Ford 8N dribbling coolant out of radiator overflow, not overfilled.

[ultrarunner]

With the cap and adding a coolant recovery bottle the system may be self correcting.

I added these to all my 1960’s cars.

I’m only hoping it’s not a combustion chamber leak from head gasket or cracked iron…

 

[BossofBBQ]

Wouldn't a combustion leak lead to compression in the cooling system? I can remove the cap, cover both the radiator filler neck and the bottom of the overflow tube, and not feel any compression pushing back on my hands with the engine running. Furthermore I can't see any bubbles in the coolant. Should the overflow tube have some sort of seal on it? Mine dosen't. Without a seal, I don't know how it would be possible for the system to be pressurized at all, yet Ford spec'd a 4 PSI cap.....

 

[ultrarunner]

Pressure radiators have the overflow on the neck from those I have seen…

The cap has 2 seals… if the recovery tank is open to atmosphere.

 

[BossofBBQ]

I went out today and took a long, thorough inspection....and I feel pretty stupid now.
I see that the overflow tube is in the neck. I also see that the radiator tank is bent, causing the cap to sit slightly sideways in relation to the hood. It's unclear to me if that is causing sealing issues or not.

I then started the tractor, and removed the radiator cap, watching closely with a flashlight. After the thermostat opened, I saw several small bubbles, but didn't think much of it because I just did a coolant flush; I figured it was just working air out of the system. There is some gunk in the radiator reservoir, but I drained a small sample out of the drain petcock on the radiator and it was bright green, no hints of oil. I'm also not losing any engine oil. It's my first "real" tractor and I'm learning a lot....

What do ya'll think I should do now? I'm shying away from the idea of a coolant recovery system; I'm trying to keep the tractor as original as possible.

 

[ultrarunner]

Anyway to get a better seal at the cap…

Plenty of times I’ve been stumped and then in the course of reviewing found a solution…

Sometimes it’s better to take a break or another set of eyes may provide a missed solution.

Had a guy with an old Ford that ran hot… had the radiator redone and compression checked ok.

I went to see it and he was running way retarded…

Set timing proper and no more overheat… plus right timing boosted the power a lot.

 

[lilranch2001]

No reason to feel stupid.

Asking questions is a big part of TBN, along with pssing off libs!

 

[John0829]

I would check the neck of the radiator closely for cracks or dings that may prevent the cap from sealing properly since you mention it being bent. I would also get a 4 lb. cap from NAPA that does not have the wing on it so there is no possible interference from the hood to see if it still leaks.

 

[gstrom99]

Lets see a closeup pic of the inside of the radiator neck. The cap should seal against a lip. Lip distorted/missing? Wrong radiator?

 

[sixdogs]

When it's running and dribbling, when does the dribbling stop? Does it ever stop? Maybe it just dribbles down to a level and stops?

This has to be an easy solution because Ford N's were loved, but never got much in return. Maintenance was thin and spotty and here we are 75 years later and they're still running.