Hi all. New to this forum. I have a 72 Dart, 215ci, slant six with 3 on the tree, no A/C, no power steering or brakes. Very basic. Love the car, and it's a four door. I drove it into work today and in about 90 degree heat on the way home (unusual for DC this time of year!). Anyway, when I got home there was some overflow from the radiator and I noticed the temp needle moving to around 1/3 up. Four kinda related questions:

1. Is this normal with the overflow?
2. Is 1/3 acceptable or should I run a bigger fan/shroud first and try that for better cooling?
3. Is there some type of overflow bottle I can rig (or an OEM option I don't have but could install)? I'd rather have it go into a bottle than drain out the bottom of the car if that's normal?
4. Any recommendations on good aluminum radiator replacements for this year/model?

Welcome!

1/3 on the gauge should be fine, although you can never be sure with the dash gauge...

You can buy a plastic overflow bottle at your local auto supply and rig it up quite handily. The smaller of the two sizes they offer will fit easier next to your radiator.

I used an aluminum radiator from Summit Racing, works beautifully, but took a little customizing to get it in. You can buy stuff that fits perfectly, as well as buy a new OEM replacement. But make sure that you have a problem with the radiator before you spend money on it.

- Mac

The green one we were discussing in PMs over on FABO…? The one with the parts manual?
If you filled the radiator all the way right up to the very top, then yes, the coolant will overflow once it gets hot and expands, and will carry on doing so until the overfill situation is relieved. This will result in a (cold) coolant level below the all-the-way-full point, and that is the correct level to maintain with the engine cold -- about one inch below "all the way full".

There are four hash marks on the temperature gauge.

C |__|_____|__|H]

The first mark is "C" and the fourth mark is "H". The normal operating temperature is between the second and third hash marks. If the engine consistently runs within that range, it's operating at normal temperature. Too cold is NOT better.
Why do you want an aluminum radiator?

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

So your saying if the "T" is where the gauge normally reads then it would look something like this?

C|__|_T___|__|H

Because the Dart has a brand new 195 failsafe thermostat in it (like 3 weeks old) it never passes the second hash mark, it usually looks like this.

C|_T|___|__|H

Now of course it is an A/C car so it has a bigger fan (isn't the radiator supposed to be bigger too?) so that might explain it. Regardless, is this something I should worry about? I would hate to find out that my oiling quality has been inadequate because my temp. never gets high enough.

But it's better than the old 180 thermostat that was stuck open. it looked like this...

C|T_|___|__|H

Newb alert!!!

Listen, there are only three slant six's, for Chrysler of course. There is the low deck 170 (3.40" bore X 3.125" stroke) known as the "G" block. The 198 and the 225 (3.40"X 4.125") "RG", or "raised G block", first made it into production in 1962 (is that the correct year?).
In 1970 the "G" block was dropped to cut down on the production costs created by using two seperate blocks. Thus, the 198 (3.40" X 3.640") slant six was born, basically a destroked 225 RG block. The 198 was finally discontinued in the late 70's and the 225 later died in the 80's if I recall those two dates correctly.

Don't worry, if you keep an open mind, you'll fit in fine with us.

By the way, I have a feeling that those three dates are wrong. If anybody can chime in to verify those, I would be much appreciated. I do KNOW that the year 1970 was when the 198 came about, but I can't remember the other three. My memory just isn't what it used to be.

mmm...I think it was probably just a typo.


Late '59 for the '60 model year
1974

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

That would be a normal, correct reading.
What brand, and did you pan-test it?
That's too low. First, check the temperature of the coolant in the top tank. Remove the radiator cap with the engine and radiator cold, then warm up the engine until the temperature gauge shows its customary reading. Use a reliable kitchen/candy thermometer to check the temp of the coolant entering the top tank. If it is within reasonable distance of the thermostat rating, then turn your attention to the gauge system itself. If your fuel gauge also reads low, then the voltage limiter is suspect. If the fuel gauge reads correctly, then the temp sender (screwed into the top front of the cylinder head with one wire running to it) or the temp gauge itself is out of calibration and needs replacement (sender, gauge) or repair (gauge).

You have an unanswered PM, by the way.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I'll ask dad if he might still have the thermostat box cause if I can't recall the brand, he won't either. It was one of those one's that are designed to fail open if failure occurs. I didn't pan test it, it was kind of a spur of the moment swap, we had the manifolds off ( to replace the cracked exhaust manifold) and we needed to swap out the old thermostat for a while but never got the chance, so we did. I'll check out the water temp situation when I get back from the band's trip to Florida on Sunday. The fuel gauge reading isn't an accurate referance unfortunatley, the sending unit needs to be replaced cause it has a few bad spots on it. I never do really know how much gas I have.

By the way, thanks for the PM alert, it totally slipped my attention.

That's possible, but you never know, he could just be ignorant to the slant. NOT saying ignorant is a bad thing... I was ignorant once, I remember when I wanted a 440 Hemi.

THANK GOD I saw the light

I've once had a guy close to my dad's age (50's) ask me if the Dart had a 390. It took all my willpower to not tell him "pick up a book!"

All. Extremely helpful. And Yes, Dan. That's me. Green 4 door. Thanks again for that parts reference. I have used it 5 times already and downloaded it Monday! Help on the cooling is great, too. I believe I'm fine. It does move more towards straight up center when I'm sittting, but that seems normal. Aluminum radiator just seems like it would be better overall - I contacted the guy who did yours for a quote. He said he'd love to see pics of yours installed. But if mine is ok, then I'm not tinkering with it. I'll be using mine as a daily driver so just wanted to be sure I don't overheat or run into cooling issues this summer.