Reply to "Radiator Choices - Cooling System Info"

A system that has no leaks and holds pressure will not boil over to OVER 240 F.

An engine boiling over at 213 indicates the system is open to the atmosphere, the cap is not sealing and the system has zero pressure in it.

It is imperative that the Pantera be pressure tested and holds pressure AND THE CAP IS TESTED TO HOLD as well.

This car is one of the first "high pressure" systems like we have in todays cars.

It's normal operating temperature is right around 230 F not 195 F.

IT WAS DESIGNED to run hot NORMALLY.


The fluid level in the pressure tank will normally settle to several inches below the top of the neck.

That is correct function for this car



The most likely scenario in a Pantera running like this is that the wrong cap is on the pressure tank,and there is no pressure in the system.

The description of the temperature steadily increasing and then boiling over is exactly the symptoms of no pressure in the system at all.

Many US made caps will not seal properly to the Panteras European made tank neck.

No one needs to re-invent the wheel here. You need a cap that seals at 13-15 psi and holds that into the system.

50/50 anti-freeze will technically boil over at 252F under those conditions.

You CAN stuff it by running 75/25. That will give you about 10 more degrees on top.


My car even with a 15 psi cap will only hold 13 psi in the system.

The Veglia temperature gauge at some point in the '73 model year was changed from a top reading of 230 to 260 degrees to stop the service complaints that the gauge is pegged on maximum high and is going to boil over.