Coolant Hose Pressure?

Hey guys, my question relates to my 69 RR 4 speed, 383 (450 stroker) setup. Everything has been rebuilt or is new on the car FYI. Driving it last night everything seemed fine except after i got on it a bit i smelled coolant slightly. I got it home and found no leaks and the car never indicated to be overheating. The temp stays in the cool marks on the factory temp guage. Again, when i opened the hood there were no leaks, i even looked inside around the heater box to see if the heater core was leaking, nothing that i can see so far. The only thing i noticed was that the coolant hoses had a good amount of pressure in them, both the top and bottom hoses had the same pressure. My main question is, is it normal for both hoses to have a decent amount of pressure in them? When i squeezed them they were pretty firm while running. Once the car was shut off they lost pressure. I checked the coolant and it was clean and clear, I didnt notice any combustion gasses in it. Maybe its normal, i just didn't know why i might smell coolant. The car has about 150 miles on it since the resto, I've never noticed anything before my drive last night. any help is greatly appreciated.

The cooling system will hold the pressure noted on your radiator cap usually 13 to 16 pounds. That will make the hoses seem hard, as it cools the pressure will drop off. That is why they say never open the radiator while hot. As for the smell it doesn't take much for steamy coolant to leave it's scent. Thermostat gasket??

hashmaker said:

The cooling system will hold the pressure noted on your radiator cap usually 13 to 16 pounds. That will make the hoses seem hard, as it cools the pressure will drop off. That is why they say never open the radiator while hot. As for the smell it doesn't take much for steamy coolant to leave it's scent. Thermostat gasket??

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I looked everywhere and there is no leaks whatsoever, nothing out of the overflow hose even. The car seems to be in normal operating temps. The cap is a 16 lb. Maybe its normal, i just smelled the coolant after twisting its tail so i thought something was leaking or it had overflowed. I would assume if it had a head gasket leak the exhaust gasses would be noticeable floating in the coolant correct?

Do you have a coolant recovery tank? If not maybe it just came out of the Overflow tube that runs down alongside the radiator.

BTW, when you get on it it's going to get hot and it's probably going to spew coolant out the Overflow tube happened to me

slightly over filled and burped a little out the over flow....... you need to leave some room in the top tank when cold for expansion

69roadr said:

Do you have a coolant recovery tank? If not maybe it just came out of the Overflow tube that runs down alongside the radiator.

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No coolant recovery tank on it, just an overflow hose that runs from the radiator neck down to the underside. Thanks for the info, I just wasn't sure if having pressure on both the upper and lower hoses was normal. I got a bit worried thinking i had a head or head gasket issue.

eldubb440 said:

slightly over filled and burped a little out the over flow....... you need to leave some room in the top tank when cold for expansion

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I did top it off a bit before this happened so that may be indeed what happened. Thanks!

superbird77 said:

No coolant recovery tank on it, just an overflow hose that runs from the radiator neck down to the underside. Thanks for the info, I just wasn't sure if having pressure on both the upper and lower hoses was normal. I got a bit worried thinking i had a head or head gasket issue.

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The cooling system is one system. There would be no way for one hose to be pressurized and the other not.

superbird77 said:

No coolant recovery tank on it, just an overflow hose that runs from the radiator neck down to the underside. Thanks for the info, I just wasn't sure if having pressure on both the upper and lower hoses was normal. I got a bit worried thinking i had a head or head gasket issue.

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If that were the issue...it'd overheat, spew **** everywhere. DAMHIK.

I think Eldubb nailed it. It was probably just a tad overfilled and had to seek it's own level by expelling the excess.

P.S.
Keep in mind that the cap pressure is only a max pressure at which the cap will vent. NOT the operating pressure. I don't know what an average operating pressure is, but I'm pretty sure it is much less than the advertised 16 or so lbs.