I installed a new 4-row radiator, reproduction clutch fan and shroud and temp is better, never went above 210 on my factory gauge with temp sending unit in the head. Temp used to keep climbing when idling until I'd have to shut the car off at 235+.

It seems like there is very little pressure in the upper radiator hose though. I can squeeze the hose fairly easily. My friend said it should not be like that, there should be more pressure in it. What could be the issue? The hose itself is fairly new and not flimsy, it does not collapse or anything. The lower hose is harder to squeeze. Any thoughts? Is my friend wrong?

Also, how do you get air out of the system and make sure there's none in there?

Thanks for your help.

The lower hose should be harder to squeeze - it is reinforced with a wire.
The pressure in the system will be related to the temperature. How hot was it?
You can get the air out by running the engine with an extended filler tube like the Lisle 22150.

http://images1.hdpi.com/product/lisle-funnel-22150.jpg

It felt the same from the time we started it up w/o the radiator cap to watch for the thermostat to open at about 190, to after we put the cap on before the test drive at about 200, to after we got back from a test drive and let it idle in the driveway at 210 degrees. The hose did get fairly hot but didn't feel like much of anything was flowing through it. :confused:

Do you think the hose is hot because there's no hot water flowing through it? When the engine is idling, the flow is fairly low and you're not going to feel much. If the engine/coolant temperature is at 210°, the pressure inside will be roughly equal to atmospheric.

So you think everything seems about normal and I don't have an issue? The engine is definitely staying cooler than it was before.

The engine temperature is the real indicator of the effectiveness of the cooling system. If it's good, it's good.

I agree, no leaks, not getting hot, your good to go. The other thing to check is your radiator cap....as the water gets hot it expands thus making the pressure in the system greater than that outside so that is why a hose gets hard to squeeze. Radiator caps usually let water to the overflow around 14 psi - 18 psi i believe. if you are using an old cap it could be letting it out sooner so your hose would never get too had to squeeze.

I installed a new 16 psi cap with the swap. No sense spending a few hundred on a radiator and then chancing it trying to save $20. So I should be good there. Thanks for the help guys. :thumbsup: