Guest fenwick Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I Went to New Orleans today to put my car in a movie called "Empire State". They filmed all morning (from 5:30 til 12:00) in a supermarket outside of the city. Everything was going fine until we had to go into the center of town after lunch. They had two blocks of a one way street (one block from Canal Street) cleared for us to park, but it took a lot of time for everyone to park, and several cars were overheating. My 70 Riviera was one of the casulaties. I had managed to get the car parked into it's spot, when suddenly a very loud Boom was heard by everyone within 50 feet. When I was able to open the hood, I saw that the upper radiator hose had burst into two pieces. Everything else was ok. The motor was not real hot, and it turned over easily. I had a friend that lived nearby pick up a hose, and we installed it without problem. I later drove it 50 miles to my home, and everything seems ok, but the radiator hose was very hard, like it was under a lot of pressure. I had noticed before that the old hose was swollen near the place that it parted, but it was a new hose, so I didn't think that it was a problem. My question is, does anyone have any ideas what may have caused the hose to break? Couldit be the thermostat or the radiator cap? I am attaching a picture of one end of the hose, and the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cannon Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Old age, heat and time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Time goes by fast. I put all new hoses on my '64 around 1996. That was about 15 years ago. I guess I better put that on the list.Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fenwick Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I replaced all my hoses and belts last year. I got the new one from NAPA, so that shouldn't be the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cannon Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 A faulty thermostat could have been subjecting the hoses to excessively high temperatures for the past year.A faulty radiator cap could have been subjecting the hoses to excessively high pressures for the past year.Combined, the two could have blown a hose in a year, I suppose. I have not seen that before.Whenever you see a hose "ballooning" you need to replace it, I don't care how old it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don McClair Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 A faulty head gasket can cause very high pressure in the cooling system and cause the radiator to rupture. It might be a good idea to have a radiator shop put a pressure gauge on your radiator and then crank the engine and see if the pressure goes real high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fenwick Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Thanks for the input. i replaced the 180 degree thermostat, and it was stuck open. Maybe it could have stuck closed. I also pulled all of the plugs, and the 4 on the driver's side looked OK, but the 4 on the passenger side looked different. They were more white and cleaner than the other 4. Maybe the head gasket to that side is leaking some. I also have a slight miss when it is idling. I am going to put a pressure gauge near the temperature sensor and see if it increases when it is running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly_John Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Please let us know what you find, fenwick. This is an interesting thread. Thanks. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Buick Riviera Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 (edited) Please check last page of the following PDF document: http://www.drifterscarclub.org/minutes/2012/May%202012%20Minutes.pdfThis information was also in May/June 2012 Riview magazine, page 7 (now attached below).And Gates info: http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=1024 Edited June 8, 2012 by buick-riviera.pl Adding Riview picture (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly_John Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 WOW! Who would have thought it! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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