Radiator overflow

[Bill1565]

Just discovered that the antifreeze overflow container and hose is not working. The hole into the radiator cap throat was never drilled thru. Filled engine with 50/50 mix, boiled some out. Have enuff on board for the two more travel days till home, butfilling and boiling A/F away doesn't seem like the long term solution. Any thoughts?

 

[kloudie1]

Boiling as in overheating, or is it burping out of the cap? without the catch tank and the hole drilled through, normal thermal expansion will cause coolant to burp out of the cap when starting full and cold. It would not cause overheating .. usually, the coolant would burp out then when the engine is shut down, air will be sucked back into the coolant tank. This small amount of air should not be enough to cause overheating. Can ya drill the hole through and clean/smooth the inner surface, then hook up the expansion tank?

 

[Bill1565]

Boiling as in overheating, or is it burping out of the cap? without the catch tank and the hole drilled through, normal thermal expansion will cause coolant to burp out of the cap when starting full and cold. It would not cause overheating .. usually, the coolant would burp out then when the engine is shut down, air will be sucked back into the coolant tank. This small amount of air should not be enough to cause overheating. Can ya drill the hole through and clean/smooth the inner surface, then hook up the expansion tank?

Burp, i guess . I filled the tank when cold. Too full when i ran it. Need to get a straight ,metric hose barb to screw in,drill thru. Don't want to mess up threads for stock rt angle barb. Should be ok. Three more legs to the boat yard will continue to fill when cold, "burp" refill. Don't know what level will provide cooling and not burp.

 

[Bill1565]

Burp, i guess . I filled the tank when cold. Too full when i ran it. Need to get a straight ,metric hose barb to screw in,drill thru. Don't want to mess up threads for stock rt angle barb. Should be ok. Three more legs to the boat yard will continue to fill when cold, "burp" refill. Don't know what level will provide cooling and not burp.[. Mary found a guy with a westerbeke generator who had no hole in the expansion tank. Might be an epidemic.

 

[Bill1565]

Burp, i guess . I filled the tank when cold. Too full when i ran it. Need to get a straight ,metric hose barb to screw in,drill thru. Don't want to mess up threads for stock rt angle barb. Should be ok. Three more legs to the boat yard will continue to fill when cold, "burp" refill. Don't know what level will provide cooling and not burp.

in

 

[kloudie1]

Bill, after initial burp, next time ya pull off the cap when cool, that should be about the best level to refill to.. on initial cold fill, it should burp a bunch, then next run without refilling, it should not burp hardly any.. Probably fine just to check it and refill only to the level after the initial burp. Just like the old days with cars..Good luck with it..

 

[centerline]

Just discovered that the antifreeze overflow container and hose is not working. The hole into the radiator cap throat was never drilled thru. Filled engine with 50/50 mix, boiled some out. Have enuff on board for the two more travel days till home, butfilling and boiling A/F away doesn't seem like the long term solution. Any thoughts?

On a system without a working recovery tank, There is a level below the filler neck that the water level will remain at...
When you.fill it all the way up and then run the engine, the water gets warm and expands pushing some out... this is normal... when the engine cools the water level will be down a couple inches... dont refill it!
When the engine returns to operating temp, and the water expands again, the level will be full again...

 

[Bill1565]

On a system without a working recovery tank, There is a level below the filler neck that the water level will remain at... When you.fill it all the way up and then run the engine, the water gets warm and expands pushing some out... this is normal... when the engine cools the water level will be down a couple inches... dont refill it! When the engine returns to operating temp, and the water expands again, the level will be full again...

Ok you guys, i will try it. If i get stuck off shore in the Gulf of Mexico waiting for the engine to cool down,you can bet i will say BAD THINGS about the both of you.

 

[centerline]

Ok you guys, i will try it. If i get stuck off shore in the Gulf of Mexico waiting for the engine to cool down,you can bet i will say BAD THINGS about the both of you.

Yea, well... that'll be just fine.
But unless you have some other problem that we cant diagnose with the discription you have given of the issue, you wont have any problems.

But on the off chance that you do get stuck and have to bad mouth me, Let me know if you come up with anything new and entertaining that i havent heard before.

 

[Benny17441]

Like Kloudie suggest let the radiator burp out any excess coolant at engine operating temperature and you will have found the best level. If there are no leaks and the engine does not overheat you can go for a long time before having the need to add coolant.

 

[Jim Legere]

Bill, have you got the original Yanmar with the Sendure heat exchanger fitted by Hunter? My Sendure has a small 1/4" tube by the cap for overflow, but had no hose or bottle to catch the 'burps'. I rectified that by installing a one liter plastic bottle connected by a hose. I let it burp - usually an ounce or two - and don't bother checking level for at least another 10 hours...I figure that since the overflow tube goes to the bottom of the catch bottle, it should suck some antifreeze back when the engine is cold (not sure how much this really happens...).

 

[Bill1565]

Bill, have you got the original Yanmar with the Sendure heat exchanger fitted by Hunter? My Sendure has a small 1/4" tube by the cap for overflow, but had no hose or bottle to catch the 'burps'. I rectified that by installing a one liter plastic bottle connected by a hose. I let it burp - usually an ounce or two - and don't bother checking level for at least another 10 hours...I figure that since the overflow tube goes to the bottom of the catch bottle, it should suck some antifreeze back when the engine is cold (not sure how much this really happens...).

Jim, I have a Westerbeke had the tube, the right angle fitting and the overflow jar, but no hole into the radiator neck. When my system burps, the coolant evaporates on the outside of the engine.

 

[Bill1565]

Like Kloudie suggest let the radiator burp out any excess coolant at engine operating temperature and you will have found the best level. If there are no leaks and the engine does not overheat you can go for a long time before having the need to add coolant.

Couldn't help myself. Filled the radiator again. Will cause another burp when we leave Naples on Monday. Only put in 4-5 ounces. Week ago, when the alarm went off i put in nearly a quart. Engine only holds 1.9 quarts. Probably less than that in the water heater

 

[kloudie1]

Ohh Ohh.. Shouldn't be losing that much coolant to burping ..How long did it take to leak a quart out? On a system without a catch bottle, it should take maybe a season to burp that much out.. If ya going to have a different problem causing the loss of fluid, then ya can't truly talk bad about me and Centerline ;~)..