Radiator leak

Neshkoro

Neshkoro

Senior Member
Seems I have this issue and need clarification. The radiator leaks fluid out near the bottom hose. If I take the cap off and look inside, there is a small (1/4") tube right in the center of the opening. Is that that the overflow? When the engine is cold the level is below the top of that tube. When the engine heats up the coolant level increases and is leaking out the bottom of the radiator near the lower radiator hose. If when it's cold, I fill it up and a puddle appears under the car. I know there are a lot of unusual things in a Model A design. I'm wondering if this is one of them. I did have a leak in the water pump packing that I fixed. That seems to be taken care of.
Can anyone shed some light on this issue?
 
Check this out:
 

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As Bob pointed out in his diagram you are most likely overfilling it.
The coolant will expand quite a bit as it gets hot. Just keep an eye on the coolant and resist the urge to refill. The radiator will push out the excess. As long as the top of the tubes in the radiator are covered with coolant you will be fine.
 
Glad to help. You are not alone in running into this as a newer Model A owner.
Let us know how it goes.
 
Bob Bidonde,
You have the best Model A repair illustrations out there! I'm always impressed with the simple but elegant illustrations and clarity of explanation of how things work. Do you have a library of them? I would love to collect the whole set!
Well done!
 
Bob Bidonde said:
mcgarrett,
Thanks for your kind words. I make the illustrations for my local Model "A" club where I am the Technical VP. Many are posted in the Technical section here:
https://www.modelalongisland.com/
Click to expand...


Bob, I thank you for posting this link...I saved it for future reference and learned a lot from your link...My father gave me his 1930 5 window before he passed and I have been working through issues getting ready to pass the car on to my granddaughter...I had some foaming issues at the radiator fill and maybe it is time to get rid of the Moto Meter and go back to an original cap...

Steve Petersen
 
I had foaming in my "A" when I used Prestone anti-freeze. No more foaming when I switched to biodegradable (supposedly) Sierra anti-freeze by Peak.:)


Bob-A:D


"When Men were Men, Women were Women, Cars were Cars and everybody liked it that way!"
 
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