Help with radiator please

barcher · Nov 18, 2023

Hi Guys. Newbie here. I have a Ford 8N, I pulled the radiator to replace the water pump. There are two bolts securing the radiator at the bottom, the one on the left (facing the tractor) is longer than the one in the right. When I removed the bolts, antifreeze of course drained. Now when attempting to reinstall, the left bolt (facing the tractor) will not tighten up. I get it screwed in all the way, then it spins and obviously does not seal. There were no issues with removing it. Two questions, why won t that bolt tighten up and how are both those bolts supposed to seal as I did not remove any gasket/etc originally? It did not leak before removal.

Thanks!
BA

Oldiron29 · Nov 18, 2023

Sound like you need tread sealer or Teflon tape

Ericp351 · Nov 18, 2023

Don't sound right. You have or had the rad out so have the advantage.. Anyway- makes no sense for the design of the radiator to include mount bolts
into tanks of rad. Often, they have U shaped tabs soldered on , with a key-hole slot to hold a roughly Carriage-bolt type fastener so that bolt is
trapped, head (ideally) held, so mounting is but a heave rad into place, add nuts, done operation. Do I sound close?. Rember, your poor tractor had
decades of time for the ham-fisted to swap-out, break, and molest stuff. Id recommend- re-remove rad, clean area and solder on a patch, then try to
reengineer an oem type mount. No need to overtighten!! Gravity + a mounting PIN would probably work. When gravity runs out- we all got troubles!
Best luck.

wore out · Nov 18, 2023

AFAIK, there's supposed to be two 7/16'' carriage bolts (Key #5), the heads slide into keyhole slots in the radiator frame with the threads downward.

Dunno what has happened with yours that the bolts penetrate the radiator and leak water?

Hobo,NC · Nov 18, 2023

I will add the rad sets on two rubber pads about 1/4" thick and 1-1/2 X 1-1/2. I guess its possible a aftermarket rad has studs original used carriage bolts.

sixbales · Nov 18, 2023

Cut and paste the attached link into your browser. The radiator mounting bolts are carriage bolts. They do not penetrate the radiator. If you have a leak there, you have a hole on the bottom of the radiator.

https://www.messicks.com/nh/152126

Jim in LA · Nov 18, 2023

Sounds like the carriage bolt square shoulder is rounded off or the hole in the tab is wore out. I had to replace the radiator on mine 2 years ago and all those pieces were worn badly. the aftermarket radiators have studs.

MarkB_MI · Nov 18, 2023

It sounds like someone stripped out the petcock and replaced it with a bolt. Probably a lot of RTV was used to get it to stop leaking. As other have said, the OEM mounting bolts do not penetrate radiator tank but rather are carriage bolts that point down, away from the tank.

This site carries replacement <a href=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/Ford-8N_Radiator-Mounting-Bolt-Kit_351641S8.html>mounting bolts</a>, <a href=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/Ford-8N_Radiator-Mounting-Pads-Pack-of-2_180705M1.html>mounting pads</a> and <a href=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/C9NN8115A_Drain-Tap-1-4-Inch-X-18-NPT_7114.htm>petcocks</a>. If you need a replacement radiator, I see YT sells <a href=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/Ford-8N_Radiator-Premium-Used_300150.html>used 8N radiators</a>, which are probably a better choice than their new aftermarket radiators.

barcher · Dec 29, 2023

Here’s what I mean, threaded right into the core.

showcrop · Dec 29, 2023

Yes, you are right. Sins of the previous owner, LOL. If you are handy with your torch you can heat the solder and remove the side and bottom sheet metal straps from the bottom tank, clean up the hole and solder a patch over it. You will then need to convert the round hole in the bottom peice back into a square hole to hold the carriage bolt.

MarkB_MI · Dec 29, 2023

barcher said:
Here’s what I mean, threaded right into the core.

Criminal!

used red MN · Dec 29, 2023

MarkB_MI said:
It sounds like someone stripped out the petcock and replaced it with a bolt. Probably a lot of RTV was used to get it to stop leaking. As other have said, the OEM mounting bolts do not penetrate radiator tank but rather are carriage bolts that point down, away from the tank.

This site carries replacement <a href=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/Ford-8N_Radiator-Mounting-Bolt-Kit_351641S8.html>mounting bolts</a>, <a href=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/Ford-8N_Radiator-Mounting-Pads-Pack-of-2_180705M1.html>mounting pads</a> and <a href=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/C9NN8115A_Drain-Tap-1-4-Inch-X-18-NPT_7114.htm>petcocks</a>. If you need a replacement radiator, I see YT sells <a href=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/Ford-8N_Radiator-Premium-Used_300150.html>used 8N radiators</a>, which are probably a better choice than their new aftermarket radiators.

Okay MarkB here is a little tutorial for you since we are all now playing on the same field. When you want to post a link, above the area you are typing your reply in there is an icon of a 2 link chain. Click that and in the top box paste the link as you have above. Then in the box below that give it a brief name like “radiator repair bolts” then insert. This should post your link showing only the name you typed as it did in Classic before. Hit return and do it again to post another link. I did have some trouble with a post I made earlier today where the link dropped in at the beginning of my reply. In experience from other forums that have this same sort of set up the link should drop in wherever your cursor is when you click the “link” icon. This may be something that still needs adjusted by YT Support.

MarkB_MI · Dec 29, 2023

used red MN said:
Okay MarkB here is a little tutorial for you since we are all now playing on the same field. When you want to post a link, above the area you are typing your reply in there is an icon of a 2 link chain. Click that and in the top box paste the link as you have above. Then in the box below that give it a brief name like “radiator repair bolts” then insert. This should post your link showing only the name you typed as it did in Classic before. Hit return and do it again to post another link. I did have some trouble with a post I made earlier today where the link dropped in at the beginning of my reply. In experience from other forums that have this same sort of set up the link should drop in wherever your cursor is when you click the “link” icon. This may be something that still needs adjusted by YT Support.

That's an old post that I did in Classic. I created embedded links using HTML. It looked just fine in both Classic and Modern on the old web site. Obviously there's no reason to use embedded HTML with the new software.

used red MN · Dec 29, 2023

MarkB_MI said:
That's an old post that I did in Classic. I created embedded links using HTML. It looked just fine in both Classic and Modern on the old web site. Obviously there's no reason to use embedded HTML with the new software.

Sorry, what a kind of idiot does not look at the date. Well at least I have a place to come back to for a copy of the process to explain to others.

Help with radiator please

barcher

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Oldiron29

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Ericp351

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wore out

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Hobo,NC

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sixbales

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Jim in LA

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MarkB_MI

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barcher

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showcrop

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MarkB_MI

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used red MN

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used red MN

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