What happened?

35th T-bird SC

Registered User
I still have bubbles in the overflow tank and a scent of exhaust when I stick my nose up to the radiator fill sooo, what did I do wrong with the rebuild when I had the block decked, heads milled, new felpro gaskets and bolts and torqued down to the way the book says. I am starting to think about what I did. Couple things 1.) I didn't think I needed sealant on the bottom head bolts because the holes bottom out but I put liqhid teflon sealer on there anyhow. That stuff is pretty thick, could it have altered the torque at all? 2.) Is it possible to not have the head gasket seated perfectly on the head when you put the head down on it? I know the dowels are supposed to position it, right? Now how can I find out which side is leaking so I can only take apart that one side? Compression test? What about using a coolant pressure tester and pumping it up to 16psi while it's running and looking for pulsing of the needle and then disconnecting one plug wire at a time and watch for the needle to stop pulsing. Any help appreciated.
 
The bubbles could be air trapped in the system and the smell can be from whatever was left over in radiator....Dont worry just yet..Unless yer overheating
 
It's a brand new radiator, also a new water pump, new upper and lower radiator hose too. The block was dipped so that just leaves the heater core and a few small coolant hoses for crud to get in? I did a full blown rebuild of this thing and probably spent 3-4k in parts and machine work that's why I'm worried. No it's not overheating but how long would this air stay trapped in? I had the vent off when I filled it. It's not bubbling profusely, but it's about 3-4 bubbles a second when it's hot and the cap opens up. Not to mention I lost about half a psi when I did a coolant system pressure test in 2 minutes when the engine was off and cold.
 
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