The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 50 chevy 1/2 ton radiator & Horn Problem

Just curious I have a 50 chevy 1/2 ton with the original rad with a 235 engine. My rad occasionally leaks. How full should the rad be? It doesn't seem to be running hot, even with it down about 1 litre of coolant. Is this normal? I do have a new style rad cap on that I imagine is pressurized. I have done nothing to this rad and it appears nothing has ever been done to it. Should I have it recored? I have tried using stop leak twice now and every time I fill the rad up to the top it seems to overflow through the overflow tube to the right of it. Any tips on what I should do?
2. My horn clicks but doesn't beep when I engage the horn button.. ANy tips on what to look for? This happened once before and I found that the little coil :confused: ed wire thingy under the hood was grounding out on the cover. I have since taken that off and that isn't the problem anymore what should I be looking for? :confused:

Coolant level in the radiator should be about one inch below the top. Anything over that will go out the overflow. Up until 52, the cap was zero pressure. 52 had a 4 psi cap, which is safe to run on yours, just don't use one with a higher pressure, you can blow out either your radiator or heater core.

If you're only leaking out the overflow, stop-leak won't help. You're either overfilling or the engine is running too hot.

citypat,
You'll find various radiator topics from me. I finally woke up and took my '53 radiator down to a highly recommended rad shop and they recored it. Never had something run so perfectly. The key is finding a rad shop who you can trust...

For years I kept adding a small amount of water and coolant to my 37 stock radiator every couple of months. The situation was exactly like yours.
I finally installed an overflow tank by attaching a rubber hose to the overflow line and running it into a small overflow container I bought at the local parts store. Now I've noticed that after a long drive it will have a couple of cups of coolant in it from the normal expansion of warm fluid, but after parked, as the engine cools down and the systems fluid contracts, it will pull the collant back into the system and leave about a tablespoon of collant in the overflow tank. This, of course, is how todays modern systems work, except this is very low pressure. The principle is still the same and I rarely have to add collant to the system. Be sure the hose goes into the overflow container to the bottom and be sure the end of the hose stays in the fluid at all times so as it pulls water out it doesn't pull air. This will necessitate some fluid stays in the container at all times.