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01-03-2007 10:26 PM #1
Should I have an overflow bottle on my radiator?
Yeah, I know, another simple question. When you guys are done teaching me, I will know everything.
My overflow tube just runs to the ground. Should there be a overflow bottle? Will it draw back into the radiator when it cools?
Thanks Jim
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01-03-2007 10:55 PM #2
Yeah, I like them because they keep your car from doing that embarassing puking of water when you shut it down sometimes, plus you don't keep losing coolant.
Just make sure you get a cap designed for closed systems, as they are made to allow water to travel back into the radiator when it cools down.
Don
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01-03-2007 10:58 PM #3
Thanks Don.
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01-04-2007 09:01 PM #4
There is a difference between an overflow bottle and a coolant recovery. An overflow bottle will just fill up and then overflow, it will not draw back into the radiator. A coolant recovery system will. It is set up different
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01-04-2007 09:14 PM #5
I like the coolant recovery system. How do I set that up?
Jim
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01-04-2007 10:44 PM #6
No puking, please!
The coolant recovery system is definitely the way to go. One major benefit is less corrosion inside the engine, because the radiator stays completely full, minimizing air (and oxygen) from getting into the water, so there's less oxidation, and your anti-freeze will last longer.
The radiator cap needs to have a good seal at two places. The spring loaded lower seal provides the pressure in the radiator, which increases the boiling temperature of the coolant. Because the radiator is completely full, and the coolant will expand as it gets hot, some coolant will be forced past this seal into the overflow reservoir.
The upper seal, inside the cap, seals around the top of the radiator neck. When you shut off the engine, the coolant will contract as the engine cools off. This upper seal forces the coolant in the overflow reservoir to be sucked back into the radiator thru the one way check valve in the bottom of the cap as the engine cools off. If this upper seal isn't good, air will be sucked into the radiator rather than pulling the coolant from the reservoir. Of course, the overflow tube must go to the bottom of the reservoir so it can stay submerged in the coolant.
It's simple, cheap, there are no hi-tech gadgets, and no puking! What a deal!Last edited by Hot Rod Roy; 01-06-2007 at 06:18 PM.
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01-05-2007 03:34 PM #7
won't have to tell the parts guy that, unless your getting an original cap from a resto company, they have the valve, it's standard to have them now days. it's a little silver thing on the bottom of the spring, you can pull it out by handYou don't know what you've got til it's gone
Matt's 1951 Chevy Fleetline- Driver
1967 Ford Falcon- Sold
1930's styled hand built ratrod project
1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle Wolfsburg Edition- sold
Awesome, I will put 5 quarts in when the time comes. I've always used Valvoline, what viscosity would be recommended for So.Cal.?, and thanks again
SB distributor won't fit