flakes of rust laying on some of the water passage holes, and some of the holes are closed some from rust ---if it was a jobI was wotking on I would take a wire and poke aroung in the water jacket to dislodge all the rust I could ---depending on what I found I would decide if it would be good to remove the waterpumps to open up a passage to flush out the buildup in the lowest part of the waterjacket, then I would clean up the gasket surfaces and check over the top of every bolt hole to look for burrs and raised spots with a straight edge.
The radiator would also get a close looking with flashlight and mirror to see how many tubes are clogged, then a reverse flush with a air/water flush gun, and another look to see if it was cleaner --when i look with a mirror in the hose fitting, and can see the tops of say 10 tube,and see 3 clogged I take it as having lose 30% of cooling capacity.
Once it is clean and you use antifreeze the rust problem won't reoccur for a long time if ever
I used these methods on the 46 truck that was used for hauling fleamarket stuff to Hershey Carlisle etc, always at least a 2 ton load, never any overheating problems after an exhaust problem was sorted out (mustang V8 muffler was too restrictive for 1/2 of the flathead)
The radiator would also get a close looking with flashlight and mirror to see how many tubes are clogged, then a reverse flush with a air/water flush gun, and another look to see if it was cleaner --when i look with a mirror in the hose fitting, and can see the tops of say 10 tube,and see 3 clogged I take it as having lose 30% of cooling capacity.
Once it is clean and you use antifreeze the rust problem won't reoccur for a long time if ever
I used these methods on the 46 truck that was used for hauling fleamarket stuff to Hershey Carlisle etc, always at least a 2 ton load, never any overheating problems after an exhaust problem was sorted out (mustang V8 muffler was too restrictive for 1/2 of the flathead)
Fourdy
Well-known member
Ruscco,
I see some of the posts are talking about rust. I had the same symptoms as you are stating and after checking for exhaust gasses, changing a bad rad cap it got better but still iffy. Use vinegar treatment and now have a happy flatty.
Vinegar thread here: http://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71022
Maybe worth a look at. Best of luck to you.
Fourdy
I see some of the posts are talking about rust. I had the same symptoms as you are stating and after checking for exhaust gasses, changing a bad rad cap it got better but still iffy. Use vinegar treatment and now have a happy flatty.
Vinegar thread here: http://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71022
Maybe worth a look at. Best of luck to you.
Fourdy
Russco
Member
Sorry I have not given an update.
The head gasket change did make an improvement, so there was some slight leakage of combustion gasses that would push coolant out when I ran it hard on the interstate. I drove it to Iowa again after the headgasket repair and it never pushed any coolant out but, it was still not cooling like it should.(I could take off with a cool motor and run thru a tank of gas on the highway without overheating but when I would stop for gas and shut it off and the temp would go up from sitting hot, when I got back on the road it would not cool back down.)
So after much debate and talking with my local radiator shop guy we determined that even though it was flowing 36 GPM it was not exchanging the heat out. It had been tanked out and cleaned 3 times already, so the decision was made to recore it, and go with a 4 row instead of a 3 row just incase. It seems to be fine now although I havent been able to drive it a long ways on the interstate when its been hot out yet I drove it 70 miles tonite and it never got over 170 but its pretty cool today. Thanks for all the input and help with this I'll try to remember to post another update after a trip when its hot out again.
Thanks again for all the help I think its finally going to be good now. BTW this motor is in my 51 Shoebox, I am rebuilding the coupe motor right now too.
The head gasket change did make an improvement, so there was some slight leakage of combustion gasses that would push coolant out when I ran it hard on the interstate. I drove it to Iowa again after the headgasket repair and it never pushed any coolant out but, it was still not cooling like it should.(I could take off with a cool motor and run thru a tank of gas on the highway without overheating but when I would stop for gas and shut it off and the temp would go up from sitting hot, when I got back on the road it would not cool back down.)
So after much debate and talking with my local radiator shop guy we determined that even though it was flowing 36 GPM it was not exchanging the heat out. It had been tanked out and cleaned 3 times already, so the decision was made to recore it, and go with a 4 row instead of a 3 row just incase. It seems to be fine now although I havent been able to drive it a long ways on the interstate when its been hot out yet I drove it 70 miles tonite and it never got over 170 but its pretty cool today. Thanks for all the input and help with this I'll try to remember to post another update after a trip when its hot out again.
Thanks again for all the help I think its finally going to be good now. BTW this motor is in my 51 Shoebox, I am rebuilding the coupe motor right now too.
Last edited: