Guest jasonperkins Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 So in my 1937 plymouth I am trying to figure out if there is a thermostat. I just had the radiator re-cored and re-built. I filled everything up water/coolant ran it around the block a little bit everything seemed to be going well. Then water started to be boiling out of the radiator. I am assuming this is not normal, but then again this is my first "old" car. Is there a thermostat perhaps that is not opening up and needs to be changed out? When I got back to the house I pulled the radiator cap and the water felt really warm, but was not boiling. Was it perhaps just boil over from filling it to much? I have yet to be able to fix the temperature sensor, and may just try and find a new one and hide it somewhere in the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Yes, there is supposed to be a thermostat. It goes inside the cast iron piece that bolts on top of the motor, where the top rad hose comes out.It may not be the thermostat. Unlike modern cars, your 37 has no coolant overflow container. If it gets hot the coolant dumps on the ground from an overflow pipe. For this reason, you are not supposed to fill the rad right full. Leave 2 or 3 inches of air space at the top. As long as the top of the tubes are covered by coolant you are fine. Check when the engine is cold. So, yes, you may have just over filled it.On the subject of heat gauges. Your car came with a mechanical heat gauge. This means there was a brass bulb that fitted into the motor near the back. From there, a small brass pipe about the thickness of a piece of spaghetti, went through the firewall to the heat gauge. Often these pipes were protected by a wire spring wound around them.If the gauge is broken, or if someone cut off the bulb, you have to replace the whole works as a unit. They can be repaired but sometimes you can get a new one from the parts suppliers like Andy Bernbaum or Roberts Motor Parts, or from Ebay.You can get a digital hand held heat gauge fairly reasonable these days. If you get one you can check the temp of your engine. Try checking the motor at the front and at the back. The temp should be fairly even. If the back is way hot and the front way cool it is a sign the water distribution pipe is worn out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jasonperkins Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 So I drove it around a bit more today(got pulled over for no blinkers) anyhow no spewing coolant and when I took the temperature of the engine block with an infrared thermometer. On the top front 165 back 170On the side front 180 back 195 this was drivers side. Do these seem like okay numbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 So I drove it around a bit more today(got pulled over for no blinkers) anyhow no spewing coolant and when I took the temperature of the engine block with an infrared thermometer. On the top front 165 back 170On the side front 180 back 195 this was drivers side. Do these seem like okay numbers?Most states do not require signals if the vehicle was not made with them originally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jasonperkins Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Most states do not require signals if the vehicle was not made with them originally.Oh believe me we went round and round Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ply33 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 So I drove it around a bit more today(got pulled over for no blinkers) anyhow no spewing coolant and when I took the temperature of the engine block with an infrared thermometer. On the top front 165 back 170On the side front 180 back 195 this was drivers side. Do these seem like okay numbers?I would expect a little more uniform temperature distribution, 30F between the general location of the thermostat and the back side of the engine sounds high to me. Might have some sludge built up in the block and/or your temperature distribution tube could be clogged or rusted out. You can get a lot of sludge out by pulling the welch/core/freeze plugs on the side of the block and doing a good flushing while probing around in there with a stiff wire. To deal with the water distribution tube you need to pull the radiator and water pump so I'd delay that until other measures were done so see if you really need to go that far. All that said, 195F is not, by itself, too high a temperature. But if you have a 180F thermostat in there and the same coolant flow then you will be getting close to boiling water in the back of the block.What state are you in that requires turn signals on cars that were not originally equipped with them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jasonperkins Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 I'm in Oklahoma and I do not believe they do I believe this guy was just....a nice guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jasonperkins Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Ok so is this the freeze plug? I looked in the manual and they called it the drain cock. Should I pull this as well? It is middle of the engine drivers side in between the distributor cap and the oil fill spout. If this is not what and where are the freeze plugs? I can not seem to post a picture so sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Ok so is this the freeze plug? I looked in the manual and they called it the drain cock. Should I pull this as well? It is middle of the engine drivers side in between the distributor cap and the oil fill spout. If this is not what and where are the freeze plugs? I can not seem to post a picture so sorry If you limit your photo pixel size to less than 2000 in both directions, the photo should load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ply33 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Ok so is this the freeze plug? I looked in the manual and they called it the drain cock. Should I pull this as well? It is middle of the engine drivers side in between the distributor cap and the oil fill spout. If this is not what and where are the freeze plugs? I can not seem to post a picture so sorry There is a reasonably good photo of a failing core plug at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_plugMy way of removing them is to use an electric drill with a hex driver bit to partly screw a self-tapping sheet metal screw into the plug leaving the head high enough that I can then use the claw side of a carpenter's hammer to pull the plug out.New plugs are available at your local auto supply. Make sure the seat is clean and apply a little sealant to the lip of the new plug and/or the seat in the block. Put it in place and then deform it to lock it in place by hitting it with a hammer. If you have enough room, it is easiest to put a drift on the plug and then hit the drift with the hammer. With a '36 I think you should be able to access the side of the block to do that fairly well. Newer cars with deeper engine compartments can restrict the swing of the hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jasonperkins Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 How many is there in the motor? Can you give me a general idea of where they are? I just want to make sure I do not drill into the wrong thing. I see like 4 rather large holes that look like that. I would say like 2 inch diameter. Is that it? Also there is a smaller one above the temperature sensor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ply33 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 How many is there in the motor? Can you give me a general idea of where they are? I just want to make sure I do not drill into the wrong thing. I see like 4 rather large holes that look like that. I would say like 2 inch diameter. Is that it? Also there is a smaller one above the temperature sensor.I'm at work at the moment and will be out of town until Sunday, so it will be a little while before I can go out to the garage and look. My hazy memory say's they are probably 1 5/8" in diameter for the ones on the side of the block. Definitely smaller on the one on the top of the head (which you probably won't need to remove). Could be four on the side of the block or maybe three. I have a '33 and the '33 and '34 engine blocks are a bit different from the '35 and up ones so my count could be off for you even if I look on my engine.There is another plug on the back of the engine but barring failure of it, best to leave it alone. At least on my car you can get access to it by pulling the floor and toe boards and then going to it from inside the car. But I bet that access varies dramatically from year to year based on what they were doing with the car bodies.By the way, if/when you pull those plugs everything under and near them will get coolant and gunk on them so take some time to protect your generator, distributor, dip stick hole, etc. before pulling your plugs. Don't be too surprised if you find something like http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showpost.php?p=296897&postcount=20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jasonperkins Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Ok so I have 5 places that are 1 5/8 " that make a W pattern in the block. There are 3 on top part of the block and 2 on the bottom. I am pretty certain that these are it. I just want to make sure before I drill into a 75 year old engine block that runs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bob Call Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 I live in Oklahoma also. It has been some time since I have read the motor vehicle law, but, "blinkers" are not required on a vehicle unless they were standard original equipment. Only one combination tail/stop light is required if that was original configuration of the car.Sounds like this guy has the "cop" mentality. Matt Hinson, and other cops on here, I know not all cops are like that, but, I know several and even had some in my family and they are first class arrogant AH's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I wouldn't go messing with freeze plugs etc. at this time. You could try flushing the rad and check the thermostat is opening when it should. Your car should have a 180 or 160 degree thermostat.How does the coolant look? If it is brown and mucky you may need to flush several times to get the rad and cooling passages clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jasonperkins Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 well I pulled all 5 plugs. It actually looks a lot better now. Two of the plug holes were completely full of hard packed in sludge so I think it was definitely a good thing. Now I am running clear water through and am going to put in new plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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