Overheating on a 170 in a 1961

[Notar61]

Hello all,

Last night I checked the fan belt and it was tight.....hadn't loosened up like Dennis had thought.

I also squeezed on that lower radiator hose and it is pretty easy to smash down.....so no spring probably. My old radiator hose probably had one in it but I didn't even think to look and tossed it. Gonna have to find one of those springs now.

Roger do you happen to remember where you bought your hose and spring at? I called NAPA last night and they didn't seem to think I could get just a spring for the radiator hose.

I didn't have time last night to sit and watch the radiator with the cap off, but I plan to tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks again for everyone's ideas and suggestions!

-Andrew

[Luva65wagon]

I couldn't find (quickly) the spring for the lower on a 170, but here's the one for a 289 - and you could probably twist it in. Even if it is a little big or small, you can usually manipulate them to go in and stay put.

https://www.npdlink.com/store/produc...43875-382.html

There is debate on the need. Some say "YES" and some say "NO." My basic reasoning is that if the hose is soft cold, it is softer all-the-more hot. And it's not easy to see happening - while driving down the road - so for $5 it is worth doing just to rule it out. And I feel new hoses and find them inferior to those made in 196X, so why debate it. Considering your old hose had one, there's no reason not to make sure the new one does too.

Still do the other checks, even before the spring-add. These are telling of other things worth knowing.

[Notar61]

Roger,

Yeah I think the spring would be a good idea. Might as well at this point. I'll go ahead and get that one for the mustang and try and get it to fit.

And once I do some more tests, I will report back with what I find out.

Thanks!

-Andrew

[Notar61]

Okay. Radiator spring is ordered. I will get it installed once it gets here.

Last night I did take the radiator cap off and let the car idle. After awhile the coolant did start to move around and flow. No bubbles or anything too. I did notice that the level seemed lower than the last time I topped it off. So maybe there was a bubble and it got worked out? Seemed weird that the coolant level had dropped.

Do I need to try and burp the coolant system again?

-Andrew

[Luva65wagon]

Do I need to try and burp the coolant system again?

I'm pretty sure there was probably a few pockets of air that worked their way out. Top it up and run it a little, let it cool, check the fluid. It will probably stabilize. There is also, I suppose, a chance it did off-gas a bit (spew) when it got warm and you lost some fluid. Do you have a coolant recovery or would it have spilled onto the ground?

You'll have to rinse and repeat all of this when you pull the bottom hose off, so maybe hold-off doing any more until you have that done.

I did some more thinking on the lower spring debate. I bet (though I've not researched the debate much) that the naysayers say the "pressure in the system" should be enough to keep the hose from collapsing. Technically, I suppose, that would be true if the pressure was greater than the suction caused by the pump. But again, how would you know? Mount a video camera focused on the lower hose? Springs, I believe, we a fail-safe to make sure it doesn't happen. Why, then, are we buying hoses, or are they selling hoses, without them? I used to work in an auto parts store and all the lower hoses I sold (as best I can recall) had springs. These were all Gates hoses back then. Now, who knows where these hoses are coming from. I can take a guess...

[Notar61]

Roger,

Thanks for all the info.

I don't have an overflow reservoir for the radiator, so if it off-gassed it would of just went onto the ground.

Guess I will try the spring and see where it gets me. Hopefully it was just some air bubbles that got caught up in the cooling system that caused the overheating. I will be sure and burp and cycle it a lot when I have to re-install the radiator hose.

Yeah the new hoses I bought were Gates brand, but no spring. Seems weird that they would just dump using the spring, but maybe it's a cost saving measure?

I did notice this little note on a website selling the Gates hose I bought.

"Re-engineered materials resist vacuum collapse. This reduces the need for internal springs in many applications."

I'm still going to use the spring for peace of mind. One less thing to worry about!

[Notar61]

Got some work done on the car this past weekend.

-Got the spring installed on the lower radiator hose.

-Felt like my back brakes where adjusted too tight. I don't think this was the problem, but I thought I should make them a little less loose.

-Found out that the diaphragm was completely disintegrated in the vacuum advance on the distributor. Replaced it with a new one.


Bad thing is I refilled the radiator and tried my best to burp the system, but it was getting too hot just idling. Maybe I need to cycle it some more.....could be air in there still since I just re-filled it.

Also I need to check the timing but I was unable to do so, because I couldn't find the notch or mark on the harmonic balancer. Or is it somewhere else? I see the thing with the lines and the numbers, but shouldn't there be another mark on something else that I line up with the correct number for timing? Anyone got a picture?

I'm going to try a new thermostat too. I've had 3 people tell me that thermostat is probably the issue......even though it seems like the coolant is flowing if I idle the car with the radiator cap off.


-Andrew