Ford radiator losing coolant.

muckymanor

Well-Known Member
I had thought that the 5030 might have taken water in through the cab top vents for it to drip from the interior vents after it is started up. It has been having the odd drip from it for a few months now. But now I'm considering that it might be a leak on one of the heater pipes that come into the cab. There's little taps on these, can they be turned off and the tractor run safely with them off? They are never used.

Radiator dropped 2 inches of water in 48 hours last week. Filled it on Friday and back to it yesterday and it was still full. Put back on the cap, ran it for 5 mins just ticking over, not warming it up at all. When it stopped, there was a good trickle of coolant from the little overflow pipe from the top of the radiator. It didn't lose any from here on Friday, but lost it yesterday after I removed and put back on the radiator cap. Could it be the cap that's causing the problem? It seems to be working fine and not over heating even after a good hard drive.
 
If it doesn't have an expansion tank it will force out some coolant on warming up if brim full when cold, I'd be happy if I could see coolant as opposed to dry core when looking into a cold radiator.
 
If it doesn't have an expansion tank it will force out some coolant on warming up if brim full when cold, I'd be happy if I could see coolant as opposed to dry core when looking into a cold radiator.

Problem is that it overflowed so much coolant that I could see the top of the core when it had cooled down.

I'm wondering if it could be a damaged radiator cap. I see that they have certain pressures printed on them. Mine is 13lb I think. Also the little rubber on it looks a little frayed. I assume that the spring in the cap is pushed upwards when the pressure in the rad builds as the water heats. Then it opens and allows the water out through the overflow pipe?

If the rubber or spring were worn it could let too much out? I don't think you can drive it without a cap or it will just bubble water out of it as it warms up and runs.
 
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Problem is that it overflowed so much coolant that I could see the top of the core when it had cooled down.

I'm wondering if it could be a damaged radiator cap. I see that they have certain pressures printed on them. Mine is 13lb I think. Also the little rubber on it looks a little frayed. I assume that the spring in the cap is pushed upwards when the pressure in the rad builds as the water heats. Then it opens and allows the water out through the overflow pipe?

If the rubber or spring were worn it could let too much out? I don't think you can drive it without a cap or it will just bubble water out of it as it warms up and runs.
Put a new cap on it and see if it behaves or even swap the cap from something else to see if it makes a difference, they are small money.
 
Had that problem with the coolant dropping down through the vents only in winter. I think in our case it was a perished pipe originally.

You can turn it off using those screws you mentioned. Don't be surprised if they are seized though so be careful.
 
Had that problem with the coolant dropping down through the vents only in winter. I think in our case it was a perished pipe originally.

You can turn it off using those screws you mentioned. Don't be surprised if they are seized though so be careful.
 
Got a new cap for it. Studying it, it operates as I suspected - the spring in the cap moves upwards when pressure in the rad builds up to allow water out the overflow. My tractor appeared to be losing water through the overflow even when it was cold. The rubber on the old one is very frayed compared to the new one. It will get a good run over the weekend to test it out.
 
Had that problem with the coolant dropping down through the vents only in winter. I think in our case it was a perished pipe originally.

You can turn it off using those screws you mentioned. Don't be surprised if they are seized though so be careful.

Both taps appear to be free. I think I will close them off altogether if it won't be any harm to the engine. I never turned on the heat in it since the day we bought it.
 
Might be knackered cap.
HG going doesnt mean the fluids will mix,it can send pressure from the cylinders into the water jacket and push water out
 
Got a new cap for it. Studying it, it operates as I suspected - the spring in the cap moves upwards when pressure in the rad builds up to allow water out the overflow. My tractor appeared to be losing water through the overflow even when it was cold. The rubber on the old one is very frayed compared to the new one. It will get a good run over the weekend to test it out.
If the rubber was perished it is most likely it was allowing coolant out before the system even got up to pressure.
 
The cap pressurises the cooling system thus increasing the boiling point of coolant, if you're concerned about a head gasket failure get a rubber nitrile glove and remove rad cap. Don't fill up with water, even let some water out if it might spill out during test. Fit the opening of the glove over the rad cap opening and secure tightly with a cable tie. Block off overflow pipe. Run engine for ten minutes and if the glove starts to inflate you may have a gasket issue.
 
Could be head gasket issues mucky. A full to the brim rad will let some coolant out as the liquid expands as it gets warmer but to push out so much you can see the core of the rad sounds like there's excessive pressure in the system and combustion gasses getting in are the only place I can see generating those excessive pressures.
 
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