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Strange water flow problem 288 cu in engine
#1
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Packwagon
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Just getting this engine operating
As engine warms water does not flow in upper hose
I removed t stat, thinking a faulty thermostat
After 3-4 min a violent water explosion, 2-3 inches high out fill neck.
The heater hose has water and is extremely hot to touch.
I have no thermostat in
One suggested a purge of trapped air? I don’t know what that means.

Posted on: 2022/8/15 9:25
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Re: Strange water flow problem 288 cu in engine
#2
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HH56
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Trapped air means that for some reason liquid was not able to flow in and completely fill an area inside the engine or radiator that normally would contain coolant. The space that should have coolant flowing thru was full of air that could not be expelled so it is trapped.

This is not generally an issue on that engine however it conceivably could happen if the car was parked in such a way when it was filled that the rear of the engine was at a higher level than the front. If the rear of the engine is high liquid would find it easier to just stay toward the front of the engine and never reach the back thus trapping air.

If your car is parked on level ground the front of the engine is normally tipped up a very small amount. As coolant enters the radiator it wants to flow down to the bottom and out the bottom hose into the water pump return thus entering and filling the engine sort of from bottom to top, rear to front and pushing any air ahead of it up into the head and then out the upper hose. There should be enough leakage even thru a closed thermostat air is pushed out until the entire cooling system is filled. Air could still be in small higher up places but once the engine is started the pump and coolant flow will push coolant into any tiny spots left over such as the heater hoses and core which would hold around a quart.

Unless you have a leaking head gasket and that is the cause of the large bubble, chances are the bubble that came out got rid of most of the trapped air. You might make sure the car is on level ground and then try filling a bit more just to be thorough.

The normal maximum coolant level is you should be able to look in the radiator cap hole and see the top of the coolant at about 1 inch below the flat sealing surface at the bottom of the fill opening just below the overflow outlet That inch allows enough space for expansion so the coolant is not forced out the cap and into the overflow tube when the engine gets hot.

Posted on: 2022/8/15 10:08
Howard
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Re: Strange water flow problem 288 cu in engine
#3
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JWL
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Somewhat off topic, but interesting.

Years ago a coworker and I visited the 8th Air Force Museum near Savannah, Georgia. Some of the docents there were veterans who served in the 8th when it was headquartered in England during WW-II.

One of them told us a story about a P-51 crash. The war torn airplanes which were not longer suited for combat missions were used to organize the bombers on their missions. These bombing missions comprised of large number of bombers and it was a complicated job to get them all up, organized and on their way.

The story, as told to us, was this Mustang had some work done on it recently including some cooling system maintenance or repair. The cooling system had not been bled after the work. There was an air pocket which resulted in the engine overheating and seizing. The fighter crashed killing the pilot. Like I said kinda related to this discussion.

Highly recommend a visit to the museum when in the Savannah or Charleston area.

Posted on: 2022/8/15 14:26
We move toward
And make happen
What occupies our mind... (W. Scherer)
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Re: Strange water flow problem 288 cu in engine
#4
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Tim Cole
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The best way to fill a cooling system is by using a tool called a vacuum filler which uses vacuum to fill all of the voids in a cooling system. Nearly all modern cars require that method except mine which is an oddball.

I made up such a hand operated device for use on Packards using a cow milking pump to avoid hot spots in rebuilt motors that had thermostats.

Anyway, that is probably not your problem. If both heater hoses are getting hot with the heater valve open then the water pump is working. You may have a restriction in the lower part of the radiator that came loose; like a mouse nest and the sudden release caused the gush. If the motor is still doing it every time it runs, the lower radiator hose may have a collapse in it.

When I was doing prototype work air pockets were isolated via thermocouples which reported hots spots on a data logger. A critical aspect of motor engineering.

Posted on: 2022/8/15 16:32
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Re: Strange water flow problem 288 cu in engine
#5
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Ernie Vitucci
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Just an observation...When we were working on our 49/288 which came to us with the habit of overheating...we did all of the normal things...then out of frustration, we took the head off the engine and low and behold, the gasket had failed between the four center cylinders...a chemical test had not indicated the problem...changed the head gasket, and at the same time had the head checked for flat and ended up having the head trued up as well...also changed one bad stud, that would not hold torque, and Miss Prudence began to behave herself...Ernie in Arizona

Posted on: 2022/8/15 17:18
Caretaker of the 1949-288 Deluxe Touring Sedan
'Miss Prudence' and the 1931 Model A Ford Tudor 'Miss Princess'
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