Coolant

[awd-turbo]

So.... I have about 4500 miles on the car and I love every min of it... I have an issue with coolant. When the car heats up it passes coolant to the reservoir and over flows out the safe over flow. (2L reservoir) I have a forte 351w stroked to 427. Once the car cools down or if I turn on the fan the coolant does not get sucked back into the line and I end up with air in the system, coolant on the ground and having to refill.

Any ideas? I am at a loss.

Thanks
Brian

[JMD]

Do you have a recirculating style catch can or is it just an overflow tank? If it's not a recirculating style can it won't suck it back into the system when it cools.

[Norm B]

What radiator cap are you using?

[egchewy79]

So the coolant isn't getting sucked back into the system when it cools? How do you have your overflow canister plumbed? the overflow should be connected near the top and the line going to your T piece/valve should be near the bottom of your canister. Not sure how it sucks air in without sucking the coolant first.

[gbranham]

I had the same issue with my first build. Even after letting the car sit overnight, the coolant sustem was still under pressure. I tried every suggestion you'll hear, and in the end, it was my head gaskets. In my case, I reused the Ford torque-to-yield head bolts on my rebuilt 302, and thus they weren't allowing a good seal between the interfaces on either the head side or block side of the gasket. When I'd give the car a lot of throttle, compression would lift the heads, and compression was leaking into the water jacket. I bought new head gaskets and head bolts, and never had the problem again.

Has it behaved this way since day 1, or is this a recent device?

[gbranham]

Do you have a recirculating style catch can or is it just an overflow tank? If it's not a recirculating style can it won't suck it back into the system when it cools.

As long as his overflow reservoir has a vent on it to allow air to replace coolant when it gets drawn back into the engine, it'll work. That's assuming his overflow line from the filler housing on the upper radiator hose connects to the bottom of the reservoir, of course.

[Its Bruce]

Once the car cools down or if I turn on the fan the coolant does not get sucked back into the line and I end up with air in the system, coolant on the ground and having to refill.

This part is confusing to me. If your overflow tank is plumbed and designed properly, the levels should not allow air into the system until it has drawn back the entire content of the overflow tank. If that were to happen, I would argue that your overflow tank is not large enough.

[gbranham]

This part is confusing to me. If your overflow tank is plumbed and designed properly, the levels should not allow air into the system until it has drawn back the entire content of the overflow tank. If that were to happen, I would argue that your overflow tank is not large enough.

I think the air he's getting in his coolant system is from compression blow-by on his head gaskets.

[gbranham]

So.... I have about 4500 miles on the car and I love every min of it... I have an issue with coolant. When the car heats up it passes coolant to the reservoir and over flows out the safe over flow. (2L reservoir) I have a forte 351w stroked to 427. Once the car cools down or if I turn on the fan the coolant does not get sucked back into the line and I end up with air in the system, coolant on the ground and having to refill.

Any ideas? I am at a loss.

Thanks
Brian

Can you show us a picture of your coolant overflow reservoir, and how it's plumbed?

Greg

[JMD]

I think the air he's getting in his coolant system is from compression blow-by on his head gaskets.

I hope it's the wrong overflow tank or how it's plumbed instead of head gasket issues! I like to rule out the simplest things first... ;)

[awd-turbo]

Gents.... you are all awesome... thanks for the feed back. So the catch can is just like the one from factory five, just larger, same design,(bought off amazon years ago). I did start marking some changes to the setup. The cap is a mustang cap for 16lbs. the T fitting was prob a tilted down to much and maybe the cap was lower than the 90 degree elbow. So I cut my 90 degree down and making the t fitting to sit higher.... But attached are some pictures of the setup.. I also removed the stainless steel tubing that came with the kit.. I am looking into different rubber setups, and just trying to find the right size and shape.205716205717

[gbranham]

I hope it's the wrong overflow tank or how it's plumbed instead of head gasket issues! I like to rule out the simplest things first... ;)

For sure! There's really nothing complicated about a cooling system. If the pressure cap on the filler housing isn't defective, there's not really much else to go wrong. In my case, I tried everything suggested here, many of which OP is trying now, and nothing had any effect. Let's hope it's something simple, but based on his description, my money's on head gaskets.

[Its Bruce]

Are you very sure your overflow tank is plumbed like the attached, noting the tubing elevation inside the tank.

