Maiden Voyage

First ride was nice, lots of getty up and go now. Only one concern, after shutting down hear thumping and top radiator hose for a few minutes after shut down. Took out T-Stat but did the same. Whats up?

Alan L

The car was telling you it wanted a longer run. LOL

What's that mean? Air Pockets????

Probably, check your coolant regularly until you see it stop dropping.

take the top hose loose at the radiator and fill it thru the hose.

the noise you heard is caused by steam.

Sounds like it's at that boiling point and you'll overheat and can do more damage if continue to run it this way. Did you install the water pump? Jokes aside, get a temp gun or volt meter with temp gauge and monitor your heat range while breaking in the motor. Don't let your engine go past 200deg. 190 is a good and normal operating temp. I wouldn't continue to run this until you get your cooling system in check. Good luck!

Sounds like air to me.

With any luck it's an air pocket. Take off radiator cap cold and run up to temp to 'burp'.

What engine? If it's a 351c, I have seen a couple times where the head gasket was installed backwards. The tell-tale is thumping, kicking when you shut it off at operating temp. To verify the head gasket is correctly positioned look at the front corner of the head gasket where it sticks out of the block. You should see the word 'Front' stamped into it. If it's not there, you may have it installed incorrectly. The thumping is because one of the rear water passages is blocked by the gasket. Hopefully, you do not have this problem.

Minor correction. A 351c should have this tab sticking out at the bottom front of the head gasket to ensure it is correctly installed.

Do not run a Cleveland without a thermostat!

Andy

Do not run a Cleveland without a thermostat!

Andy

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Thumping is GONE. replace waterpump which seemed ok Fins full and clean.

But also replace radiator cap, because it released about a qt of coolant everytime I shutdown after driving. Should have done the cap 1st. lol

Alan L