coolant recovery tank

Been thinking about putting a coolant recovery tank on my 289 61 Hawk. I have read to be sure and get a radiator cap that was coolant recovery combatable. What is the difference and what to ask for. Most flaps won't look anything up without a parts # or a make and model. When I say Studebaker Hawk the want to know who made it. Sooo if anyone can give a definite cap to ask for it mite make it easier. L.D.

Reply to
L.D.
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I think that they refer to a cap that does not block the overflow hole in the neck of the radiator. It would keep the coolant undr pressure, but still allow the fluid to go into the tank and still have the vacum to draw the fluid back in.

Reply to
Bill Glass

If you visit your FLAPS and ask to see the coolant recovery kits, you'll see the difference in the caps. The overflow cap has a rubber seal under the lid as well as at the bottom. This makes the seal at the top of the radiator neck, therefore forcing the coolant into the recovery bottle. As the system cools, the coolant is drawn back into the radiator. Hope helps. Dan Miller

Reply to
RoadRaceLark

So I guess you could use either cap without a recovery tank? My hawk has the cap with a seal under the lid and at the bottom and I have no recovery tank. Now I'm guessing without the recovery compatible cap the overflow would probably go into the bottle but not have good enough seal to hold a vacuum to draw the collant back.

RoadRaceLark wrote:

Reply to
L.D.

You all are making it too hard. When my Avanti was burping antifreeze every time I stopped, I went to Pep Boys and bought an overflow kit (plastic tank and a clear plastic line to hook to the radiator overflow). Cost was all of $4.98. Solved the problem with no other modifications (existing radiator cap worked fine-what would have dumped on the ground flowed nicely into the overflow tank then was sucked back in to the radiator as it cooled). Paul Johnson

Reply to
Paul Johnson

Just a gentle FYI... There is a difference between a puke tank and a recovery tank. A puke tank just catches what get puked out. If the 'original' cap is used, then as the engine cools, air will be drawn back in and not coolant. If a later 'recovery' cap is used (without a recovery tank), you wouldn't notice it because it would still suck air back into the block as it cooled. On a coolant tank, the radiator cap is a bit different, as it will not allow air to be drawn back in through the cap and it will draw the contents of the recovery tank back into the engine. After several cycles, the air in the engine will be purged and the coolant system will be more efficient with no air in there. That being said.... Hot spots inside the engine (crud by the back of the block) can cause localized hot spots and boiling. This localized boiling can make one believe that the cooling system is leaking, as it seems it will puke coolant out quite regularly, even though the system is kept topped off. Adding a recovery system will help that somewhat as there will be a method of purging the newly created air in the system...if the coolant recovery tank has enough volume in it. Filling the radiator to the brim with coolant on an old 'open' system is just tossing coolant money away, as it will push some out due to expansion. That's what the recovery tank system was designed to do...recover what normally got pushed out. Puke tanks are a requirement from race tracks that don't take kindly to coolant puked onto their tracks... Jeff

"Paul Johnson" wrote..

Reply to
Jeff Rice

Good info. With my advanced CRS I can't remember if a special cap came with my Pep Boys kit or not, but I do know that it always sucked the excess coolant back into the radiator when it cooled. I did put a true coolant recovery system on my '64 Champ years ago. It had a steel tank with a pressure cap and the radiator cap was replaced with a special cap that had a sight glass in the center (I guess to prove that the radiator was 100% full all the time). Paul Johnson

Reply to
Paul Johnson

The cheapo tank kits I have seen at FLAPS come with a gasket to slip up into the original cap to insure the coolant is pulled back into the radiator as opposed to the air it would pull without a radiator cap gasket. jf

Reply to
Jerry Forrester

........and, I find the recovery tank is a fine piece of diagnostic equipment:

the recovery tanks on my '96 Chrysler LHS (3.5 V6....115,000 miles)........and '80 Avanti (43,000 miles) stay pristine clean.

the tank in my '93 Jeep (4.0 I6, 125,000 miles) gets a little crud in it......so I clean out the recovery tank twice a year....would rather flush it down the drain then have it in the cooling system.

on the other hand, some years ago I had a '78 Olds 98 (403 V8). it was a great car and ran perfectly. but at about 60,000 miles it started collecting some strange swill in the recovery tank which I cleaned out every 3 or 4 months. By 85,000 miles, it still ran great but I was emptying about a pint of oil out of it every month. the diagnostic code read "sell this thing fast" which proved to be just the correct treatment.

Reply to
Yes I Do

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