I've got a 1970 351 Cleveland that is having an overheating issue.  I've talked with @TFaoro about it and he's steering me towards it needing head gaskets.  (A Ford needing head gaskets?  Never heard of that!).  Anyways, I was hoping to hear if anyone else has run into and issue like this.  And when I say overheating "issue" I mean it's puking coolant out within three miles of gentle driving (with and without a thermostat).  

Last time I worked on the car (two days ago), I put on a new water pump in hopes that would help.  It did not.  Any thoughts?

Edited September 25, 20177 yr by trreed

Questions

1 - what is the actual temp and how are you reading it?

2 - Is it puking past the radiator cap or out the overflow tube?

3 - Is it bubbling really bad if you leave the radiator cap off and let it idle until warmed up?

4 - oil in coolant or visa versa?

5 - have you pressure tested the radiator cap?

6 - radiator condition, can you see down into the cores or if they are scaled up and has it ever been acid washed out to get the scale out of the inside and are the fins and cores damaged?

7 - have you watched the radiator hoses to see if they are collapsed and removed them to see if there is any deterioration of flaps blocking the coolant flow?

All things that need to be checked when dealing with a rig nearing 50 years old.

Edited September 25, 20177 yr by Wild and Free

1) actual temp is unknown, reading via stock gauge

2) both

3) I ran the bubble test twice, and after the cooling system purged the air in it, there were no bubbles

4) no mixing

5) cap has not been tested.  Running a 16 psi cap that was on the radiator when I got the car

6) Radiator was new last year as old one scaled up and was leaking.  Car has been stored with low-silicate green coolant

Need to answer Wild & Free's questions.

 

I'm going to also lean towards head gaskets. 3 miles is nothing for distance and shouldn't be pushing coolant out that fast. 

 

Apparently getting pressure from somewhere.

Edited September 25, 20177 yr by Mopar1973Man

Was it doing this before the new radiator and were the hoses replaced at the same time?

 

Try doing an easy stall with the cap off and have someone watch to see if it bubbles with a load on after the initial warm up expansion, Another way is to stretch a rubber glove over it and stall it to see if it blows up during a stall test to get a bit of load on it "After its already warmed up". This will let you know if you have a head gasket leaking real quick, especially if it does it during a very short easy drive.

Edited September 25, 20177 yr by Wild and Free

I'm betting that'll show me the true colors.  Thanks for the tip!  I'm away from the car for another two weeks but will try that when I'm working on it again

 

They do sell exhaust detection strips you can dip in the coolant to see if its getting exhaust gases into it as well. might check with your local parts jobber to see if they carry them.

I forgot about those!  I'll have to pick up a kit.  Easy test.

 

I have not seen them in a while I know they make a liquid test kit you can test it for color change as well too same concept.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI

Edited September 25, 20177 yr by Wild and Free

5 hours ago, Wild and Free said:

Was it doing this before the new radiator and were the hoses replaced at the same time?

 

Try doing an easy stall with the cap off and have someone watch to see if it bubbles with a load on after the initial warm up expansion, Another way is to stretch a rubber glove over it and stall it to see if it blows up during a stall test to get a bit of load on it "After its already warmed up". This will let you know if you have a head gasket leaking real quick, especially if it does it during a very short easy drive.

Car was never run with old radiator, hoses, thermostat, or water pump.  It had been stored for 20 years, and before it was fired up the first time, it was flushed 5 times, new water pump installed, new hoses, new radiator, new thermostat.  

9 hours ago, trreed said:

It had been stored for 20 years, and before it was fired up the first time

 

Yeah but if the coolant was already corrosive in nature it very well could have eaten a head gasket sitting for 20 years. A lot of people assume that coolant will last forever sitting in parked vehicle. Might protect against freeze up but the corrosive nature could give it all the time in the world during storage to do it's dirty deed.

 

Scale buildup is a sure sign that coolant was corrosive not to mention the leaks.

Edited September 26, 20177 yr by Mopar1973Man

All I know about the car being stored was that it was stored from 1991-2014 in Colorado and I think it had just water in the radiator... Since then it's been stored in Minnesota with low silicate green coolant in the system. There's been plenty of rust every time the system has been flushed.  There's plenty of circulation in the cooling system as viewed through the radiator cap.  

With that much rust and scale buildup, I would say that the new radiator is probably clogged. You see the circulation only on the top through the cap, it doesn't take much to clog the cores. Take the radiator out and flush it out and see what comes out. Also the passages in the head could be clogged too, what ever the issue is, always the old saying, USE IT OR LOOSE IT always wins.