VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 temporarely overheating 1931

Hi everybody here,
Try to learn and understand most things with the nanuals and books (and of course with learning by doing or try and error), but sometimes there are remaining questions.

Yesterday I had a trip about 100mls one way, for business, but weather was hot and dry, so, why not with my old chevy? I did, she run great in general, but it was a highway-like overland street and I had to drive fast because of the crazy east european trucks behind me (dont like to be hunted for long time) and after about one hour with around constant 45 mph suddenly the temp gauge went to red area and the radiator began to boil and spit out water and vapor. I did slow down to 35mph and it came back to normal degrees after just seconds. Could watch the gauge going down. After a break for filling up gas all did cool down and I had to fill up about one gallon of water.

My question is: I guess maybe these old engines are not really perfect constructions as today ingeneers would do, and maybe they can create a small local hotspot anywhere at the rear cylinders, and if it boils there for a moment the water expands to vapor and spits out where it finds a way. Of course the water passages might be not free completely too.

Had anyone of you similar experiences?


Because a loss of water I thought I could have a blown head gasket or cracked head, but there are hundreds of true indicators like vapor or water out of exhaust, white foam at oil filler cap, and more like that, you all know how to detect a blown head gasket.

Have no one of these typical signs, and the most true indicator in my experience is the colour of the face of the spark plugs. I dont know the correct term in english, but here in germany we call it "spark plug face" Looking there you can get all informations about correct adjustment of the carburetor, the correct firing of the engine and of course you see if it burns oil or there is a water leak.

Everything is as it should be, so I think, it might be just a kind of a local hotspot sometimes and the obscured miracle comes out only after longer drive with constant high speed, or here in the mountains, after long hard driving up on top of the hill.
A friend of mine in switzerland with a 1929 sedan said: As long the engine runs fine and all indicators as written before dont show any sign of a blown gasket, you may take off the head and find nothing.
So dont worry, let it be as it is and just have a bottle of water with you all the time!

Stefan germany

That is a typical symptom of the water pump baffle plate missing.

IF everything is in good condition you should be able to drive at 45 mph all day long without overheating or losing coolant. In addition to the baffle plate mentioned in previous post, reduced radiator cooling capacity (some passages plugged) is the most common problem. It could also be reduced flow because of lower hose being flattened (soft hose or partially plugged radiator). Next would be debris in the cooling passages. More remote is too thick paint (or wrong paint) on radiator core.

i had temp. problem and after replacing rad., water pump, boiling out eng., replacing all hoses...was turned out to be a timing problem because the vaccum advance was only partly working.

1929-32 Chevrolets don't have a vacuum advance. The first year for a vacuum advance was 1933.

I have/had the EXACT same problem. When I took my car apart, I found the water pump baffle (plate behind the water pump) to be completely missing.
I hope after replacing this it will fix my problem. I'll update in a couple weeks and let you if it works.

brandon

Thanks fot all interesting answers!
Am just amazed and confused about the way it happened. I drove about 40 min with constant 45mph and everything was ok. Than, suddenly (within one minute) the gauge went to red area and the radiator began to spit water and vapor. I did slow down a bit, and within about 40 seconds all came back to normal temperature and did not happen again.

Is there a little ghost sitting in my engine cooking his afternoon tea or what else?

If the miracle would happen all the time and could be reproduced easy, I could of course find out what is going on there. But it happened one time after long constant driving and I did try to boil it again by faster speed after filling up water, but it did not happen. That confuses me a bit...
Maybe I should forget it and not think about anymore.???

Stefan germany confused

I did check the radiator, it gets hot everywhere, and with an infrared temperature gauge i did check there is correct difference between bottom and top of the radiator when working. Should be ok, I guess. It is a special radiator for hot countries (Mine is assembled in Africa). Did check as well the temperature of engine block and head and the temperature at exhaust manifold. There is a difference about 20 degrees between 1st cylinder and cyl. no. 6.
The rear area is more hot in general. This gave me the idea of a possible local hotspot anywhere which brings the water to boiling point sometimes.
Boiling water needs more space, so the radiator must begin to spit it out. My water pump seems good, no drop coming out, I watch it before and after each driving.
About the baffle plate I dont know anything, but as posted in another topic I should check it soon. But at the moment I want to drive and not to work. I try to get all needed overhauling in spring, autum or winter, there I have more time and patience for it. In summer I want to have it ready for driving, just working all the time is less fun.

Stefan germany

Stefan germany

Wie geht's, Stefan?

It is possible that by running at higher than normal speeds you may have dislodged (broken loose) some sludge or rust deposits in the block or head. This may have temporarily blocked the radiator or thermostat. I would suggest flushing or backflushing the cooling system to see if you have rust deposits in it.

Guten gluck!

The problem may also be air drawn into the cooling system. With air in the cooling passages, each time you decrease engine speed a small amount of water is expelled from the overflow (because the pressure inside the engine is reduced). Eventually enough coolant is lost that a gas pocket can form, typically near # 6 cylinder (which is also where the temperature sensor is located).

