foam in rad

[kurt v]

59a motor, no oil in water, no water in oil, head gaskets done, no steam in exhaust, fan belt removed no bubbles in rad, no over heating. When i bought the car new water pumps were on it don't know anything about them. Only thing i can think of is cavitation with the impellers if i dump some of that anti cav stuff for the early ford diesel motors would that help?
The foam is instant when motor starts , both top hoses are doing it, water pumps push a lot of water.

thanks kurt

[solidaxle]

Probably nothing to worry about. I would drain it, flush then refill with antifreeze.

[kurt v]

I've drained , flushed, maybe nothing but it's driving me nuts.

[CaliforniaBorn36]

Posted similar information on my 1936 with stock 21 bolt flathead, good luck. Based upon what you said, I would guess water pumps churning the water.

On mine, never could figure out, but car runs fine and does not overheat.

[Willit Stop]

Sounds familiar.Try less anti freeze and more water.

[kurt v]

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Willit, pure water no antifreeze

[cadillac512]

Kurt, are you running thermostats? Not sure if it could do this if the stats are missing, but I'd put some in for testing purposes if there aren't any now.



Terry

[kurt v]

stats were in same same no stats same, i have done about everything i can think of, it has to be cavitation those pumps are pushing a LOT of water. I have another 40 coupe with a 59 motor with a alum rad and that motors pumps are not that high of volume.
O well it is what it is.

[Flathead Fever]

Antifreeze has anti foaming additives in it. I would run a 50/50 mix of distilled water and antifreeze. The last thing you want to do to is run engine on straight water unless your just testing the engine for a short time and you're going to drain it out Rust will form in there and you will never get it out no matter how much you flush it, it will keep coming back. I flush engine sat work with rusty coolant until the water was sparkling clean. Mix up some 50/50 coolant and in six-months it was rusty again. It just better to never give that rust a chance to form in the first place. The antifreeze prevents also prevents electrolysis which will eat aluminum heads. Dissimilar metals and tap water will create a voltage that slowly removes the aluminum from the heads. All those junk aluminum heads are eaten away because people ran straight water. If they stuck a copper gasket between the cast iron block and the aluminum head, then it really ate away the heads without any antifreeze. Save the copper gaskets for racing and not for street use. You want to use distilled water with the coolant because it will not conduct electricity, so it helps prevent electrolysis. Pure water does not conduct electricity, its the minerals in the water that does the conducting. Distilling removes the water removes the minerals. Rainwater contains dissolve salts and will conduct electricity Nobody uses distilled water like all the manufacturers call for, they do it for a reason. A modern engine with 300K miles on it with a cast iron block, aluminum heads, a modern composite head gaskets and the coolant maintained will have coolant passages that look like new inside. No sign of electrolysis at all in the heads.

A guy walked into our shop one day trying to sell us cases of expensive spray cans of special electrical insulating spray. He sprayed a motor with it, dropped it in an aquarium full of water, plugged it into to 110V outlet and stuck his hand in there with the running motor to prove his magic spray worked. It was a scam; he was using distilled water. If he had used tap water, we would have been calling the coroner. It still took guts just to put his hand into the distilled water.

[cadillac512]

Originally Posted by kurt v

stats were in same same no stats same, i have done about everything i can think of, it has to be cavitation those pumps are pushing a LOT of water. I have another 40 coupe with a 59 motor with a alum rad and that motors pumps are not that high of volume.
O well it is what it is.

Very strange....but there's always something to remind us that we know less than we think we do! LOL . Put the cap on so the foam is invisible...Ha!


Terry

[Terry,OH]

There must be something in the "pure water" I also suggest a flush and several rinses.

[ronn]

stop worrying about it. as long as the car is running well- who cares?

[flatjack9]

Had that same problem with my 39 when running anti freeze. I now run pain water and use a product made by Rectorseal called 8 way boiler water conditioner. Being a former plumbing and heating contractor, I thought why not try it. Boilers run at 180 deg and so does my car. Works great and no corrosion and no foaming.

[kurt v]

Thanks flatjack , will look for that stuff.

[19Fordy]

Make sure the radiator hoses are not collapsing, restricting flow.