The front main hose just exploded while driving it a mile trying to get it home... Its nearly freezing so I didn't worry too much when it ran close to the red..

And yes I know I'm taking risks, but I also dont have the money to send it to a shop..

When I tried to re-fill the coolant today by taking the bleeder cap off and filling the raised reservoir, I couldn't get coolant to come out of the nipple like it usually does..That concerned me. Then this pipe exploded and I'm beginning to suspect heavily pressurized system from blown gasket...

Oh, this hose was in great shape.. that explosion is not from old hose...

 

Also its a 2in rip in that hose

Can a water pump create that much pressure with a clogged radiator??

Or do I assume pistons pumped that air in there?

 

Not really likely that the water pump did that

 

If you ran it low on coolant for a while and had a lot of steam in the system...that could have blown the hose. Steam in the system gets very, very hot and rises to the higher locations in the system and causes hoses to blow. So, seeing that the hose was blown out on top...l'm assuming steam did this. Replace the hose, repair all other leaks or suspected areas of problem, replace that thermostat (looks old in picture), bleed the system properly and test drive, bleed again and keep an eye on fluid level. Any time l do work on the cooling system...l check under the hood daily for a few weeks afterwards...and check under the hood weekly from then on. These are aging vehicles and need to be treated accordingly, by checking fluid levels and conditions under the hood...often.

​​​​​​​And agree with above statement...you need to slow down and do repairs correctly...or you are going to toast that engine.

Brian.

 

Hey cobbcj7... here's your problem in red. your fragile plastic hose separated from the rubber hose.
Also in yellow... replace this entire fragile plastic hose to the radiator with 6 feet of rubber hose. you'll thank me later.

 

Mentioned hose in post #2.

Brian.

 

Thanks, I guess it did run low allowing steam into the pipes.. I'll replace those hoses and see what happens..

 

If you replace the plastic hoses, make sure to use transmission fluid hose, it is the only one rated for the pressure and temperature. Once you replace the hoses, start the engine with the cap off the tank and let it run until warm. If you get lots of bubbles in the tank and they never stop, you have a blown hg. If the bubbles stop, but the cap on tight, rev the engine for a while, squeeze the radiator hoses. If they are as hard as a football, you have a blown hg. If it is the hardness of a tennis ball, it is probably ok. You might want to run it with the cap loosens about 1/2 turn to prevent the pressure from blowing a hose, just in case.

 

He drove the truck while the temp gauge was near the red zone. At best he has blown HGs...or worst his block is cracked.

It doesnt matter how cold the outside air temp is. Without fresh coolant entering the engine, the cylinders walls will get 500C+ as once the coolant flashes to steam it no longer absorbs much heat.

 

I replaced the hose and filled the coolant and bled the system and today it has run fine for over 60 miles so I guess that was the fix thanks for your help guys