Water pump geyser! Blocked thermo or did I hook up something wrong?

[crazypete]

Well, I just finshed installing a carb yet again and I get it running just fine. It was running around 10 minutes so it was warmed up. Fan went off and on twice while I was at it. I climb in and the cabin is filled with "smoke". This is fairly normal with this car but it is coming from the windshield vents. Ok I say, whetever.

I go to pull out and BOOM!!

I thought that all the gas splashed on the intake just went up but the incredible amount of steam made me realize I was puking the contents of the cooling system. I mean it was spectacular!! I filled the whole backyard in under 10 seconds. I tried to fling it in gear into the garage in it's final gasps. But no go and shes sitting outside. I crank it and it's real real real slow like it's fighting something.

While it was still geysering, I ran out and confirmed the location of the geyser was between the WP housing and TC cover behind the paired passenger side coolant hose fittings on the pump. So it was a gasket blow around the PS of the waterpump.

The WP is an 83 tbird 302 WP. This is std rotation right??? I'm not losing my mind am I? I have it belted for std rotation. I hope I'm not running the pump backwards.

It ran without hitch last weekend though I DID see that wierd smoke from the dash.

Question? Which of those fittings is a "return line"? I have the 2 WP fittings hooked to either side of the trans cooler I use as a heater. Are they feed/return or are both returns or both feeds?

Did my thermostat seize?!? This is so wierd! No problems last weekend circling the block for almost an hour. Any thoughts good gentlemen? Did I hydrolock my car? I check pluged #1 and it looks clean.

 

[srothfuss]

Steam from the vents is a sign of a blown heater core. Did you feel the carpet for any wet spots?

As for the leak between the W/P and your Timing Cover, I had the same problem over winter. Mine though was from failed stock gaskets and it leaked like a sieve. It could go through 2 gallons in a few minutes with the car just at idle.

It's probably not what your looking for but this is all I can think of at the moment.

 

[crazypete]

No water that I can see......

checked all 8 plugs and they were dry. They all looked kinda fouled but that is expected with the amount of gas that just went down the bore. Cranked with each plug out and no change and no colant in the chambers. Looks like the ground in the trunk came loose during carb setup and at the same time the battery died. I had to jump it afer resanding the tail. Everything happens at once doesnt it? Cranks strong now. Thats a relief. Damn gremlins.

I mean I can replace the WP gasket/RTVfest but it will just blow up again, right? What diagnostics can I take? Something caused a backup. WP is brank spanking new, heads are new. Thermo is not more than a year old. Looked like lots of coolant and less water but the temps looked decent and the fan kept the idiot temp guage at halfpoint faithfully.

All I can think of is stuck thermostat and the pressurized coolant blew out something by why the water pump gasket???? Isnt that part of the forward half of the cooling system?

 

[srothfuss]

Yeah, when it rains it pours...! I did all my gaskets on the WP after i did the heater core of the winter. So I feel your pain.

Thinking about the rotation of the pump, it should turn clockwise correct..? I am sure that you have it all set up correctly but what would cause catostrophic failure of the gasket like that..? I can only guess that you got a bad WP and it failed on you... You could probably take off the belt and see if you can turn the pump by hand and listen for anything strange.

As for the send / return lines... Based on my assumption that the pump rotates clockwise then the bottom fitting is the 'feed' line and the top is the 'return' line.

 

[srothfuss]

How new are all your hoses? Were there any springs in any of your hoses that could have pluged somthing? If your thermostat failed, I don't think that it would have caused that much pressure build up...

You said you had new heads (I hate to ask) but did you put your gaskets on correctly? Those are the only blockages that I can think of.

 

[crazypete]

Well, the WP turned by hand freely. It's a NAPA reman 83 t-bird WP. Looked like a good reman when I inspected it. I chose that WP cause its a 302 with identical WP casting but opposite rotation. I needed that when my PS pump came off.

I took the t-stat elbow off for kicks and shes still steaming a bit almost 2 1/2 hours later from the elbow top. I looked at the t-stat and it looks like....

it's stuck open? There's 2 clips in the back holding the stat open right now so it's just hanging at max open. Is that right? Hmmmm....gonna run without a thermostat tommorrow and see what the temps look like. My electric fan is temp controlled so why have 2 redundant temp control systems?

I cant help but feel that I'm pushing something upstream? I'm gonna bypass my heater hoses and run that 90 degree hose from the elbow to the WP top fitting.

Man I'm beat. Gonna have a beer or two and revisit this in the morning and let the RTV dry.

 

[srothfuss]

Alright... I'll check back tomorrow man! I better hit the fridge for a beer also. The beer will help me think of what failed in your stang....

 

[crazypete]

What a relief!

I found a burst hose. The underside of the top coolant fitting had burst open. Thats why it looked like the pump gasket blew.

So which of those 2 WP fittings is a return and which is a feed? I assume the top is a return from the t-elbow bypass. I think my transcooler was hooked up backwards and it couldnt flow (its one of those unidirectional ones).


Where can I get a nice electric heater core?

 

[srothfuss]

Glad to hear that it was just a hose that failed. I spent a couple of hours last night drinkig and thinking about what could have failed like that

The top fitting is the return line on the W/P.

As for a heater.... I'll have to do some looking around and get back to you today.

 

[crazypete]

Thanks bro.

Ever had a part thats like the bad luck component? No matter how many times you change it , it breaks again, how many different approaches it still fails. The heater core is like that for me. Never get it work properly.

According to what you said, it WAS hooked up properly to boot! I say to hell with it and I'll get an electric one. I have a tiny one that plugs into the ciggy lighter and its useless.