the higher pressure cap may give you more margin to boil over but will give you less margin to springing a leak... so take your pick...
here's an idea..
keep a few gallons of water in the trunk ( a good idea anyway in phoenix) along with the high pressure radiator cap. Keep the low pressure cap on the car for normal use which puts the least strain on the old plumbing. You'll have the high pressure cap and extra water in the trunk for backup.
Mark
I was sort of toying with that approach. Probably will be what I wind up doing.
Ashton,
I don't follow this. Your radiator is running about 10 deg. F (?) hotter with the AC, so what? Why is that a problem? You aren't anywhere near the boiling point of your coolant, are you? Assuming you have a 50:50 mixture and 7 psi your boiling point is about 255 deg. Changing to a 13 psi cap would improve things by raising the boiling point to about 270 deg. Unless you are getting close to 250 I don't understand why you want to do this. Be sure to check my math. These figures are quick guesstimates. Sorry, sounds like a waste of money. Keep an eye on the temp gauge this Summer though till you're sure.
Dave M.
So far it's not a problem. I've just never run anything with such a low pressure cap before. Some of my newer cars will run upwards of
235 on really hot days so I'm wondering if this one does will the 250 be enough of a cushion.
There is noting wrong with your logic. The coolant is already being ported into the overflow tank with the OEM pressure cap. Putting in a cap that cracks at a higher pressure probably won't even change anything with respect to when the coolant starts to go into the overflow tank. In a closed system (completely full and cap shut) the coolant pressure increases rapidly as the fluid starts expanding (without the cap opening the pressure could easily get up to a 1000 psi). Going from 7 to 15 psi would have a relatively insignificant change in the way things work. It doesn't change the operating temperature, just raises the boiling point of the coolant. And operating at a higher pressure than OEM is moving in a trouble direction. BTW, one can calculate pressure vs temperature in a closed system--just look up "Bulk Modulus" and fluid compressibility. MLD
If that is factory spec, it should be OK. OTOH, since it is over 50 years old, I'd not want to increase pressure if I did not have to.
13 psi on a '60 mopar pretty well guarantees you will have some expensive cooling system repairs in your future. If you are worried, which you should not be, put on an electric fan in front of the rad/condensor.
My 1965 Dodge Dart used a 13psi radiator cap on the good old Slant Six radiator, at least that's what the part look up states. o_O
TDD
Actually, the spec is14psi on the 60, but I often put a lower pressure cap on an older car to protect the rad. If the rad is solid, and the heater core is solid, and the hoses are good, you should be ok with the 14 lb cap. But that's a big if.
If the temperature is well under 210F with the air on, you don't need the heavy cap - and that's not nearly as big an if, generally speaking.
Hi, As well today's cars are monitored and controlled by computers. Better not fool around.
Exhaust gases from a slight head gasket leak will boil the water and over pressure the system. You don't really know much do you?
Actually the gasses from the leak pressurize the system, blowing the water out - which causes overheating. Harry doesn't know much either.
Been proven many times.
Do the A/C cars come with a different radiator than non-A/C cars?
given the info you give I would think that this should be OK assuming everything is in tip-top shape. However you may end up replacing the heater core if there's a weak spot in it, likewise with any old hoses.
You may also want to consider retrofitting a coolant recovery bottle like modern cars, that way you won't have to constantly keep an eye on the radiator's water level, and due to not having any air in the system, should theoretically make it slightly more resistant to corrosion (although I'd still change the coolant every two years anyway just for insurance.) You'd need the proper radiator cap for that, so the radiator can suck coolant back in through the overflow tube when it cools down.
good luck
nate
driving".
What? you haven't any clue how a cooling system works do you? Please just shut up if you don't have any knowledge of what the f*ck you're talking about.
nate
Like I said in a previous post, a coolant recovery bottle would be my first step... I never did like seeing that air gap at the top of the radiator, and it's not good for anything to have it there.
nate
That should mean the thermostat is wide open. But the thermostat could be broken. You can replace it, or hang this one into a pot of water whose temp is climing. Use a candy thermometer or something that goes up to 190 to see if the thermostat opens all the way at 180.
I've only done this once, and I don't remember how sure I was that it was open, or not open, all the way. That is, I didn't know where all the way was, in practical terms.
Maybe you need a trailer package. Well, just the bigger radiator.
Plus what Dave L said.
Heater cores in many many cars are a pain to replace. Lots of things on top of them, including parts of your recently added AC, which iiuc doesn't use rubber hoses, uses metal hoses. Am I right about that?
Making a big mistake. I've already shopped it to a publicsher, and he's discussed it with a NY producer. Since you hadn't even though of it, I'll take 17 percent. Contact me at Telex;723345.
Your conflating over-pressure with over-heating. Containing the pressure won't make it cooler.
adding a transmission oil cooler is probaly a good idea:) with a transmission oil filter in series it might save a expensive transmission rebuid someday:)
I've checked it (with infrared thermo gun) quite a few times even before putting the AC on it and it seems that the car, in cool weather, runs up to 180 and stays there as it should with a 180 thermo. In hotter weather it would go up to around 190-195 on the freeway. Now with the AC it's added about 10 degrees but still has a lower plateau at 180.
I've checked several and a few were bad and would only open about 1/8 inch. Good ones open maybe half an inch.
Since this is an added ac it won't interfere much with the original heater. Here in AZ it's not unusual for bad heater cores to just be bypassed :-)
Prior owner put one on it and it seems to be working correctly.
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