Caddyman I dont know how you can judge the car having never seen it in person. Yes it needs floorpans and rockers, but thats really not unusual for a car this old.
Other then that it idles smooth and drove around the parkinglot. Needs brakes and tires. Still far from dooming it to a parts car.
Considering Im doing the work myself its not far from being a driver. Keep in mind im not looking to make it a garage queen.
Is it a 4dr sedan or the 2dr hardtop (coupe)…??
4 door, here’s a look at his pic
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Currently the cooling system is kicking my butt.
Had radiator professionally cleaned and painted, flushed out the engine with the hose, new radiator cap, new thermostat, new water pump and gaskets, new heater hoses and radiator hoses and clamps.
My problem is that it still runs hot and eventually pours coolant out of the overflow tube.
Radiator feels equally hot across the top area of the fins and slightly less hot towards the bottom area (which seems to make sense because the hot coolant flows into the radiator from the top hose and back into the engine through the bottom). So i dont think theres a blockage there.
I have the correct thermostat temp and rad cap.
Very frustrating
I honestly cannot remember but does this car use a fan shroud on the radiator? It’s not uncommon for those shrouds to get left off over the years when someone was changing a water pump, belts, or whatever on the front of the engine.
Some of those old cast iron blocks collected rust in cooling passages. Half of the radiator staying cool plus overheating tells me it’s a circulation problem.
I wish it was as easy as a fan shroud, but theres wasnt one on there, I dont see one available at the caddy parts stores, and my shop manual doesnt show or mention one. Good idea though thanks.
I agree with insightful, its clearly not circulating for some reason. Just a pain to take it apart because then you have to order all new gaskets.
Took out the thermostat and ran it for about 20 minutes with the cap off. Seemed to hold steady but towards the end it got hot again. Going to buy a thermometer and measure the fluid temp incase the cars gauge is wrong
With thermostat removed and upper radiator hose disconnected from radiator, place garden hose in radiator filler, high flow, and start engine. Water should shoot out open radiator hose with considerable force. Automotive water-pumps are very high volume and unrestricted by the thermostat will move a lot of water, much more than the garden hose can replace if revved above idle speed…
In antique engines, the internal passages can become plugged up / clogged up with rust and mineral deposits creating hot spots, usually in the heads, where water simply does not circulate. Sometimes the heads can be removed and “boiled out” in a tank full of hot lye solution…
I emptied the rad and flushed it with the hose. Also removed thermostat.
Got a thermometer and it idles around 190-195. I think it just needs a good flushing.
Added brake fluid to have some brakes and DROVE IT!!!
Ran rough as the carb is gummed up and old gas, and it clunked into gear especially 3rd. But I DROVE IT!
Does it still have the original points ignition? It will take an old pro to set the distributor up
properly and eliminate that as the cause of the misfire…As for the tranny, that may be a 4-speed Hydromatic. It’s like 2 Powerglides Siamesed together…Two planetary gear sets, one with a small difference in gear ratio and one with a large difference. In low or first gear, both units are in reduction. the shift up to second, the “small” gear-set shifts up. For third the “small” unit shifts back down and the large gear-set shifts up. For high gear, the small reduction unit shifts up providing 1:1 in and out…Now that 3rd gear shift, both gear-sets are shifting, one up and one down and if they are not timed exactly right, it can feel pretty strange as they fight each other for a moment.
While a fan shroud might be difficult, a closed cooling system is not. This gets all the air out of the cooling system. All you need is a “recovery” radiator cap and a coolant reservoir.
Those old cars did not come with a coolant recovery system, they were not meant to be filled all the way up. You only fill them to about an inch from the top of the radiator. The air space is to leave room for the expansion of the water or coolant.
If you fill above this, you will get coolant out the overflow tube. Coolant coming out the overflow does not mean it is overheating. How have you determined that it is over heating? Is the temp light coming on?
Well i think the temp gauge may be inaccurate. It was boiling over with a steady stream and the temp gauge was maxed.
The gauge does reflect the increase in temperature as its low in the cold area when I first run it.
I bought a meat thermometer yesterday and after about 20 minutes idle it was up to 198ish.
I think theres too much crud in the coolant which is inhibiting flow. I drained it and filled it with water yesterday. i think it will take several flushes to get out.
Does it overheat with no thermostat in the system? If so, there is a problem…The radiator is plugged up or the block and heads are plugged up.
One more thing…The lower radiator hose has a spring in it to keep it from collapsing when the water pump is drawing hard. If this hose does collapse, it will shut off the water supply to the pump. Watch the hose while you goose the engine a little.
Cleaning out the water ports in the engine is just one of the many things you will need to do to bring the Caddy back to its former glory. When you are done, you will look back with pride and tell your friends about this and other repairs you made. And I would start with an acid wash to remove any rust plugs that formed over the years. Hydrochloride acid is a reducing acid and won’t be as prone to attack the base metal as sulfuric acid, an oxidizing acid.
I would not use any acid in an in-place engine…Too many different metals involved to get predictable results…But in the radiator, Muriatic (dilute hydrochloric) acid will remove all the mineral deposits without harming the copper-brass-lead metals used in radiators. I would remove the radiator from the car to do this…An overnight soak and it will be sparkling clean inside…Muriatic acid is available at most hardware stores and pool supply houses…You will need at least a half-gallon…
I was not suggesting neat hydrochloride acid. And a weaker acid would be OK as log as it isn’t dumped down the sewer. It needs to be disposed of properly. And because of that, it might be better to send the parts out for cleaning. Maybe a wire brush on the end of a flexible cable is a place to start. Or get a good look with a boroscope.
Given the cooling problems, the only way I’d fix the radiator would be to take it to a good radiator shop, have the tanks removed, and have it rodded out.
Thanks guys. Yeah i had the radiator cleaned, resoldered the loose brackets and repainted at a radiator shop. Im assuming it had an acid bath, they said it was clean, but i fear the engine crud may have made its way back in.
As for the spring in the low rad hose, this was a big debate. Nobody carries a spring loaded replacement hose and the radiator shop insured me it was not necessary, although an old mechanic friend insists it is.
Do you think that overheating might be worse because of the oil sludge problem? Poor oil flow would mean more friction and therefore heat.