kdart15

preface: i don't know a whole lot so sorry if any of these seem rhetorical

short version: repaired radiator, but cooling system is now topped off with about 8 quarts instead of the specified 15 quarts. i ran the car shortly to see if level would drop (possible air pockets), but actually rose (pressure cap was off). only ran for 5 minutes because temp gauge is no good, even though car sounded fine (may take longer to reach higher temps).

question 1: why can i fit only half the coolant i need to? and how might i fix this

question 2: what part of temp gauge usually fails, the gauge, sending unit or something else? and how hard is it to fix

unrelated question: there is a puddle of fluid that has formed near my car, even though fluid could not actually be coming from these areas (one is under the rear bumper on driver side). has the color/appearance of frech oil, but the consistency of water. any ideas?

sorry for the length, thanks for all the help, and i can give more detail (or even pics) if needed.

mySAVIOReigns

Your block is holding some. If you wanted to drain it all, you'd open the draincock, turn on the heat in the car, and let it run for about 10 mins. That would completely flush it. Of course, run a garden hose into your radiator so your block doesn't get too hot.

Not sure on the temp gauge.

The leak sounds like possibly exhaust? It might just be the wather dripping out. Sometimes it has a funny color to it. Is it always there though?

67 evil eleanor

15 quarts?

mySAVIOReigns

Yea, thought that seems quite high...I used like a gallon or something when I filled mine, and that was 4 qts.

dcohen

O' RLY

kdart15

both my shop manual and haynes say the cooling system capacity is 15 us quarts.

i didn't drain with the heater on, and i do not recall how much i drained, so that could be the answer to that, but i just want to be sure

as for the mystery substance, it is not on the side the exhaust is, the other location is behind the front passenger side wheel (only an empty fender above)

groho

when i drained my two core, and put in the four core in my '66, i don't recall coming anywhere near 3+ gallons of coolant. agreed, turn on you heater to high, and let the cooling system burp, and get rid of the air. you probably have a pocket of air in the block or heater core that needs to pass.

the sending unit is usually the first to go. Your gauge is simply a measuring tools to the sending unit. You should also be able to use a volt meter to measure the resistance, ohms, through the sending unit as the temp changes.