Great Coolant Escape
#1
Great Coolant Escape
So yesterday the electric fan stayed on after I shut the engine off and I thought to myself, "Self" thats odd.. got back in the car and checked the temp guage, and all was normal, today I got out of the truck and heard the sound of coolant escaping at high speed, turns out it was hissing from a fitting on the radiator just below the upper rad hose inlet.. I picked up a thermostat and changed it. The old thermostat did open when in a pot of boiling water, but it didnt open very far.. not nearly as far as the new one, so its possible that the flow was restricted....
Anyhow, went to top the coolant off and it took the entire gallon, then I started it up and watched to make sure the Water Pump was working, and it was.. Then I noticed that coolant was pouring onto the ground around the bell housing...
Immediatly I realized that this was bad.. Im thinking head gasket best case, cracked head or other damage from excessive heat worst case.. The temperature on the guage never got hot, but that doesnt mean it didnt get hot I am thinking..
I took a closer look to see if I could figure out exactly where it was coming from and I think I located it, it seems to be coming from the top of the engine just behind the intake manifold.. it is pooling up right there on that flat part between the valve covers and behind the intake then running down the back of the bell housing... Is this good news??? Could it just be the valley pan gasket???
Any input appreciated.
I dont have the time or patience to work on it myself, so I am taking it somewhere to get fixed, or if the news is very bad, buying a hoopty and selling the disco for parts.
Anyhow, went to top the coolant off and it took the entire gallon, then I started it up and watched to make sure the Water Pump was working, and it was.. Then I noticed that coolant was pouring onto the ground around the bell housing...
Immediatly I realized that this was bad.. Im thinking head gasket best case, cracked head or other damage from excessive heat worst case.. The temperature on the guage never got hot, but that doesnt mean it didnt get hot I am thinking..
I took a closer look to see if I could figure out exactly where it was coming from and I think I located it, it seems to be coming from the top of the engine just behind the intake manifold.. it is pooling up right there on that flat part between the valve covers and behind the intake then running down the back of the bell housing... Is this good news??? Could it just be the valley pan gasket???
Any input appreciated.
I dont have the time or patience to work on it myself, so I am taking it somewhere to get fixed, or if the news is very bad, buying a hoopty and selling the disco for parts.
#6
Anyway thanks for your input guys, I will let you know how it works out.
Last edited by llPANCHOll; 10-03-2010 at 09:09 PM.
#8
#9
Ok the good news is, I did a ****ty job putting the thermostat in, that is why the fluid was pouring out of it, it was pouring out of the bottom of the thermostat housing, running under the I.M. and then running down the back of the engine...
Sooo, fixed that, let it come up to temp, water moving, no obvious leaks other than the slow one below the fitting, Oil or transmission cooler line, the one just below the upper radiator hose inlet, but I do think the fan clutch is bad, I bring it up to temp turn it off and then the fan will spin freely.. that means the fan clutch is bad.. YES??
Sooo, fixed that, let it come up to temp, water moving, no obvious leaks other than the slow one below the fitting, Oil or transmission cooler line, the one just below the upper radiator hose inlet, but I do think the fan clutch is bad, I bring it up to temp turn it off and then the fan will spin freely.. that means the fan clutch is bad.. YES??