Coolant boiling after shut off

sandy said:
Autozone may also have the pressure test/bleed tools for loan. I ended up getting a kit from Amazon as my kid has a 2003 Land Rover discovery with the always blown head gaskets. It can pressure test, but it can also to a bleed the air out of the system. If you are in the Los Angeles area you are welcome to use the test kit I have, I think it has adapters for all types of Radiator caps.

I had an old stock 65 mustang with a 289 that had the same issues, changed pretty much everything in the cooling system at one point but in the summer could never get it to not boil over when stopped. Chalked it up to engine issue, timing, head gaskets, never could nail it down but was not the cooling system parts. Motor had been rebuilt at least once.

Last comment is the Griffin radiator is likely the least effective radiator for the Tiger IMO, I had one and it worked in my stock 260 but only got it because my original was in really bad shape and didn't know better to fix that at the time, it was the new aluminum radiator syndrome :) The Fluidyne is a different story, I'll find out soon enough I guess.

Also water wetter in Antifreeze doesn't do much, not sure if it actually drops the boiling point, but with antifreeze I never noticed a difference adding WW until I just used it alone, and was not much going that way either. And if you did run WW alone need to make sure it's one that has a rust preventative.

QUESTION FOR OTHERS : I thought the purpose of the tank was to collect the air (Like my diesel has an outgas tank) to ensure things are full. The way the Dale/Fluidyne radiator are plumbed I think that is how it works, but can't remember how the Griffin or Stock one does it. Pic attached of the Fluidyne with the bleed at the top left back to my tank.

Good luck with this, it's a never ending chase!

Sandy

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Thanks for the offer on the tester, but I live in Wisconsin.
 
Austin Healer said:
Glad I could amuse!

Seriously, the very next step I would take would be an exhaust gas test of the cooling system. It doesn't require any dismantling of anything and just takes a minute or two... A crack in the cylinder wall will pump an amazing amount of exhaust gas into the cooling system.... which looks just like air if you're trying to bleed the system.

In the 40 years I have been restoring Brit cars I have never had to "burp" a cooling system on a Tiger. I own and drive Tigers... My Mk2, 5000 miles a year. In the summer here it's triple digits for a couple of months and my temps are nowhere near what you are experiencing.

Mixtures and timing are also very important to operating temp. I have a 302, but I'm running stock exhaust manifolds, like you. (albeit, with 2" pipes). I am also using an F4B intake with a Holley 600CFM 4bbl. (vacuum secondaries). The engine has a mild cam. I am running a stock dizzy (points) and OE vacuum advance unit. I have set my timing at idle (vacuum disconnected and plugged) at 10 degrees BTDC. The idle mixture is set slightly on the rich side. On an O2 gauge it's about 12:1. Mixtures too lean and timing too far advanced will cause hot running.

The vacuum port for advance is on the throttle plate, not the side of the carbie.... The side port has NO vacuum signal.

I know I've beaten the electric fan thing with a dead horse, but these are only effective at idle... Anything over 10 MPH and the airflow through the rad is greater than the fan can provide. (mechanical as well). This is why Shelby told people to remove the fans from their 289 Cobras after engine break-in.... Micheal King is quite correct... the fan coming on with the engine stopped doesn't provide any benefit at all.... as there is no flow of coolant... Incidentally, 75-80 MGB's had the same feature... and they ended up with cracked intake/exhaust manifolds due to inadequate cooling....
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The local radiator shop could not fit me in for 3 weeks. I bought a tester off Amazon and it should be here Tuesday.
 
KettleCarver said:
I read somewhere that the Griffin radiator has 1 core and the Fluidyne has 3 cores. Is that true? From your experience, did the Fluidyne cool better than the Griffin?
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I have not run the fluidyne with the stock motor, bit I think it has 2 cores, but can't recall.

Also if you are losing pressure in the system that might also cause the boiling if pressure is down due to leak and temp on the edge. Pressure tester should show it.

Sandy
 
KettleCarver said:
I read somewhere that the Griffin radiator has 1 core and the Fluidyne has 3 cores. Is that true? From your experience, did the Fluidyne cool better than the Griffin?
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Just had a look at the Griffin I took out and it is a 1 core. Not sure about the Fluidyne; don't think I can tell with it installed and filled up.

As for which cools better, that is a tough one. Here is my experience. I had the Griffin in my car when I bought it. The engine puts out about 400HP, so it generates some serious heat. It was running too hot and the reading I did said that the Fluidyne was a much better rad. I talk to Dale about it and he gave me the history of the development of the Griffin and said that the Griffin "doesn't work". The testing that Tiger Tom did shows that the Griffin cools better than the stock rad. I don't think the Fluidyne was tested (didn't exist at that time?).

When I switched to the Fluidyne rad, with no other mods to the system, it didn't seem to make much/any difference. To be fair, I later found out that I had about 16% of it blocked by the surrounding sheet metal. So I opened that up, made a bunch of other changes to increase the airflow through the rad, but haven't driven the car yet to see how it is doing.

If there is a conclusion I can draw, from research on the net, not from my experience, the Fluidyne seems to be the best one for cooling. The Griffin may be better than stock, but people have switched from that to the Fluidyne and found a significant cooling improvement.
 
Carbuilder said:
Just had a look at the Griffin I took out and it is a 1 core. Not sure about the Fluidyne; don't think I can tell with it installed and filled up.

