65 Wildcat Convertible coolant loss.

Fran

Member
I'm loosing antifreeze out the overflow if i take my car on an hour drive or so, usually several quarts. It doesn't heat up, just pushing some out. The 430 engine is in great condition, car only has 45,000 miles on all original equipment. Head gasket maybe leaking or what should i be looking for? I don't see any white smoke at start up or any indication of those issues. \Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.
 
If it is a blown head gasket, when cold, remove the radiator cap. Start the car and watch in the radiator, you should see bubbles. The radiator is full when down from the top about an 1".
 
Fran,
Could it be possible that you are overfilling the rad? There needs to be room for the coolant to expand when the car warms up. Several quarts does sound like a lot though. You could also remove the plugs and look for one with a very white porcelain tip. that would indicate head gasket failure or a cracked head. My 2 dr. 74 Electra 455 had a cracked head and in the beginning, it didn't push out any white smoke either.
 
Fran,
Could it be possible that you are overfilling the rad? There needs to be room for the coolant to expand when the car warms up. Several quarts does sound like a lot though. You could also remove the plugs and look for one with a very white porcelain tip. that would indicate head gasket failure or a cracked head. My 2 dr. 74 Electra 455 had a cracked head and in the beginning, it didn't push out any white smoke either.
No, it is not overfilled, even leaving it down a couple of inches it may still go down 6 or more inches after driving it a while, and it is being forced out of the overflow and making the left wheel well area wet with antifreeze. It has one of those pressure relief caps on it that seems to function properly but i may try to change that first to see if it could be letting off pressure too easily. I haven't had it running lately since I'm in North Dakota and today it's -24 out. I'll check for bubbles in radiator when i do start it up again.
 
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