Your pump will leak, most likely from the weap hole on the bottem of the shaft, or make a lot of noise when she's going bad.

 

On the radiator somewhere along the very bottom (maybe even 45 degree angle on a bottom edge) there will be a petcock OR a plug. Pet***** get damaged and the PO's sometimes cheap out and just put a plug in to replace. It's only purpose is to drain the radiator so it is very low.
Sometimes they are wings only, sometimes they have a shoulder on em for a end wrench.

Here's a pic I stole of instructables.com


Dead center of the pic, the thing with 2 little wings on it.

(note you are lying on your back looking up at sway bars and the bottom of the radiator in this pic)

Pulley bearing is just a little worn, nothing to worry about at all.

Nah, rust is by no means a death sentence - otherwise we'd all be driving brand new vehicles and there wouldn't be anything on the road more than a year old, rust happens fast.

Oh I found online that the 1970 Torino with 351w called for a 190 t-stat... guess Ford just liked em a little hot with that motor.

 

Thanks Brian.

t

 

Here is a video link to Youtube. A video I made of my engine clunking and gurgling. Turn up your speakers so you can hear it...

351W cooling system issue - YouTube

What do you think?

Tyler

 

Hey Tyler,
That's pretty unique - let's see what the consensus is on that noise.
Water pumps have metal "impellers" in there that push the water - it sounds like you have one broken off that's banging around in there as water sloshes around when you stop. Something is definitely making a mechanical noise - it doesn't sound or look like a "boiling over" type issue.

Ben in Austin

 

Hey great video ,,just a thought ,one yes 200 is high ,,but not when you shut it down and it climbs..that is normal ..the cracking and gurgle ..kinda make me want to see what happens if you pop the rad cap ,and start it up ..It should NOT spray out the top ..it should move and circulate in the rad..if it bubbles over you might have a cracked head or bad head gasket ..if your oil is clean you should be ok ...if you have a 195 degree t-stat it ain't far from 200 so not a big deal ..most ford's are happy at 180 or so ..but over the years with government demands and pollution standards ,the motors run hotter and leaner ..I believe the transition from the old teck to the new High teck motors we are learning to compensate for the failings of engine builders to take in to account some of the mills will still be working after the warranty is up ..try pulling out the T-stat and see what happens..although I know my 390 Fe overheats without it ,because it needs the restriction to cool down ..

 

See the allen plug on the top of the thermostat housing? Loosen it when the engine is cold, so it only has a couple of threads holding it in. Start it up, and carefully remove the plug, keeping it against the threads so air can get out, but not much water. (Watch out for the fan!!). Many cars have a bleeder screw just like a brake bleeder there to let air out. That chug-chug-chugging is I believe trapped air escaping from the block into the intake passages. It helps to park the truck on an hill, so front is higher. You can also take the plug completely out when cold, fill the rad until only water comes out, to pre-purge it.

That kind of noise also occurs with a dirty system. Did you use an acid cleaner?

 

Wow... If I didn't know better I would ask are you sure it is the truck, at first I thought a clothes washer in the background on agitate cycle....but since you are sure it's from the truck and moving the mic in brings it into sharper relief, that and the fact that the sound changes in the 2nd half the vid.... You got yourself somethin beyond me, I would be at the point of stethescope or "throwin parts at it" i.e. replace the water pump and see if that fixes it.

Side note, if you don't have or want to get a steth, you can take a really long screwdriver and press the bit to the engine block / pump housing / etc and the plastic handle to your ear. Unfortunately I can't really teach you how to recognize what sound means what it's kind of a lost art now - "mechanics" now a days don't use em, they just keep replacing whatever the computer tells em to or they guess.

I can tell you one thing it is not - that is not flash vaporize, gurgle in, flash vaporize, etc as I guessed sight unseen earlier.

Time for the other even more seasoned vets to step up and take over - I am out of my league now.

 

Ross has never led me astray, and since you didn't open the petcock, you probably didn't get the very bottom of the radiator clean good...