As for which cools better, that is a tough one. Here is my experience. I had the Griffin in my car when I bought it. The engine puts out about 400HP, so it generates some serious heat. It was running too hot and the reading I did said that the Fluidyne was a much better rad. I talk to Dale about it and he gave me the history of the development of the Griffin and said that the Griffin "doesn't work". The testing that Tiger Tom did shows that the Griffin cools better than the stock rad. I don't think the Fluidyne was tested (didn't exist at that time?).

When I switched to the Fluidyne rad, with no other mods to the system, it didn't seem to make much/any difference. To be fair, I later found out that I had about 16% of it blocked by the surrounding sheet metal. So I opened that up, made a bunch of other changes to increase the airflow through the rad, but haven't driven the car yet to see how it is doing.

If there is a conclusion I can draw, from research on the net, not from my experience, the Fluidyne seems to be the best one for cooling. The Griffin may be better than stock, but people have switched from that to the Fluidyne and found a significant cooling improvement.
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Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I read somewhere that Fluidyne stopped making their radiator for the Tiger.

One of the changes that makes the biggest impact seems to be using a LAT hood. Unfortunately, I don't have one of those.
 
KettleCarver said:
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I read somewhere that Fluidyne stopped making their radiator for the Tiger.

One of the changes that makes the biggest impact seems to be using a LAT hood. Unfortunately, I don't have one of those.
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I bought my Fluidyne rad about a month ago. They were out of stock until then.

I have a (copy of a) LAT hood. I recently tested it with the vents open and then taped closed. About couple degree temp change. Some say it makes a huge difference, others say not much. I found not much.
 
Carbuilder said:
I bought my Fluidyne rad about a month ago. They were out of stock until then.

I have a (copy of a) LAT hood. I recently tested it with the vents open and then taped closed. About couple degree temp change. Some say it makes a huge difference, others say not much. I found not much.
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Good to know on the LAT hood.

Where did you get your Fluidyne from? How much was it?
 
KettleCarver said:
Where did you get your Fluidyne from? How much was it?
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Through Dale. As far as I know that is the only place to buy it. $625 plus shipping. Looks very well made and fit fine as a replacement for the Griffin. I had to trim down some of the side flanges but that may have been for mods done to my car. I bought it modded, so not sure what is stock and what isn't.
 
Carbuilder said:
Through Dale. As far as I know that is the only place to buy it. $625 plus shipping. Looks very well made and fit fine as a replacement for the Griffin. I had to trim down some of the side flanges but that may have been for mods done to my car. I bought it modded, so not sure what is stock and what isn't.
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Yesterday I was searching for his website and contact info. I understand that he moved his shop out of CA. Could you please forward his contact info?

Thanks!
 
At only 550 miles on a fresh rebuild, be patient. Everything is still getting acquainted, more miles for break-in could make a difference.
 
Jere T said:
At only 550 miles on a fresh rebuild, be patient. Everything is still getting acquainted, more miles for break-in could make a difference.
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Now that you mention it, I recall from a long time ago, seeing that a newly rebuilt motor may run somewhat hot. Any guess as to how many miles would make the difference?
 
Austin Healer said:
Kits are sold by a lot of the parts houses... (autozone etc) Or you can take it to a radiator shop. Basically there is a dye component and then a fixture that mounts where the radiator cap goes... If the coolant turns a specific color, it contains exhaust gases. I had my local radiator guy swing by, the test took less than 5 minutes...
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I did the exhaust gas test today and the fluid stayed blue, showing negative for exhaust gases.
 
Update: Ok, after working through a couple of days of my "Honey DO" list, I had a chance to get back in the garage to work on the car.

As I stated above, I did the exhaust gas test, which tested negative.

I pulled one of the spark plugs (see pic) at 625 miles. It looked a little to the lean side. Next I checked the float bowl levels. The primary seemed a little low, also a lean condition?

I readjusted the float bowl to raise the level in the sight glass. Richened the mixture a little bit. Made sure the timing was set at 10 degrees.

Then I took it on my 20 mile drive test loop. The temp gauge stayed right on 200. When I go back, I immediately took the temp at the thermostat with the I/R gun and it read 187 -190. It read 191 at the header tank. Parked the car and waited to see what it would do. It did gurgle a bit in the header tank, but not nearly as violent as the last couple of times. The temperature here is 5 -8 degrees cooler than the last test drive. That makes it a little tougher knowing if the outside temperature or my changes had a affect on the car. I will need additional testing, but for now, it seems to be moving in the right direction.

I appreciate all of your input, thanks!!

Spark plug at 625 miles.jpg
 
KettleCarver said:
Update: Ok, after working through a couple of days of my "Honey DO" list, I had a chance to get back in the garage to work on the car.

As I stated above, I did the exhaust gas test, which tested negative.

I pulled one of the spark plugs (see pic) at 625 miles. It looked a little to the lean side. Next I checked the float bowl levels. The primary seemed a little low, also a lean condition?

I readjusted the float bowl to raise the level in the sight glass. Richened the mixture a little bit. Made sure the timing was set at 10 degrees.

Then I took it on my 20 mile drive test loop. The temp gauge stayed right on 200. When I go back, I immediately took the temp at the thermostat with the I/R gun and it read 187 -190. It read 191 at the header tank. Parked the car and waited to see what it would do. It did gurgle a bit in the header tank, but not nearly as violent as the last couple of times. The temperature here is 5 -8 degrees cooler than the last test drive. That makes it a little tougher knowing if the outside temperature or my changes had a affect on the car. I will need additional testing, but for now, it seems to be moving in the right direction.

I appreciate all of your input, thanks!!

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VERY lean!
 
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