Chris Haynes
Well-known member
My engine has an OHV head, leakless water pump, fresh rebuild. I had a new core put in the radiator and it is now pressurized. The radiator cap the shop supplied is a 14 pound cap. Will that be a problem?
This picture is from Brassworks web site, shows 4lb cap.
By increasing the pressure 4.5psi, you raise the temperature where a "boil over" can occur. (i.e. from 212 to 258F) It can increase the rate of heat transfer between radiator and air effectively giving your cooling system a bit more heat transfer capacity IF you're at boil over temperature. Heat transfer CAN increase to the difference between ambient (say 70F) and either 212 (142t) or 258 (188t) or roughly 1/4 improvement.
MOSTLY engines operate considerably under the water saturation temperature. Think 180F max. Boil over occurs when for some reason heat transfer is impeded AT THE RADIATOR. Generally if you're at that point, going up 46 degrees in coolant temperature probably won't save you. Resistance to heat transfer is resistance.
Joe K
Joe I think you need to check your numbers - charts I've seen many times indicate that a 4 psi in pressure will only increase straight water to a boiling point of 225 degrees, not above 250. 16 psi only raises water boiling temp to 252 degrees. The addition of "antifreeze" adds significantly to the boiling temperatures under all pressures. Using a 50% solution raises the boiling point more than a 4 psi of pressure increase would.
The most significant result of increasing pressure in any cooling system is the subsequent increased likelihood of creating leakage.
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Might be better to use the 4 psi cap.