strange day at the track

[stang9150]

I took my stang to the track for the first time with the 331.The motor has been built for 3 years just never got down there.The car ran fine down the track then when I parked it I notice it was spewing coolant.I could not tell if it was from the bottom of the Thermostat housing or the top of the water pump.It stopped after about 5 minutes so I refilled it and let it idle no leaks,So I drove 80 miles home with no issues.I put the pressure tester on it and took it close to 20 pounds no Leaks.So I took the car out for a couple of runs through the gears,No leaks.
The car has AFR 185 heads and it is N/A.Is it possible for an N/A car to lift a head then it seal back up.I figured once the seal broke thats it.I'am just baffled by where this coolant was coming from makes no sense to me that I can't reproduce it.So I got to think that the cylinder pressure during the run could of slightly lifted the head just enough.The coolant and oil both look normal and the car runs strong on the street right now.I will do a compression test tomorrow.Any ideas Guys?

 

[281pony]

sounds like you have the bases covered to figure it out.

did you check the torque on the water pump bolts? what kind of thermostat gasket do you use? i had mine leak almost everytime with the paper gaskets. i finally started making my own gaskets out of cork and no more leaks.

 

[old_blue]

check the hoses too. They shouldnt reseal but worth checking. The bypass on mine had a small tear in it leaking a little. I didn't even notice it until it finally started squirting out.

 

[aar0s]

check the hoses too. They shouldnt reseal but worth checking. The bypass on mine had a small tear in it leaking a little. I didn't even notice it until it finally started squirting out.

same thing happened to me, was spraying into the fan so i had a hard time finding it.

 

[gritchy5.0]

+1 on the thermostat gasket.

 

[stang9150]

Thanks for the ideas guys!The only thing that confuses me is that the radiator cap is a 16lbs cap,I took my pressure tester to 20 pounds.I figured if there was a leak it would start squirting really quick with the higher pressure.

 

[Pony66]

Most tracks make you run water without antifreeze. Did you boil the water? This could make it puke water while its boiling and stop when its cool.

 

[stang9150]

I think my issue may of been the termostat sticking closed.Today while driving around town for about 30 minutes the temp shot up to 210 for no reason at all.The car always runs at 180 unless the ac is on.The car cooled down from 210 back to normal pretty quick.So I will change that out first.

 

[NIKwoaC]

Most tracks make you run water without antifreeze. Did you boil the water? This could make it puke water while its boiling and stop when its cool.

For just test and tune days? I've never heard that.

 

[aar0s]

our local track wants water only but they dont check too close, only if there is a problem usually.

 

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

My car does that, only when I drive it hard it pukes out coolant. You are pressurizing the system and then it comes out of the over flow. Time for new head gaskets!

 

[stang9150]

The coolant was not coming from the overflow bottle,It was coming from the waterpump and t-stat area.I took the car out the last 3 nights and ran the quarter mile with no issues.I think if it was a head gasket I would be having other signs going on.