cooling system capacity

[drembo]

My owners manual and shop manual for my '65 305E show a cooling system capacity of 34 quarts. That's over 8 gallons and I can only get about 5-6 gallons in my truck. I ran it for about 10 minutes with the cap off and didn't get much more room for coolant. Could I still have air in my system? Do others get the full 34 quarts of coolant in their engines?

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Did you have the heater turned on? Try letting it run to operating temp and see if it burps out more.

[drembo]

the heater core always has coolant running through it. With the basic heater like I have, I can adjust how far the vent is open and adjust the fan speed, but not the amount of coolant flowing in the core, pretty high tech.
I don't completely remember, but it does not seem like I drained 8 gallons out of the engine either. I guess I will just run it for a while more and see if it expels more air.
It has been a while since I have had to burp any of my babies.

[Andice]

Mine recently took 4 gals of coolant and 4 gals of distilled water. Still amazes me.

[donrm]

I believe the difference could be how big or small your radiator is. Mine has is a 4 core & it took all 8 gallons. donrm cinti oh 351e 1966

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Originally Posted by drembo

the heater core always has coolant running through it.

Thats right Sorry. The next thing is letting it run till the thermostat pops open. Take it for a spin around the block a few times and wow the neighbors then check it again.

I had an old 300m that needed the heater burped after refilling and that's the first thing that came to mind. That was dealership issues you wouldn't believe. Now I'm getting confident enough to do my own work so take that auto establishment!
Anyway, that's where that's from. It took three trips back to the dealership for an old guy to walk over and say "turn on the heater and put the front end on the lift so it can burp out."

[David R Leifheit]

Originally Posted by drembo

the heater core always has coolant running through it. With the basic heater like I have, I can adjust how far the vent is open and adjust the fan speed, but not the amount of coolant flowing in the core, pretty high tech.

See, I would have answered you the same way. None of my fleet has the basic heater. Most have the deluxe, one or two came without heater.

Yes, that was an option too, one of my trucks has the delete plates covering the deluxe holes, and had holes cut through those for the aftermarket that was installed (not the location for the basic heater) plus there are no ducts for the defrost, so it never had those either.
*That* was a cold truck to drive in the winter, had to have the wing windows all the way open to get airflow across the windshield so it would stay clear and not fog up! Had to drive bundled up...
But, when you love your truck...

The deluxe heater does have a valve for water flow...