205727

[gbranham]

As I mentioned earlier, it would be helpful to know if this has been an issue from Day 1, or just a recent development. If it's recent, then I don't believe you have an issue with your overflow configuration.

[Norm B]

I would recommend you replace the filler neck while you’re at it. In order for the system to work properly the radiator cap has to seal at two places. The bottom flange of the filler and the top lip. The bottom is obviously for the spring loaded pressure relief function of the cap and the top has to seal properly to make the system draw coolant back from the overflow tank. Yours looks a little beat up along the top and the radiator side connector is cracked. Get a nice metal one here https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/radiator-hose-fillers?fr=part-type&SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=Inline%20filler%20neck
Look at Jeff Kleiner’s post in this link to find part numbers for upper and lower hoses. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?34148-Upper-radiator-hose.
Try Google searching FFR Roadster radiator hoses for all kinds of ideas.

HTH

Norm

[CraigS]

As Norm B I am also concerned about that crack or cut in the right side of the filler where the hose should fit so I'd replace it. Also you need to verify how the hose from the nipple on the filler feeds into the tank. Easiest to see is if it goes into the bottom of the tank. But I believe there are some tanks where it goes to a nipple at the top but that nipple connects into a tube inside that goes to the bottom of the tank. Please also verify that your cap is the correct type. Not all caps are setup to suck fluid back in past them. Someone will chime in w/ details of how to verify that.

[awd-turbo]

Are you very sure your overflow tank is plumbed like the attached, noting the tubing elevation inside the tank.

205727

yes it is plumbed correctly.

[awd-turbo]

As I mentioned earlier, it would be helpful to know if this has been an issue from Day 1, or just a recent development. If it's recent, then I don't believe you have an issue with your overflow configuration.
it has been an issue since day one... i dont think it is a gasket issue on the head..



I would recommend you replace the filler neck while you’re at it. In order for the system to work properly the radiator cap has to seal at two places. The bottom flange of the filler and the top lip. The bottom is obviously for the spring loaded pressure relief function of the cap and the top has to seal properly to make the system draw coolant back from the overflow tank. Yours looks a little beat up along the top and the radiator side connector is cracked. Get a nice metal one here https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/radiator-hose-fillers?fr=part-type&SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=Inline%20filler%20neck
Look at Jeff Kleiner’s post in this link to find part numbers for upper and lower hoses. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?34148-Upper-radiator-hose.
Try Google searching FFR Roadster radiator hoses for all kinds of ideas.

HTH
so the filler neck crack that you are seeing is not the filler neck... it is a rubber gasket used as a filler for space that comes with the metal tubing... There are no cracks and nothing broken...

Norm


As Norm B I am also concerned about that crack or cut in the right side of the filler where the hose should fit so I'd replace it. Also you need to verify how the hose from the nipple on the filler feeds into the tank. Easiest to see is if it goes into the bottom of the tank. But I believe there are some tanks where it goes to a nipple at the top but that nipple connects into a tube inside that goes to the bottom of the tank. Please also verify that your cap is the correct type. Not all caps are setup to suck fluid back in past them. Someone will chime in w/ details of how to verify that.

So.... I redid everything this past week. I replaced the upper tube with a gates, replaced the radiator cap with a new 16lb mustang one.... i know the picture looks like the flow is going up on the hose but it is not.... After all the changes the car ran great on sat.... never went above 95c in traffic on my way back home.... I let the car cool down over night, the coolant catch was not empty, had a little fluid in it still. Cracked open the rad cap and it needed about 3 oz of fluid added to fill it back up.... So i added the fluid, came back sunday night after no driving, just sitting. It needed about another 2 oz as it went down some... so I added it.... came back to night, still no driving just sitting, and it needed about another 1 oz... I added the fluid.... I think that is just air still in the system... It needs a good burp... I did several burps friday night getting everything back together.... now it is a waiting game.... I am going to replace the bottom rad tubes w breeze setup i believe.... i hate the metal ones from ff5.... but that is a personal belief. 205868

[rich grsc]

The catch can should be at least 1/4 full when the engine is cold. It will self burp the last few oz. of coolant then.

[Norm B]

The system has to pull a little vacuum to open the return valve in the radiator cap. It will always look like it is down a little bit of coolant when the cap is opened when the system is fully cooled. The amount will vary depending on the type of cap and its age. The height of your catch can relative to the filler neck will also cause this. The lower the catch can the lower the coolant level will appear when you open the cap.

HTH

Norm