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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / How Do I Test For Head Gasket Failure?

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Posted By Discussion Topic: How Do I Test For Head Gasket Failure? -- page: 1 2     39Fordfan 04-20-2021 @ 4:40 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 202 Joined: Oct 2009 Hello there, I have a '39 Deluxe I'm just about to get out of moth balls soon. A couple of years ago I had my water pumps re-manned with high flow impellers. It did help with my car's issue of running hot with just a bit of idling on a hot day. Later that year I bit the bullet and had the radiator re-cored and that was the answer to my car's overheating issues. It had been running so well for a couple of years, when one evening as I was coming home from a car show I could hear this sickening grinding noise from under the hood. I was almost home and was only going about 5MPH. I shut it down immediately and opened up the hood. A water belt pulley fell off of the pump shaft, sending the fan-belt into the running fan, folding the fan forward and literally shredded my radiator. I will say unequivocally that I did not over tighten that belt. That pulley just fell off of it's water pump shaft after a couple of years of service with no help from me. Long story short, I took my radiator out and was able to get it re-cored at the same shop that did it in the first place. The water pump vendor felt so bad that he paid me to have the radiator re-cored again and he threw in a set of newly re-manned pumps. This had never happened to them before. I was really impressed with his response. The bad parts of the whole deal is that after I put it all back together again the car runs fine, but it doesn't run as well as it was running. I'm not sure if some of the electrical components got soaked with coolant and copper and brass filings from the radiator? Everything in the engine compartment got soaked with coolant and metal filings. But the main problem now is I can't seem to keep coolant in the system, and it's using oil at a rapid pace compared to it's historic amount of oil consumption. Luckily, I have not seen any evidence of oil and coolant mixing together, but it has me worried. I was using a 4 lb valve at the bottom of my overflow tube to keep coolant in the system but no matter what I would try, the upper hoses would just blow off at the heads. So I took the overflow valve off and I sent it in to see if it was functioning properly. It needed cleaning but they sent it back for me saying it was fine to put it back on. Problem 1; Why is the coolant just pouring out of the overflow even at 155 degrees? Is there a baffle or something the radiator shop forgot to put back in when they re-cored it? Problem 2; Do you think I've got a blown head gasket? Problem 3; Is is possible this 2nd set of water pumps are so high flowing they are pushing coolant around so vigorously that my system can't take it? As in coolant spouting out of the overflow at low temperatures, or hoses blowing off, or possible blown head gaskets? Can you also steer me into some tests I can perform to determine for sure if I need new head gaskets? What are your thoughts and what would you do or where would you go from here? Thanks! Barney 04-20-2021 @ 5:19 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 107 Joined: Nov 2015 Hi I feel badly you're going through this headache. That's a lot of pressure that will cause the hoses to blow off! I'm guessing compression pressure could be entering the system. A typical test I utilize to determine head gasket integrity is to check the compression of each cylinder. If you find any two adjacent cylinders unusually low, the gasket has probably failed at that narrow section between the cylinders. This typically occurs when an engine has been over-heated. If you remove the head, I would have it checked for flatness and for cracks. Keep us posted. Barney 40 Coupe 04-21-2021 @ 4:41 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1685 Joined: Oct 2009 Ford did not use a pressure cap on their radiators pre war. It is my feeling they are not a good idea, they can cause the top tank of the radiator to bulge and distort, over time, even at 3#. If your running 155 degrees, which is too cool, there is definitely no need for the pressure cap. The leaking coolant may have gotten into your distributor causing poor performance, especially if you have the original distributor installed. Yes the original radiator does have a baffle under the overflow tube and inside the radiator. You should be able to see it hanging down from the center of the radiator from the fill cap. The radiator should not be filled to the fill cap only just above the radiator core. excess coolant will come out the overflow. It does seem you have additional problems if the coolant hoses are blowing off. by the time they blow off the pressure relief should be open. I would do a compression check. as suggested above. and make sure the overflow tube is not blocked. JayChicago 04-21-2021 @ 8:31 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 492 Joined: Jan 2016 "Problem 1; Why is the coolant just pouring out of the overflow even at 155 degrees?" I suspect this problem is due to over-filling the radiator. Need to leave room for expansion in the expansion tank above the core. 39Fordfan 04-21-2021 @ 11:13 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 202 Joined: Oct 2009 Hey Barney, Thank-you so much for your reply! I really appreciate your empathy. Since the water pump pulley fell off, it feels like I've become a full time mechanic in order to enjoy this car. I haven't ever performed a compression test on this car - that's a great idea. It's always run so well with great pull from the engine, that I've never thought to bother about a compression test on it. I'll do one as soon as I can get it out of mothballs and report back here. Thanks again! 39Fordfan 04-21-2021 @ 11:49 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 202 Joined: Oct 2009 Hi 40 Coupe, Thanks so much for your thoughts! You've helped me with some distinctions to look for once I get the car out from it's winter slumber. I honestly have never noticed the baffle inside of the radiator, I will be looking for it when I get the car back. If the radiator shop forgot to put the baffle in, do you think there is a way to retrofit one in there? Or do I need to pull the radiator again and have them open up the radiator to get it done? I haven't experienced any problems before this with the pressure in the system. But you make a good point and I will see what I can do in the future to keep coolant in the system the way Henry intended. The guy who Re-manned the pumps said in order to get the best coolant flow, that you need to take the thermostats out. Maybe put a small cardboard cover over the radiator during cooler weather and let your system flow. That's why it runs at about 160 degrees most of the time. Without the thermostats, it will still run hot (205 plus degrees, but won't go past the boiling point) on a 85 degree or hotter day if you are in traffic or a parade. These are his perspectives, not mine. He's got a degree in Thermodynamics, so what do I know? The amount of coolant definitely goes below the fins in the radiator when I took the pressure valve off the bottom of the overflow tube. I put a plastic bottle at the end of the overflow tube to catch the excess coolant flowing out. It worked for awhile, but on my last run to the storage place on a warm day last Fall my coolant reservoir overflowed too. MGG 04-21-2021 @ 11:55 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 85 Joined: Jul 2014 NAPA sells a head gasket leak detector kit. $43.99 39Fordfan 04-21-2021 @ 11:55 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 202 Joined: Oct 2009 Hi JayChicago, I was thinking along your lines of thought too. But without the pressure valve on the bottom of the overflow tube, the amount of coolant definitely goes below the fins in the radiator to a point where I can't see it anymore - if left to it's own devices. I wound up putting a plastic bottle at the end of the overflow tube to catch the excess coolant flowing out. It worked for awhile, but on my last run to the storage place on a warm day last Fall my coolant reservoir overflowed too. 39Fordfan 04-21-2021 @ 12:00 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 202 Joined: Oct 2009 Hi MGG, Really? That's a good stuff! I'll make sure to grab one of those kits from NAPA before I go and get my car. Thanks! 39Fordfan 04-21-2021 @ 12:16 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 202 Joined: Oct 2009 I would think that a heavy duty fan made from thick metal in the 30's would easily be the victor in this battle and would've chopped that fan belt to bits. Instead the fan belt won the battle and destroyed the fan, which then bent forward and shredded my newly re-cored radiator. If I had wanted to, I could've reused that belt. This message was edited by 39Fordfan on 4-22-21 @ 6:13 AM

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