Author Topic: coolant recovery system  (Read 1162 times)

jmxkf1

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coolant recovery system
« on: June 23, 2020, 01:09:31 PM »
Hi,
I've installed, what I thought was a coolant recovery system on my Kaiser but it turned out to only be a coolant reservoir system.  That means that I had to periodically pour the coolant back in the radiator manually.   
Has anyone found a recovery system that works on our cars?  When the engine cools, the coolant should return to the radiator.  If yes, then who makes it and how many lbs should the radiator cap be?   Thanks,  Jim

DTort96646

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Re: coolant recovery system
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2020, 03:17:44 PM »
Be very careful when trying to use a recovery system on an early cooling system. The systems were designed to use 4 psi caps. The radiators and heater cores are a soldered fin design not the later tube and fin design. Too much pressure will rupture the radiator or heater core at the soldered seams. The recovery requires a seal under the pressure relief part of the radiator cap. The early radiator caps were a little deeper than the higher 12 to 14 psi caps. What I am saying in fewer words is, do not put a 12 to 14 psi sealed cap on a 4 psi designed system or plan to replace the radiator, heater core and possibly the water pump because they will leak.

jmxkf1

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Re: coolant recovery system
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2020, 03:47:05 PM »
Thanks, then I need a recovery system which will work with 4 lb pressure cap.   I'll see what I can find.

Kato

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Re: coolant recovery system
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2020, 12:45:29 PM »
7 lb caps in the modern standard dimensions are not hard to find at local auto part stores, although they often don't list by application and they might not have one in stock the day you go.  I run 7 lb modern caps on all my old cars, but I've also upgraded all of them to aluminum radiators since it gets hot where I live.  Even if you upgrade the radiator to a modern design, you still want to use the low-pressure cap, since the heater core remains original.  Haven't had any of them fail yet, so 7 lbs seems pretty safe.

If the radiator cap has a metal center in the rubber seal, try pulling it gently away from the seal.  If it pulls out, the cap should allow for coolant to be pulled back into the radiator when it cools.  If if stays with the seal, the cap will only release coolant when the radiator is hot.  Also, be sure that you have a good seal of the hose to the nipple off the filler neck on the radiator -- if air can get past the seal, you'll have coolant getting pushed out and into the reservoir when hot, but when the radiator cools the vacuum will pull air past the seal instead of pulling fluid up from the reservoir.  I use the plastic aftermarket reservoirs, mostly, but have had awful luck getting the clear plastic hoses they provide with the kit to seal (even with a hose clamp!), which leads to exactly your problem.
'53 Kaiser Manhattan
'52 Nash Ambassador
'51 Hudson Pacemaker
'77 Toyota Celica GT

retroguy

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Re: coolant recovery system
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2020, 08:59:00 PM »
How do you install a coolant recovery system in a '54 KM?  Does this just capture the coolant that would boil over if the engine runs hot, or does it help the engine run cooler also.

jmxkf1

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Re: coolant recovery system
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2020, 10:10:52 PM »
Kato,  Not sure what you're referring to here but will take a look at a radiator cap. 
"If the radiator cap has a "metal center in the rubber seal,"  try pulling it gently away from the seal.  If it pulls out, the cap should allow for coolant to be pulled back into the radiator when it cools.


Kato

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Re: coolant recovery system
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2020, 10:11:18 AM »
Sorry for being unclear.  Here's what I mean: in the pic I attached, you're looking at the underside of a radiator cap and a filler neck.  The radiator cap has two seals, one outer, which seals against the top of the filler neck, and one inner, which seals against the lip on the inside of the filler neck.  It was mentioned earlier in the thread that older radiators often had taller necks, which meant that using a modern cap on them will allow for a seal against the top of the neck, preventing leaks, but won't seal against the lip (because it won't reach down far enough to touch it), which means that the radiator won't be pressurized.  The inner seal is pushed against the lip by a spring (seen between the inner seal and the top of the cap), and the spring strength determines the pressure rating of the cap -- the stronger the spring, the more pressure it takes inside the radiator to force the seal up and off the lip and allow coolant to escape and travel to the reservoir.

As for returning from the reservoir, see that metal button-looking guy right in the middle of the cap, centered in the inner seal?  That looks like it holds the whole thing together, but is actually a return valve.  If you pull gently (gently!) against that button, pulling it away from the seal, it will pull out against a much weaker spring and open a passage so coolant can bypass the inner seal and get pulled into the radiator from the neck (fed by the hose from the reservoir).  However, I believe that some of the older radiator caps did not have that ability -- they did not have a built-in return valve.  So I was recommending that A) you verify that your cap reaches the lip and is long enough to pressurize your radiator, and that B) that you use a modern 7lb cap that allows coolant to be pulled back into the radiator through the valve that's centered in the inner seal.

Hope that helps!
« Last Edit: July 04, 2020, 10:21:10 AM by Kato »
'53 Kaiser Manhattan
'52 Nash Ambassador
'51 Hudson Pacemaker
'77 Toyota Celica GT

jmxkf1

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Re: coolant recovery system
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2020, 04:17:09 PM »
Kato,  That explains it.   thanks