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Coolant spray after 2300 miles

Scott

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
126
Location
Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia
Having done 2300 miles over the last five days, much of the last 400miles at over 3000RPM in top, at the final fuel stop there was a spray of coolant on the RHS shock tower!

Nothing in front of there at all, no leaks on hoses, welch plugs look ok, thermostat cover ok, overflow hose from the radiator dry and still dusty inside. The radiator level was down about 800cc (under a quart).

On pressure test today a heater hose leaked near firewall but other than that nothing! Anyone ever heard of similar? Higher than usual temp probably related. Could it be a leak at the timing case?

How i came to do the 2300 miles...

Took a road trip on the weekend from home in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) to Adelaide, South Australia in the freshly fixed special via as many backroads as were efficient for a wedding. Arrived in the hills of Adelaide making great time on Friday afternoon for the wedding on Saturday. On arrival I got a detail at the local car wash and they waxed it to perfection!

Met up with the groom for a 'quiet' beer with a few mates on the night before wedding. It was the first time he's seen the special and he took one look, his jaw dropped and asked if he could use it for some photos and leaving the ceremony, I replied, "No worries" and tossed him the keys. He later confessed he couldn't sleep that night but wasn't sure if it was marriage or driving a mustang!

I'll try to get some shots from the photographer uploaded when they get back from their honeymoon.

The trip was great and the car hoots along the wide, straight roads of central australia in air conditioned comfort and no overheating with the 4 barrel, 302, C4 auto, open diff and 2.79 rear. Added to that, it was the Aussies schooling the West Indies in cricket on the radio - the perfect weekend!
 

franklinair

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
4,740
The only thing I can visualize on the right side of the engine compartment that carries coolant fluid is the 2 heater hoses. And you state that the pressure test showed one of the heater hoses leaking near the firewall. I would surmise that the hose has a pinhole leak under pressure or the hose clamp allows such a pressure leak. A small leak (under pressure) could cause a 'spray' effect, wetting the area you saw.
I would replace the hose(s) & clamp as a start.

Neil
 

gofastguy

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 26, 2007
Messages
143
Location
Canton, Ohio
Sounds like an incredible road trip! Are you a part of the Mustang Owners Club of Australia? I see that there is a group going on a nice Easter 2010 road trip to Adelaide for a show.
 

robert campbell

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,321
You may want to look from under the car up at the water pump snout. There is a hole that allows water to drain out of the snout that gets by the bearing and seal assembly. I have see them drip onto a fan belt and get “flung” to all sorts of places in the engine compartment. Normally this is an indication of the water pump to need replacing. But I have seen it under high RPM use on a hot day. Normally you can tell by seeing a streak of residue coming off the bottom of the snout and sometimes down the timing case cover.

Another spot to look.

Rob
 
OP
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S

Scott

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
126
Location
Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia
Good idea Rob, thank you! I'll take a closer look at that as soon as possible.

Have been thinking of doing the pump as there is a slight amount of play in it. The thing that gets me is that there is nothing at all on the fan.

Thanks for your suggestion too Neil but the heater hoses are much higher and the leak at the firewall was far behind the shock tower where it was getting sprayed. This made me think that it can't be pressure related but must happen at higher temperatures only as the heater hose didn't leak when the spray happened so the pressure was under the 20psi that caused the heater hose to leak under test.

Drove about 30 miles today with no more leaks - as far as I can tell anyway. Haven't cleaned up properly yet. That's a job for tomorrow morning before work.

By the way... my odometer rolled over to zero again on the trip! The 9 in the 10,000mi column stayed until I'd done another 1000mi so the lowest reading I saw was about 1100 miles.

Thanks for the tip on the MOCA trip Steve but I'm not keen on that sort of car club - don't get me wrong, they're all good guys but... well you know what I mean. I like it here and at the Datsun Zed club - open agenda (it's all about the cars) open minds and opinions freely expressed - especially when they differ.

Thinking more about your suggestion Rob, I'm off to the carpark to crawl on my back now... it is 24 C (75 F) and I'm wearing a suit but I think you might be right.
 
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Scott

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
126
Location
Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia
After crawling under the car it turned out to be pretty dry under there. Took off the air cleaner and revved it a bit - mainly to enjoy the sound and annoy my boss (he was in a meeting with the client within earshot) but then at I'd say about 3k there was this fine, green mist! It was coming from under the thermostat housing. Yes, it is the o-ring type and it had been gasket glued too but it must be a pin hole up there to get it to spray so perfectly through all the bits at the front of the motor and hit directly onto the shock tower. Strange this didn't show up earlier. I'll go on the hunt for a new one but might try the original gasket type this time.
 

robert campbell

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,321
We put an o-ring thermo housing on a 302 in my brothers 1964 Comet Caliente, and it gave us nothing but leaking trouble. She be gone and a stock one is in its place.

Rob
 

Ruppstang

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
3,032
Scott,
Glad you found it. Your boss will get over it. That kind of stuff can drive you nuts. Those O ring style housings are nothing but trouble. Marty
 
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