Help Ford guys-SBF losing coolant.

al37ford

al37ford

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Last year we put '96 5 litre Mustang heads on an early 302 block out of a Torino. It isn't used often but seemed ok though it ran hotter. Now it's pulling coolant out of the overflow every run. Pressure check holds, laser gun shows normal temps, thermostat is new, 180 fail open, no foam or brown in the engine oil....So, mini head gasket leak? is there a steam hole issue with sbf engines?? Ideas?? Thanks, Al D
 
Is the water pump new or still the original? I had a pump once that leaked past the seals for the shaft. It leaked slow enough that you couldn't see puddles under the car as it evaporated before it went anywhere. There's a weeping hole at the six o clock position of the pump. Have a look at it with a mirror and see if there are water stains around that weeping hole. My guess is that is where your problem is.
 
If i recall correctly a few yrs back a buddy of mine did a set of fuelie heads on a short block . And thru a ford engine guy in toronto , they do a lot drag engines .
something to do with different angles of the intake an the cyl heads an coolant leaking at ports of intake manifold . ..77.
 
..77. said:
If i recall correctly a few yrs back a buddy of mine did a set of fuelie heads on a short block . And thru a ford engine guy in toronto , they do a lot drag engines .
something to do with different angles of the intake an the cyl heads an coolant leaking at ports of intake manifold . ..77.
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That's a good thought so I re torqued the intake. I may be wrong but I think that would only put coolant into the valley & oil but no sign of brown or foam in the oil.

The water pump is dry at the vent hole.

Thanks for the input guys.
 
rmk57 said:
Head gaskets on backwards?
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Not sure yet as after I re torqued the intake I've put on about 200 k & staying steady at 180...however, the overflow tank is always dry in the morning after so I've just ignored it & carry 2 liters along in case. Maybe just a bit dripped into the valley & vapourized ??? whatever, I'll know soon enough after another 200k w/o adding. Thanks!
 
Al did you use the early intake on the new heads ? as there is issues with coolant passages are differant shapes and a few of them are very poor match up and tend too leak check there as well ..
 
modelAbone said:
Al did you use the early intake on the new heads ? as there is issues with coolant passages are differant shapes and a few of them are very poor match up and tend too leak check there as well ..
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Yes I did as I wanted to keep the period look for the engine. Good thought.
 
I had a similar problem with my sbc. It appears that my overflow tank
was not large enough to hold all of the expelled coolant from the rad.
When it warmed the coolant would flow into the tank and any excess was
dumped onto the ground. To check this I attached a plastic container to my frame and ran a hose from the recovery tank overflow to the bottom of the
plastic container. Now when the engine cools down it sucks the coolant from
the plastic container into the overflow tank and then into the rad
 
Mixing parts from different years can cause all sorts of problems. For instance, you did check the rotation of the water pump? Backwards isn't good!
 
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