I noticed many other cars at the track having a T in the hose going to the coolant tank with a tube going down to the top of the thermostat. My car has never had it so was wondering what the function is and if it's something to worry about?

Thanks

That's way before my time, but judging by some other cars I've seen, maybe that's supposed to keep you from having to burp air from the cooling system? Do you have a fitting on the housing?
I've heard people from the old days talk about having to go through a procedure to get the air out of the system after re-filling...
Dave

The function of that tee arrangement is to be a constant bleed of air out of the top of the thermostat housing. There is a "frost plug" on top of the housing that can be removed and then tap the hole for 1/4" pipe which will then accept a barbed fitting so you can attach a hose.

Thanks Steve

specdoc wrote:The function of that tee arrangement is to be a constant bleed of air out of the top of the thermostat housing. There is a "frost plug" on top of the housing that can be removed and then tap the hole for 1/4" pipe which will then accept a barbed fitting so you can attach a hose.

Hi Steve, I looked closer and it's got 2 frost plugs. I assume it's the smaller one if you are tapping for 1/4 inch pipe? Does this make a noticeable difference in cooling system performance?

adambrouillard wrote:

specdoc wrote:The function of that tee arrangement is to be a constant bleed of air out of the top of the thermostat housing. There is a "frost plug" on top of the housing that can be removed and then tap the hole for 1/4" pipe which will then accept a barbed fitting so you can attach a hose.

Hi Steve, I looked closer and it's got 2 frost plugs. I assume it's the smaller one if you are tapping for 1/4 inch pipe? Does this make a noticeable difference in cooling system performance?

Yes it is the small one. At first they allowed a petcock valve there to assist in bleeding the system after engine installation. Then they came up with the constant bleed system which worked much better and was automatic. Then there was a period of time where Enterprises said if you did not have that system installed they would not consider a warranty on an engine. That was a long time ago and most people probably forgot that part. It does help improve the cooling efficiency by minimizing the air pocket in the top of the head. It is still recommended to jack up the left side of the car occasionally while the engine is running to purge the hard to get to air pockets.

Is the thermostat housing aluminum?

I'm re-doinig some hoses on #115, I assume I won't violate a rule if I do away with the barbed fittings and use adapters to use braided steel lines with AN fittings?

Feff

Is there a particular procedure for flushing the cooling system that someone can point me at? Also, I'd like to source a petcock for the radiator drain instead of just letting it run out on the ground.

Thanks for any pointers,
Wayne

mrldcty wrote:Is there a particular procedure for flushing the cooling system that someone can point me at? Also, I'd like to source a petcock for the radiator drain instead of just letting it run out on the ground.

Thanks for any pointers,
Wayne

When I got started in SRF, I asked an experienced SRF driver how often to flush the cooling system. He chuckled a bit, and told me that the SRF had a self-flushing cooling system. He refused to elaborate. In my 5 years of racing, my cooling system has "self-flushed" 3 times. Unfortunately, the self-flushing mechanism usually requires a new radiator, a new nose pan, some Bondo, and a lot of racer's tape.

Ed,

Your comment made me chuckle.

One of my racer friends looked in my trailer once and asked why I had a stack of new radiators in the boxes. I responded that in our class, radiators were considered a 'consumable' part.

Rod S