Hi
I feel the same as Coachhill, cooler is stopped with rust and lime peel.
It is typical of an old radiator when the speed is high, water can not come fast enough through, get cooler with an appropriate means to take rust and lime, if it helps, there is only one option left, have installed a new core.

let me add to this post. as of right now i got the rad out of my 30 for a recore. my car wasn`t overheating but running hot. i never had a boil over. but i got close a few times. i had to bite the bullet and buy a core. when i pulled the bottom and top tanks apart from my old core. i had about 1/2 inch of rust sitting in the bottom tank and just about every row in the core was clogged with rust.. i knew that wasn`t good. so i pulled the water pump to look at the plate. that was ok. next i pulled the t stat housing off. i found the stock t stat stuck open and under the t stat i found a little pile of rust. now i got the t stat and water pump out. i made a plate where the water pump mounts and welded in a pipe nipple so i can flush out the head the block. after that i hooked up a garden hose to the t stat housing and ran water thur the block and head. i let the water run for about 10 minutes. until i got clean water. i still didn`t finish the job yet. but i`m hoping that i should be good to go.

Hello again
It is certainly true when German Chevy measure temperature similar in both top and bottom, the cooler are stopped, there are not enough review, it must be cold at the bottom when the engine is operating hot.

Hi Jens, you did misunderstand. I did not write, there is the same temperature at bottom and top of the radiator.
I wrote I did check it with an infrared gauge and there is a correct difference between bottom and top.
Of course on top it gets more hot than on bottom, otherwise it would be blocked. During going down the water has to cool down and so it does.

Bytheway: A big thank you for all ideas and input. Know what to do now.
But:
Who can tell me where to get the time to do that all now? Am very busy in my job at the moment, and mainly I want to enjoy the summer sitting in my car driving and not working under it all the time, if I have some hours off work during the day.
And after my special X-mas present in 2006 (a stroke) I have to slow down too in general.
Have to be patient and do it step by step. Little steps are steps too, not to forget. There shoulds be no rush.

Stefan germany

Hello Buggyman,
I was just reading about your overheat and I'm having the same problem. My 30 never boils but it has always ran rather hot, by my standards. I had a thermostat in it and I removed it. I removed the water pump and it appears to me the plate behind the pump is in the head. I used a pressure washer on the block and head when the t-stat and water pump were off. Everything there seems to be running very clear.
I guess I'll purchase a core also.
My question to you is where did you purchase the core and where did you have the tanks installed. I called the Filling Station and they suggested a shop in California to do the tank install. Did you purchase a honeycomb rad? I don't know of any shops around the Pittsburgh area so I guess I'll have to have the core shipped out there and have it done. Do you have any other advise, opinions or suggestions?
Thanks,
Trimmy

hey tim
yes i ordered a honey cone rad.
its a very nice piece of copper and they ship it well. it was wrapped with white fome and the box was lined with wood.
i got my core from the filling station. now it will take a about month to get it from them. i ordered mine late last year and i just stored it until i was ready to pull my rad. i was lucky to have a friend who makes race car rad and we did it ourselfs. as a matter of fact we just finished it last weekend. my tanks where not in the best of shape and we had to reforce them. plus my outlet fittings were rotted and we had to build them up too. it was a lot of work. i`d say it took us about 20hrs of work when it was all said and done.
my friend might be able to do yours. of course for a price. let me ask him and if you can get the rad to me in woodbridge NJ he should be able to do. let me know if you want to that and i`ll call my friend. i did take pictures and i`ll post them later today.

I also bought my new core from the FS. When it came I had a local radiator shop put the tanks on for me. The owner of the shop could not get over how heavy the new core was compared to the old one that was in the car before. The new core works just great. I was in a 4th of July parade with my 31 coupe and the temp never got past the middle of normal. The new cores are pricey but I am totally happy with the outcome and performance. Good luck with your project.

hey tim.
here is the finished product.

BTW i also added a new temp gauge down on the floor board and made a fitting for it.
i wanted a gauge with numbers. not just cold and hot.
i wanted see just what the temp is at any given time.

before I installed my gauge I compared it with a candy themometer at the kitchen stove so I would have a reference.

170 was straight up, 200 was just touching the red

hey dads
now you tell me. LOL
i`ll have to keep that in mind.
hey tim
when i talked to my friend about redoing my rad last year. he said he could make mine with a modern core for cheap. but he wouldn`t let me. he told me you`re going to kill the whole look of the front of the car. he said your not going to like the look of the rad. he told me just buy the core and DO IT RIGHT. he was right. i did most of the work at his shop with him watching over me. i have to tell you i never recored a rad before and i was so scared to ruin my new core. it took almost 3 spools of solder to do. a lot of that was to reforce my tanks. i think next to painting a car this is the hardest job to do on these old chevys.

Hello Buggyman,
Thanks for getting back to me about the honeycomb rad. My intention was to purchase one also.
I would really appreciate it if you could ask your friend if he would retank my new one.
That would be much closer than Cal. and being an old retiree it would maybe a nice weekend ride sometime for my wife and me to pick it up.
I could maybe have it purchased and shipped to his or your address so the work could be preformed on it.
My tanks look pretty good on the one thats on the coupe now and I have two other sets that are in pretty fair shape.
Thanks again and would you please let me know if he'll do the work.
Trimmy

hey tim
check you PM. my friend said he will do it.