very bad flow through radiator

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by magic marouke, Dec 4, 2019.

  1. magic marouke

    magic marouke Well-Known Member

    6090EF8A-5957-4902-B9C6-9056770566F8.png hope you can see the pic as ive had problems here before with them.
    as you can see the flow through the radiator is virtually non existent .
    car does not over heat on a journey and non of the warning lights come on . has a new aluminum radiator , water pump , fresh coolant , working thermostat and as far as I can tell no blockages although it looks like it might . after a drive the top hose gets hot like it should but the bottom hose which has a spring in it is soft and barely warm when I touch it . ive burped the air out the system also . its a factory 455 .
    so now I really don't know where to go from here
    any help guys thanks .
     
    Gulfgears likes this.
  2. RoseBud68

    RoseBud68 Well-Known Member

    Get a Temp gauge and see what the temp are. I dont see green coolant in your picture look kinda brown which is not a good thing.
     
  3. magic marouke

    magic marouke Well-Known Member

    temp while idling is about 185 according to my mechanical gauge .
     
  4. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    If you really had bad flow through the radiator, the engine would over heat.
     
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  5. magic marouke

    magic marouke Well-Known Member

    That’s just what I thought but then coolant should be pouring out the core tubes right
     
  6. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Only if the radiator is mostly full and the thermostat is open. I can't tell anything from that picture.
     
    magic marouke likes this.
  7. Schurkey

    Schurkey Silver Level contributor

    IF (big IF) you have a proper overflow bottle and the sealed rad cap to go with it...that radiator has low fluid level. Should be up to the top of the overflow tube.

    IF (big IF) you DON'T have an overflow bottle, the fluid level is a little low. There's probably a coolant level mark embossed in the tank a few inches below the filler neck.
     
  8. magic marouke

    magic marouke Well-Known Member

    I did try posting a video but didn’t work . Thermostat was open and I was about to start filling the rad up when I noticed this
     
  9. magic marouke

    magic marouke Well-Known Member

    So
    if I fill it up more to almost fill ?
     
  10. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    You CANNOT post videos on V8. What you need to do is host it on a site like Youtube and then link it here. Very simple to do.

    You have a cross flow radiator. If the radiator is low, you may not see anything coming out of the tubes you can see, BUT, coolant may still be flowing below that level.

    It seems to me you are looking for a problem that isn't there. The engine would overheat.
     
  11. magic marouke

    magic marouke Well-Known Member

    Well that explains it if it’s below the level like you said . I took the car on a 20 minute drive at 55mph and no over heating when I parked
     
  12. magic marouke

    magic marouke Well-Known Member

  13. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    Looks like its flowing to me.

    The liquid isn't going to flow above its own level. In other words the hot side isn't going to be higher than the cooled side that we're looking at, it flows straight across. So if that's where the level is that's where the coolant is flowing.

    Look closely and you can see the liquid moving at its level.
     
  14. magic marouke

    magic marouke Well-Known Member

    Yea I see that now, thanks . Guess I was even more concerned after seeing how the lower hose was hardly warm after a drive
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2019
  15. BuickV8Mike

    BuickV8Mike SD Buick Fan

    Count your blessings my friend. ;)
     
    DasRottweiler and magic marouke like this.
  16. 1973gs

    1973gs Well-Known Member

    If the upper hose is hot and the lower hose is barely warm,I'd say the radiator is doing it's job.
     
  17. agetnt9

    agetnt9 Agetnt9 (Dan)

    Hold it at 1500 rpms and look in there, you will see it flow then
     
    magic marouke likes this.
  18. magic marouke

    magic marouke Well-Known Member

    Will try that thanks
     

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