FORD 302 COOLING PROBLEM

[staffpop]

HI ALL HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL ,WHY WOULD THE COOLANT OVER FLOW WHEN YOU PRESS THE THROTTLE THE CAR HAS NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE,THERE IS NO THERMOSTAT FITTED (NEVER HAD ONE FITTED) SINCE OWNING THE CAR ,CHANGED HEADERS FROM STANDARD CAST HEADERS TO A TUBE TYPE SHORTY HEADER AND HAD A STAINLESS EXHAUST SYSTEM MADE ,ON THE DRIVE HOME ABOUT 16 miles , PARKED THE CAR ON DRIVE AND NOTICED THAT WATER WAS OVER FLOWING FROM THE CATCH CAN IN THE ENGINE BAY THANKS IN ADVANCE ROOB

[v8250]

Bob, you do really need a thermostat fitted, it's there to control water temp and water flow. Re' the overflowing coolant, have you changed the coolant recently? It sounds like there's air in the system that's purging itself. If not, often the trick is to empty the coolant, premix new coolant an measure the known total volume, then fill via the radiator [if catch can is designed as an overflow...] or via the expansion bottle/catch can [if the catch can is designed as a closed loop expansion system]. The trick with filling is to fill slowly :. minimizing the amount of air trapped. Fill 50% volume and turn engine over to run water pump/expel air, then fill remainder of coolant. Run engine with pressure cap off for a while and watch the air expel. If you do drain/replace coolant be sure to flush and reverse flush ensuring absolute clean water both ways before filling with fresh coolant mix...it's amazing the crud that can come out of some engines.

[Ian Anderson]

I would think your plumbing is wrong

I would bet the pipe to the header tank is taken from the "hot" or from ending to radiator pipe

So now your radiator has cruder up a bit

Rev the car and the water cannot go through the rad so pressure builds up and blows off through the pressure cap

The header rank should be plumbed into the suction side of the system

Iqn

[staffpop]

NOTHING HAS CHANGED CAR HAS RUN AS WAS SET UP FOR THE PAST YEAR , JUST CANGED EXHAUST SYSTEM AND NOW COOLANT OVER FLOWING, I REMOVED THERMOSTAT HOUSING THINKING KNACKERED THERMOSTAT , NO STAT FITTED (NOT MY DOING) THIS WAS HOW IT HAS ALWAYS RAN AND NEVER OVERFLOWED BEFORE

[Ian Anderson]

Your radiator is crud ding up

When did you last flush it through?

Ian

[staffpop]

WILL FLUSH ENGINE AND RADIATOR TOMORROW BY THE LOOKS OF THINGS

[v8250]

Bob, a little note/help on reverse flushing...do remove top and bottom radiator hoses, and the radiator. Flush/reverse flush engine for a good amount of time with good high water pressure. With radiator, turn upside down to flush first, then back to normal...and keep turning radiator until perfectly clear both ways. Also, turn heater to hot and thoroughly reverse flush the matrix too. Whilst system's drained take a close look at the condition of the hoses. If they're old/old'ish check wall strength integrity...have had a hose collapse before whilst under pressure/hot that showed similar symptoms to yours. Good luck,

Andrew

PS whilst system's down why not fit that thermostat

[mgbv8]

I assume that the car has not been stood for ages and that it has antifreeze in it ?

If this is the case what was the engine temp when the thing spat water out ?
If this was at boiling point then for some reason it could be running hotter on the new headers ??

Does it spit more water when you rev it than it does at idle when at any temperature?

If this is the case I would expect to find the rubber on the pressure cap of the expansion tank has split or degraded. I assume that the expansion line is taken from the top hose part of the system or the top of the rad ?

Check the basic stuff first.

1. Engine temp when it spits water.
2. Rev the engine before full temp and see if it spits due to pump pressure against a knackered rad cap.


Perry

[staffpop]

HI GUYS THANKS FOR HELP <BUT IT LOOKS LIKE A HEADGASKET IS ON ITS WAY OUT