 

I like Ross's air pocket theory - plus it's a lot easier to bleed air from a little screw than replacing the waterpump. It is odd that the sound seemed to move from the water pump up to the thermostat.

If at some point you decide to tackle the waterpump it's not that bad -
just be patient & expect at least one of those screws to be stuck.
Also something noone told me - they leak until that new gasket swells
up after a few minutes. (I was pretty damn pissed that the water pump leaked after all that damn work to get it back on - then a miracle it all swelled up & no leaks). Good luck over there.

Did it always make this racket after you stopped?

Ben in Austin

 

I wanted to do the air bleed deal but decided to run the engine with the rad cap off for a bit to see if it spewed water etc. Somebody said it should NOT spew water. It did a little bit, then erupted when we shut it down. See the video below. We were gonna do the bleed but the radiator developed a major leak in the middle of the unit somewhere so we gave up. I am gonna replace the radiator and go from there. But please have a look at the video and let me know what you think of the little bit of spewing, then the major eruption when we shut the engine down...

t

351W Radiator Eruption - YouTube

 

Hey Tyler,
First let's be happy that it runs & starts up so easily - that's good.
Your coolant is still really still rust colored - I see more flushing in your future.

My radiator did the same thing your's did - After you start messing with it & increasing activity for the first time in a while it starts to spring leaks at all the weak points. Wait till you put a new waterpump in there pumping efficiently - put's a lot of pressure on these old radiators.

If you take a radiator cap off of a normal engine when it's hot it will "blow" as well - doesn't look too unusual to me. Do you have one of those temperature laser deals? It would be good to know what the temp is on
the radiator side of the thermostat.

As an aside that radiator looks like the original which is now taking on the task of trying to cool a 351W - I don't think they will work out well. A new 4 core radiator would be much more efficient. Coupled with a fan shroud I think you will be much better though alot of guys are going with slimmer electronic fans.

Good luck over there Tyler. You are making good progress - looks like fun.

Ben in Austin

(When you change your radiator you most likely will have to move the support brackets a bit).




Ben

 

So Ben, other than the rusty coolant, you don't see anything out of the ordinary happening? With the cap off, the spewing and the big eruption when we shut down are not unexpected events?

I am looking at a radiator from classic haulers.com that is made for the F-1 mounting brackets but is a much newer style and will accommodate an electric fan etc. I will call them tomorrow to ask about coupling it with a 351. Will also plan on replacing that water pump.

My son is having surgery tomorrow. He broke and dislocated a finger during b-ball practice. Gonna have to have it pinned. Nice.

Thanks for your help. I'll keep you posted.

tyler

 

Hey Tyler,
I'm sorry to hear about your son's finger - those can really hurt till they get put back in place. No - I don't see anything unusual in the solution
erupting out from radiator - it's under pressure after it really warms up.
(It definitely confirms that you got the thermostat in there correct -warm water is making it to the radiator).

There are a lot of options on radiators - I would post your choice on here so you can get some feedback on the direction you are going there. 3 core, 4 core, cross flow, size, etc.. It also would be good to see a shot of how far your radiator is set back from your fan - if it's too far cooling won't be efficient. (Normally there are 2 choices in there for where to set it - might want to look & see if you got it in the one closest to the fan).

Ben in Austin

(I'm not huge expert on radiators but I have gone down this particular path earlier this year - Let me look up what radiator I ordered).

 

I am looking at classic hauler's radiators as they are built to fit the F-1 and they say they will cool any engine you can fit in the truck. I have their printed catalog and it shows an aluminum cross flow radiator (part 91090) for $535 but that item is NOT shown on their website. Not sure what that means but their website is not the best. Kind of amateurish, but whatever...If you happen to have their catalog and can look it up I would welcome any opinions or advice. I would also like to know what anyone thinks of the other more stock-looking radiators they have that are supposed to be higher efficiency than the real stock ones. I would like the radiator to look nice--shiny and cool looking They offer some more stock-looking units that have polished tops etc. so I would consider those too. I would also like to get a shroud and and electric fan but I have no idea how the wiring for the fan works.

I think I will post a separate thread about this just to get a broader response.