Puking Antifreeze

[CA58Bird]

Well for some odd reason the car is dripping antifreeze. It had not done this before, and I have since installed a temporary catch can to mesure the amount. Last Sunday the car dumped about a pint out of the overflow on a 20 mile drive.
Where should we start to look for issues?

[LuckyJay]

I'd say try not to overfill the system, if it's truly coming out the overflow.

[tbird430]

I had a coolant leak on my 430cid Bird from an exhaust manifold BOLT!!! I had to remove the lower bolt and apply a high temp thread sealer to stop my coolant leak.

Have you determined where your coolant is dripping from?

[JohnG]

those tanks are notorious for developing leaks. Your best bet is to either replace it with a repro (a $200 matter) or take yours to a radiator shop and have it pressure tested and repaired. That does not cure the problem forever but buys you some time.

You could go with a really low pressure cap and put a catch bottle on a hose from the overflow. Not optimal but at least your not dumping the stuff on the road and can put it back in.

john

[Guest]

Is you temp. gauge going up more that it used to, mine runs between the M & P if yours is running hot you might change the T-Stat, also you might put on a new Rad. Cap. and are you sure that it is leaking out the drain hose.

[Howard Prout]

I have a similar problem and haven't been able to resolve it to my satisfaction as yet. I would really like the temp gauge to sit on the E or lower. I've had the water pump rebuilt and I've had the rad recored with a triple core but it still runs hot. I even tried repacing the temperature sending unit as the gauge seemed to registering higher than heat guns indicated. It got worse after I had the engine rebuilt last year but then I discovered that they installed a 195F thermomstat. I replaced it with a 160F thermostat and now it is better (the needle on the temp gauge sits on the M most of the time) but still gets very hot (at the top of the P) in stop and go traffic on a hot day (over say 90F). When it gets that hot, I lose coolant through the overflow due to expansion.

Has any one had any luck with a six blade fan? Also I see a fan shroud advertised for 58-60 TBirds -I think they were designed for the 352. Has anyone tried one of these on a 430??

[YellowRose]

Puking Antifreeze

Hi Howard,

Some members have gone the six bladed fan route to help the problem of overheating. My 352 has a five bladed fan and I added the fan shroud to it. I think the fan shrouds on the Bulletbirds and big Fords of those years will also fit on the 430 engine with some modifications. I think Bart~bcomo can tell you about that. I do not know how many 430 owners have added the metal fan shroud. I think that Bart still has a metal fan shroud that he has yet to put on his 430. You might contact him to see if he is interested in parting with it. He might be. They certainly seem to help.

The other thing you might consider is checking to see if your temp gauge is reading to high. There is an adjustment on the back of the meter where you can lower or raise the indicator. There is a Technical Tip on how to do this that Alexander created some time ago. Unfortunately, it is not working under the Technical section on the Main page because the graphics were lost. It is one of the things skyd is working on to fix. However, I was able to get copies of the missing graphics files and put them and other Technical Tips on Fortune City until skyd gets the main section fixed. You can find that information here.

http://squarebirds.fortunecity.com/Technical/master.htm

Click on the link to the 1958-1960 Tbird Gauge Calibration. The pictures will be there. As I recall the bottom two holes are for the adjustment of the temperature reading. The top two for the fuel gauge settings. Read the bottom notes on this page also..

On the Master page you will also find an article regarding fan shrouds. It is here.

http://squarebirds.fortunecity.com/Technical/shroud.htm

Some people have used the Dearborn plastic shield. Others prefer the metal shield. Mine came off a '63 Galaxie and works well. It was put on with the radiator in place. As I recall, the bottom tabs had to be moved over also to mount the bottom part of the shroud properly. I found mine on eBay. Read the notes regarding these shields at the bottom. Once again, Alexander did the work for us on using these fan shields. Many swear by them, including myself.

Good luck!

[tbird430]

I found a metal fan shroud off a big block 1961-63 Ford Galaxie & installed it on my 430cid Bird. I had to drill out the 4 spot welds on the the 2 lower mounting brackets then measure my lower radiator support holes. I then pop-rivoted these 2 brackets back onto the lower half of the metal fan shroud. I simply drilled to new holes on the top radiator bracket & used 2 short bolts to hold the upper fan shroud half on. I then repainted my shround black & installed. Everything else cleared just fine....

[Howard Prout]

... I had to drill out the 4 spot welds on the the 2 lower mounting brackets then measure my lower radiator support holes. I then pop-rivoted these 2 brackets back onto the lower half of the metal fan shroud...

Do you happen to remember the spacing you used for the lower brackets? I now have a metal shroud and would like to get it ready to instal before hand. Thanks.

[tbird430]

I don't remember what the exact measurement was, sorry. I just raised my T-Bird, then crawled under and measured the width of the two lower radiator mounting bolts (in the lower front crossmember). Those are the two I used to remount the metal shroud...

-Jon

[Howard Prout]

Thanks Jon. I guess I will do the same thing.

[Howard Prout]

I measured the distance between the rad mounting bolts on my car at 22 3/16". The shroud is 23 1/4" wide which means that the mounting brackets have to be moved out to the very edge of the shroud. Since the shroud narrows into points at the outside edges, there is nothing to attach the brackets to at those points. So it looks like I will have to weld pieces of 14 ga. steel along the lower edge of the shroud and then weld the brackets to the new pieces of sheet metal. Is this what others have done?

[KULTULZ]

Well for some odd reason the car is dripping antifreeze. It had not done this before, and I have since installed a temporary catch can to mesure the amount. Last Sunday the car dumped about a pint out of the overflow on a 20 mile drive.

Where should we start to look for issues?

Is the coolant coming directly out of the overflow tube or is there a pressure leak in the system? Have you pressure checked the system? Have the radiator cap relief pressure checked also. When you fill the cooling system without overflow bottle (closed system), coolant level must remain at approx. 1" below the filler opening to allow for coolant expansion.

[tbird430]

No I didn't do that much fabing to make the metal shroud work on my '60 Bird. It seems like I maybe moved the lower fan shroud "arms" or brackets out approx. an inch on each side & then re-rivoted them. I then used the 2 existing lower radiator mounting bolts to secure the bottom 1/2 of the metal shroud to the lower front crossmember....

It sounds like the shroud you have is slightly smaller in exterior demenisions than mine is. Mine was removed from a 1963 Galaxie with a 390cid & A/C. Maybe our 430cid Birds have a different radiator lower mounting flange than the 352cid Birds? We need someone to measure the width of these lower front crossmember rear radiator mounting holes I'd guess to make this conclusion "stick" though.

[Howard Prout]

A while after I brought old Betsy home from the shop the other day, I noticed a pool of coolant on the garage floor - it appeared to come from the expansion tank overflow. The TEMP gauge never went above the lower leg of the "M". When I checked the coolant level a few days later, the expansion tank was totaly empty. The original puddle had dried up and there was no additional coolant on the floor. It took more than a quart of coolant to bring the level up into the expansion tank (ie. just into the tank, not to fill the tank). I haven't checked the rad cap but I think it is OK. This is not a new problem but rather one I have had for some time. Any suggestions about how to deal with this issue?