I put a pressure tester on it at lunch.it seemed to hold fine at 16lbs with a couple of drops coming from the plastic heater control valve.i will replace that but im sure that's not the problem as ive looked there before and never saw a drip.one thing I did notice was that I needed to add coolant and it was full of small bubbles .the coolant level was bouncing violently from very low to almost overfull constantly as I added coolant.
where is my coolant going?
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You mentioned you still had the stock radiator. Does it have buildup in it or could it be partially blocked? I had my original stock radiator in my car until a few years ago and I just wonder if yours is starting to fail from age?
When I had cooling issues at a time I commuted an hour and half each way, I ended up replacing both hoses, back flushed the system, replaced thermostat and rad cap. I was very diligent in changing my coolant and I could not believe the crud that came out. Had to have the radiator "boiled out" and cleaned up because it was getting plugged up in certain spots. This was back 30 years ago, so without cell phones and technology, breaking down was not an option. That was the reason for me probably going overboard to fix my cooling issues. But it worked and car stayed at normal temps.
I have no experience with your type of motor and hopefully others who have it might know of some of the quirks that might be causing your specific issue.
Good luck and I hope you get it straightened out soon.
Sorry, i forgot......I know from the past that bubbles in the coolant could be from leaking head gaskets which others have mentioned I believe?
sorry.....by stock I meant stock style.the rad is about 2 yrs old and the hoses too.i could be wrong but I think they are in good shape.
Good suggestions from everyone. Maybe a dumb question here...Are you just running straight water in it? Or water and coolant? Straight water will boil off. 180 degrees is close to the boiling point of water as you probably know. 220 even higher. Friend of mine had 70's lincoln and he was only running water in it...same symptoms as yours. Drained some water out and added coolant. Problem went away. Just a thought. But surely could be any of the things that have been suggested.
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Check the weep hole on the bottom of the water pump. The front seal on the water pump may be on its way out and is weeping out this hole. I had one on my El Camino that you could smell coolant when it was hot but found nothing on the ground. During an oil change I found the rust trail coming from the weep hole and down the lower radiator hose.
Hope this helps!
Bob S.
Hope this helps!
Bob S.
The radiator and hoses should be fine then. Also if you have a bunch of little bubbles in the coolant it could be trapped air. That can cause weird heating issues on some systems.
Stuff like this always drives me crazy. Wait, cars already made me permanently insane so, that is that! lol
Hope you find the issue soon.
220 still higher than 216.Was just speaking from my experience. Helped the lincoln. Straight water not good for engine either way. Could be any of the suggestions above. All good ones
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actually water absorbs heat much better than antifreeze. I ran distilled water and water wetter for years with no problems and I run my car 200 to 220 all the time. We used distilled water and water wetter in our circle track cars. Our sportsman in the Lucas Oil Series did 100 lap races and the engine's temperature never went below 230 degrees and we didn't lose any water....
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