I just posted this to You Tube. The radiator is draining VERY slow...the petcock is fully open.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuoqzu9Z0XU
Poke a piece of wire into the opening and see if it increases the flow - all the sludge settles in this area.
I did that. May go out and give it more effort though.
In a word Danial, No it should be a stream about 1/8" wide. You might (carefully) try to remove the drain valve. It looks like you have some rust in there and even if you do flush it by removing the lower hose, the valve could still be plugged up.
Dennis, I think I may end up having to do just that. There's maybe 3/4 of a gallon of fluid in the bucket now (give or take) and it's now down to a pretty wimpy trickle, worse than what you see in the vid; although the drain coming from where I loosened the hose clamp is still as you see in the vid.
I'll be here awhile, but I can think of a lot worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon. The sun is out but we have a light breeze blowing through keeping the temp in the low 80s. Perfect mechanicking weather...grin..
Listen to Dennis, yank the hose.......it SHOULD take only a couple minutes.......SHOULD.......LOL
About 2-1/2 gallons have drained now. I think I'll just let it go and then when it's done, remove the petcock and clean the crap out. May end up finishing this little project tomorrow as I am multi-tasking with other little Sunday projects right now...
I think you should pour a gallon of vinegar in the radiator. Then fill it the rest of the way with water. Let it sit 24 hours, then remove the bottom hose. Flush with a garden hose in the top of the radiator.
You won't believe the crud that will come out!
Looks like it's working like it should be now! Pulled the drain cock off and ran the garden hose through it. Like you guys were saying, the amount of crud that came out was amazing.
After the garden hose flush, I buttoned it all up and did the Prestone Super Flush as per instructions. This is how it looks draining at the petcock now. Big difference!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf84cawWNgY&feature=youtu.be
Danial, Now's a good time to pull the hoses and flush that system good. Take Royce's advice.
Orlando
I ended up doing that, Orlando and yes, the amount of stuff that came out was unbelievable. The color of the water looked almost as thick as brick-colored paint and there was a large amount of suspended particulate (scale) as well.
Here's what I did:
A. Drained radiator and ended up removing the hoses and drain cocl.
B. Flushed system with a strong running garden hose for several minutes.
C. Did a "by-the-book" radiator flush using Prestone Super Flush. I had no vinegar.
D. Did a last garden hose flush.
Fluids are now flowing freely and clear. I'll finish it off tomorrow with the coolant and water refill.
Way to go Danial.......
You are lucky your not in NZ.
Those guys open their pet cocks and water flows out the top of the radiator!
hahaha...
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Thanks for the emails, Craig...sent you another here a ago.
Sure feels good to be working under the hood of a neat old rig again. My goal is to work on some aspect of this Model T every weekend I have available this summer. I wasn't able to do anything last summer and it rained all winter.
Next on the list is learning to change the tires on the rear..
I could have sworn I sent this post last night but it's not here? Let's try again.
Danial, do you have the long fan hub or the short one? This is the long one.
This is the short one.
The reason I'm asking is, if you have the long one, you also have the 'cheapie' radiator Ol' Henry used in 26/27 that has the thin core. It didn't work out real well and many of them were replaced over the years with the 3 row core.
Mine had the thin core and the long hub when I got it and though it didn't boil over, it ran close to the top of the MotoMeter under normal driving. When installed the modified engine it ran at the top of the Motometer and boiled when I shut it off. I bought an ($800) Brassworks radiator because my original radiator had a loose baffle in it and the attachment for the strut that went to the firewall wouldn't stay soldered in. The new 3 row radiator wouldn't go in because the fan was rubbing against it so I had to locate the short fan hub as well.
The reason I mention this is because if you are planning on doing any cruising up Hwy. 33 to my old biker hang-outs like the Deer Lodge or The Wheel, the thin radiator probably isn't going to get it.
Never mind the locations, I confused Veneta (Ore.) with Ventura (Cal.) but I think you have plenty of mountains on Oregon that will demonstrate what I'm talking about.
My 26 had the long hub and thin rad. I replaced it due to repeat leak issues with a new Bergs and noticed the extra rows of cooling fins in the core. Now it works so well I don't even run a fan belt and it almost never even gets to the bottom of the motometer. Big difference.
Danial,I bet your car will run cooler now after all that flushing out.
Thanks for the ID on the rad, Dennis. Nice to know I have the 3 core. And if I'm ever traveling on hwy 33, I'll drop in and quaff a few..grin..
Erich, deifinitely looking forward to getting it out on the road more and trying it out!
Erich my modified engine runs a little hotter than that with the high compression head and the high lift cam, just below the middle of the MotoMeter in stop and go traffic. The new radiator was a good (but very expensive) investment. Cheaper than burning up an engine, though.
Danial, you have the short hub so you don't have the thin radiator. Just make sure your radiator and cooling system is clean as you can get it and in good shape.
Danial, you'll have to drive all the way to southwest Florida now, I fled from California in 97. I'm a 'California tax exile'.
It is an extra nice feature that mine can run without the fan belt as now I don't have to fear a fan blade flying into that nice new expensive radiator.