[TR] TR3 Mystery Coolant

[wbeech at flash.net]

A beautiful Memorial Day here in the Utah mountains, worked hard all day in
the yard so by about 4:00pm I deserved a nice ride in the LBC as a reward.
Anxious to push the odometer over the 1,000 mile mark since the restoration
last year.
 
An odd thing happened, I still don't know where it came from but here is the
scenario:  Drove about 110 miles through some great mountain roads and the
Uinta National Forest and as I was climbing to 9,500ft at around 55MPH I
smelled coolant but the temp gauge had barely moved and not advanced any
further, returning to normal (185) after cresting the hill.  Later on the
highway, again climbing to an 8,000ft summit and trying to keep from being
run over by the weekenders in a hurry to get home I was running closer to
70MPH for about 10-15 miles, uphill all the way and again noticed the smell
and nominal up-tick on the temp gauge.
 
As this was the first hard run for this season and since putting the engine
back in I felt that I was probably just blowing out the over-flow from
having filled the car cold a few months back.  I raised the bonnet expecting
a mess in the engine compartment but EVERYTHING was dry except for a large
15"dia spot of coolant on the underside of the bonnet just above the front
carb.  I checked all the hoses, overflow line, 4-lb radiator cap, water pump
and all over the radiator only to find everything clean and dry.  When I
opened the radiator cap there was still about 1/2" of coolant in the neck so
I think my overfill theory is correct but where in the heck did all that
coolant come from not leaving any trace of a mess.(except on the bonnet)
 
Any suggestions as to where it may have come from?   I am not sure if I have
a problem or not but really want to know before the really hot weather
driving starts in July.  The car performed flawlessly, however I noticed
that the plugs were still pretty black when I got home, so I leaned it out
two flats and I clean the plugs and check it again after the next outing.

 
TIA,
Bill
 
Bill Beecher
'58 TR-3A TS 30766 L  "Tarbaby"
www.triumphowners.com/1566
"A Triumph is man's best friend, it always comes when it is called...of
course, some times it is difficult to make it go"