1960s 1960 Water pump or Rad

[60eldo]

  New problem. Took a long drive today 70 miles all ok. Got home and noticed steam coming out the overflow pipe., went to take rad cap off and lots steam shooting out. What does this mean, rad or water pump. Or something else, guage is broke so dont know the temp. 5 min, before this happenned I was adjusting the carb screws, wonder if that had anything to do with it

[David Greenburg]

Jon- Get to Harbor Freight and pick up an infrared "thermometer gun" for $20 or so; it will let you figure out where the hot spot are and how your radiator is doing. Also great fun for party tricks on particularly hot or cold days.

Absent noise or leaks, water pump likely ok, although I had a situation on way to the 2016 GN where the impeller separated from the shaft. There were no leaks and no nose, but the car was overheating, so anything is possible. If radiator has issues but tanks are good, you can have your tanks attached to a new, higher perf core that still looks original. If it turn out that the pump has issues, I'd strongly recommend getting yours rebuilt instead of getting the new ones that seem to be advertised all over the place. They are prone to failure, and usually sold as fitting a/c and non-a/c cars. But there are slightly different shaft lengths between a/c, non a/c cars, which can contribute to vibrations and pulley alignment issues.

[35-709]

Could also be the thermostat which would be first thing to check on my list.  Adjusting the carb idle screws would have nothing to do with the engine overheating, the carb idle screws adjust the fuel-air mixture at idle engine speed only.

[Michael Petti]

Your cap could be worn out too. Cap and thermostat are 2 quick cheap things to look at.

[V63]

Verify the clutch fan too.

[60eldo]

 Adjusted the carb back the way it was and the engine cooled down, Im not sure what to think, but I will drive it  2 morow and see how it is. Maybe I leaned it out too much, I dont no

[60eldo]

 Drove car today and its not overheating at all. Put in a new temp sensor and its running at 1/4 on the guage. I guess it was leaning out the carb too much, I dont no, but thanks guys for your help. Probably will have another problem real soon.