I will suggest changing the oil again.
the litmus test sounds reasonable, and cheap.
did you drop the oil pan and clean it out? is it easy and can you get the gasket?
I haven t heard holy moley in a looong time…
I’m not sure if litmus is available. I do have an oil pan gasket set, but I think the engine has to be lifted up to get it out.
You can get litmus paper at a pool supply store if you are looking for acid or base levels.
As far as the price of the test kit, sometimes items are priced on whatever the alternative is. This seems like a low cost compared to disassembling the engine.
$35 is pretty cheap, versus paying a shop to run tests
If the fluid doesn’t turn yellow, you can reuse it
Even it it does turn yellow, there’s enough fluid to last for a few cars
And when the fluid runs out, you can buy the fluid by itself
I have a question. There are four heater hoses. One that goes from the water pump to the heater core, one from the heater core to the back of the engine, and two that run from the heater core, under the car to the back seat area. I have not replaced those two long ones. I don’t know what they do as there’s no visible vents inside the car back there. It doesn’t go to the transmission either, it goes behind that. There are no visible leaks anywhere. Would this possibly cause the overheating somehow?
I wonder if its something fancy like heated seats in the back? if it is clogged or kinked it may restrict the water flow.
I ll probably catch heck for this but…, after I took the heater out of my 75 ford (I can reach that dang spark plug now!), I ran a hose about 10 ft long, thru the fire wall and looped it up on my dash to help de frost my wind shield. I was planning to install a hot water base board section and make a front cover for it, to radiate better, but never got aroung to it. I can just disconnect it and put a short pc in for summer time.
It probably is for some type of radiant heater back there, but it won’t be the cause of your overheating. You could cut the hoses at the firewall and connect them together if you like, but if there are no leaks, I would not bother.
“. . .and two that run from the heater core, under the car to the back seat area”.
I would bet that you have a rear seat heater. My 1947 Pontiac and my 1954 Buick both had heaters under the driver’s seat that directed heat to the rear. I would bet that your Cadillac has a similar arrangement – it would be unlikely that lesser makes would have this feature and Cadillac wouldn’t.
Sounds like that must be the case.
I drained the radiator today and took off the radiator hoses and ran the garden hose as high pressure as I could with the nozzle through the radiator hose into the engine. Some brown water came out at first and then it ran clean. I wonder if I should run coolant this time to prevent more rust or just plain water because it’ll likely need to be flushed several times.
I also have some engine flush I might run in the oil and then I’ll change the oil.
Our 1964 Series 62 Cadillac had forced warm air heating in the back seat (AC too). It is likely the hoses go to and from it. Disconnect them at the rear seats and clean it out.
If you run just water in the engine, be sure to put in a rust inhibitor. What I would do is buy a flush kit that you splice into a heater hose. Open the controls to turn the heater on full. You attach a garden hose to the part you spliced into the heater hose. There is a spout that you attach to the radiator cap. Run the water through the engine. I usually attach the hose to my water heater so I run warmer water through the system and flush the house water heater at the same time. When the water comes out clear, drain the system and put in coolant in a 50-50 mixture of antifreeze and water. If what is now coming out of your heater hose is clear, you may not need to do this–just put in the coolant and you are good to go. I, personally, would not run straight water in the car.
I’m certain the block has rust in it throughout the cooling passages and such. Is there a good method to cleaning that other than removing the freeze plugs and hosing it out that way?
You could pump an acid through the passages and it will remove the rust. Use a reducing acid like hydrochloric. Mix one part acid into ten parts water and pump it through. Start with this dilute acid solution, then move add the same amount of acid again to the solution you already have if you need a stronger solution. Wear goggles or safety glasses with side shields. Also wear rubber gloves. Mix the solution in a plastic bucket and pump it through Tygon tubing. Follow the treatment with water to rinse the acid out. If you can remove the offending parts, soak them in acid for a few minutes then rinse and inspect. Repeat as needed. Don’t use an oxidizing acid like sulfuric because it will dissolve the metal as well. The down side is that if all you have is rust, you will be left with holes where the rust used to be.
And to repeat: mix acid into water, not water into acid. The heat generated could cause a violent reaction if you put water into acid and you would not like the results.
“The downside is that if all you have is rust, you will be left with holes where the rust used to be”
That makes me a little nervous. Not to mention mixing up hydrochloric acid in a parking lot (where I work on this beast) makes me nervous.
I bought some prestone rad flush but held off because I couldn’t find anywhere online if their solution was safe for an old copper radiator.
The engine flush I also held off on because the fine print said if there is a lot of build up you need to drop the pan and clean that out first. Which is a large undertaking right now. No jack, in a parking lot.
I’ll have to wait to get it to a shop or a friends place.
you are a brave man fender. lol. quite a project to take on with limited facilities and tools.
im impressed with the progress you ve made so far in your situation.
you can go to a junk yard and get all the jacks you need for almost nothing.
over the years I ve managed to accumulate 4 of those small two ton floor jacks, they are all I use now and came in very handy in my recent jeep repair I had all 4 wheels up, with proper safety blocking of course, and it made every thing easier.
you need to clean that pan out since it was so sludged up. good oil. IMHO, is THE most important factor in vehicle life span
Flare fittings…Teflon tape is useless on these fittings. The seal is between the flare and the cone it is crushed against on the inside of the fitting. If the flare on the end of the tube or the fitting it is joined with are damaged, distorted or corroded a seal can not be achieved…
You can buy a flaring tool that will form a new flare on the end of the tube. Use a new “flare nut” of the proper size if to do this…The nut must be slipped over the tube before you flare it! Practice on some scrap tubing first to get the technique down…Fuel and brake lines usually use a “double-flare”, a slightly more involved procedure than the simple single flare…
Thanks guys. I’ve looked into the flaring tools but was told by the guy at napa it’s a real pain to get right. And oddly the line itself looks good, it’s the cone inside the tank I’m worried about. What I did see online however is a brass fitting that has an end a rubber hose can slide over and be clamped down. I’m thinking I can put on that fitting, gas hose, clamp it, then run that over the flared pipe and clamp that down. I’d just slide the old nut back. In the future when I win the lottery I can put in a new fuel line and tank
Depending on how the rear heater unit is put together, you might just be able to pull it out and work on a bench. If it has a heat exchanger (think radiator), you might be able to get it recored at a radiator shop.
I have no idea, but there’s no leaks there