I've searched and searched, but havent quite found what I am looking for. I apologize if this is out there somewhere, I just can't find the answer I need.

I'll try to keep this short. Three days ago, I noticed a heavy coolant drip under the Disco, about 15 minutes after I had shut it off. Trip was about an hour, temperature was running between 195 and 203 for the trip, no overheating. Opened the hood, to find no coolant in the reservoir. Checked all the hoses and found one that was slightly looser than the others. Took it off, checked it out, replaced with stainless hose clamp (I can't stand those spring clamps), and topped off/bled coolant. Seems to be running fine now with no coolant loss, but I am paranoid. Truck seems to warm up fairly quickly in idle, which I find is a nice feature, if it's supposed to to that. For piece of mind, I ordered an OE water pump and T-Stat, as the pump has not been replaced in at least 50,000 miles. Will replace that as soon as it arrives. To make matters worse, my new neighbor/mechanic is telling me it's a cracked head gasket, but he hasnt even opened the hood to look at the truck.

So I guess my questions are this:
1) Is a quick heat up (not overheating) while at idle symptomatic of a cracked head gasket?
2) Should I be replacing the viscous fan clutch while I am doing the water pump?
3) The oil is perfectly clear, no smoke from exhaust, and I am not overheating, so I would venture/hope to say it's not a head gasket. What are the symptoms of a coolant leak in the valley?

Sorry for the long post, and all the questions. Appreciate the help.
-Mac

 

The coolant system is designed to allow for a quick heat up.
Replace your water pump, thermostat and coolant and keep an eye on it. Do a coolant system flush while you are doing the work, then add some water wetter to the new coolant. Also consider switching the dexcool for something else.

 

x4 on keeping an eye on the coolant level.

If you think your leak is located on the front of the engine (water pump of timing cover gasket), you should be able to locate it looking from under the bumber. If your underside plastic cover is still there, remove it to get visual access to that zone.

François

 

Just for context, I have a 2004 D2 with 95K miles on it. I am up to temp (rock solid at 9:00) in less than 4 blocks....

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty conscious about keeping an eye on fluid levels, so when I had the sudden coolant loss, I was at a loss. I will say the coolant that I did lose sure cleaned the engine compartment up nicely. I recently replaced the top hose to the newer design with the bleeder in the "tee," and I havent driven it much since. I've noticed since replacement, the engine runs a little cooler, and I'd imagine that's why it's heating up more quickly now. Thanks for the support folks.

 

get a scanguage or something similar if you're worried so you can read that coolant temp. if you rely on that cold/ok/destroyed guage that comes in the truck it will be too late to do anything by the time you turn the key off.

 

Be careful about using a scangauge or other live temp reader, if you are paranoid now, no telling what you will be when you start using the live temp gauge. I bought an Innova 3130 at Disco MIke's suggestion. Works great. Only issue is that one of my trucks runs warmer than the other and warmer that most on this forum. I just had the head gaskets done. It runs around 197 to 205 and idles from 210 to 220, sometimes a bit higher. The truck gauge sits right at mid-normal. I finally took it out of the truck and stopped watching it, Everytime I drove it I was wating for it to blow. Just ran it up to Malibu from San Diego yesterday with a fair amount of around town driving, temp right at mid-line, 15.2 mpg going 80 mph on the freeway, any slower and I would have been an oil spot on the road. All the best. Phil

2000 DII
2001 DII

 

just because you don't like what you see doesn't mean you shouldn't look. you should figure out why your truck is hitting 220 and solve the problem rather than disconnect the Innova. 210 is not bad, 220 is. Mine will idle during the summer with the A/C at 212. the dummy guage on the dash wont move until 230. or like i said too late.

 

Trust me, I know, I am with you. We have gone through every piece of the cooling system and can't figure it out. Like Spike said, drive it and enjoy. The temp gauge is staying in the middle so for now I am alright. Keeping my fingers crossed!

new oem water pump
new hoses
new thermostat
new coolant
new overflow cap
system flushed and reflushed
new radiator
new heater core inlet pipe o-ring

only thing that I didn't change was the coolant temp sender unit

Phil

 

Well it could be a couple things but it may very well be the head gasket. I've had coolant issues for about a year. I'd have to top it off every few weeks and I never had puddles. I first replaced the t-stat which helped but eventually the same **** would happen. Like you I would check the reservoir and I had zero coolant in the thing. Long story short my head gasket has been leaking all along. I didn't have coolant in the oil or anything like that. The car would run fine at low speeds and idle. There were no puddles because the coolant collected somewhere in front of the block and would drip out while driving.

If it's the gasket then I hope you have a good friend who is a mechanic. It will be expensive. Good luck to you.