Saturday, January 21, 2012

New Radiator and Thermostat Test

On Thursday, I removed the thermostat from the Mustang.  It is a Milodon 16401 high flow thermostat which is rated at 180 degrees.  I decided to place it in a pan of water and increase the temperature until it opened.  There thermostat did open at 180 degrees but seemed to open a little fuller at slightly higher temperatures.  However, it works and that was the main point of the test.

On Friday, I reinstalled the thermostat using a Fel-Pro 35067 gasket and Permatex Ultra Black RTV.  I plan to install my new radiator on Sunday so I wanted the thermostat back in a least a day before so the RTV has time to fully cure. 

Today, my new American Eagle AE340 radiator arrived.  The welds on the radiator look good.  It is slightly thicker than I expected due to the location of the mounting brackets.  I believe it will fit fine but there will not me much clearance between the fan and water pump.

The radiator cap which came with the radiator is a 16 lbs cap and does not look very nice.  I'm tempted to reuse my 13 lb cap but I don't know if there is a problem with the cap or not.  Some suggested replacing the cap when it started to overflow during my last test.  I'll need to research what the rating indicates so I can make a good decision. 

1 comment:

The Heggelund said...

just ran across this blog. can you tell me how the install went? pros / cons? working well?