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Please Tell Me This is Not the Head Gaskets or Engine Block
So first of all I have a tiny leak at the weep hole of the water pump, and I mean tiny that I discovered last summer. Each time I got out of the truck I got a faint smell of coolant. There are no coolant leaks whatsoever. The coolant is burning off at the waterpump before it has a chance to fall, and the amount of dried coolant on the lower portion of the water pump is very small. I have plans to get it replaced, along with a 185 T-stat in the near future. With that being said the engine temps were running expectantly higher so I went through the process over and over until I got it bled. I have noticed over 500-600 miles the engine temps will creep up and I will bleed again and all is well. When I bleed the system it only takes about an ounce of coolant to top off so I surmised that it would be normal with a tiny water pump leak. This is my play vehicle so I will drive it on a weekend and it will sit for a week or two until it is driven again. It's getting close to an oil change so i decided to drive it until it needs it, which has been about a week. Topped it off last week and noticed this morning on the way to work that the engine temps were creeping up again, so I let it cool off and just went to go top it off. When I got out of the truck after parking this morning I opened the hood to see how the upper radiator hoses felt and they were rock hard. I haven't noticed it before but my expansion tank is way over where it should be when cold. So much so that over the last few months the amount that I have just pulled out of the expansion tank equals the amount I have put in. I know this because I have been using a polish/ketchup bottle to fill the system through the bleeder screw (great way to do it without spilling). I have put 10oz in and after pumping out the excess this morning to bring it back down to the proper level my polish/ketchup bottle is back full again! Engine oil looks like engine oil - no frothing. Cold start exhaust has no antifreeze smell, and the truck runs great. I have had a similar problem to a larger extend with a medium duty truck I used to own that was severely over-pressurizing the system requiring a quart of fluid each time it was driven. That problem was a crack in the block that was forcing air into the cooling system. Ideas?
How many miles? Sounds like you may have the beginnings of HG leakage, not unusual and not a huge deal. My 00 finally blew the second set of HG to the open air, but it had been drinking a little and pressurizing the system for at least 6 months. I ran it the whole time with the cap loosened one turn until it finally blew to the exterior and she is getting new hg now as we speak (I will post pics in a day or two). I wouldn't freak out, but I would plan on hg and waterpump in the near future.
First question, what’s a polish ketchup bottle? I would suspect HG as well. Are you able to confirm that the weeping is coming from the water pump and not from the HG venting to the outside of the engine at the front of the head, near the water pump? Perhaps the HG is at a point now where it’s breaking down internally and combustion gases are pressurizing the cooling system. One of those kits that tests for the presence of hydrocarbons in your cooling system should be able to tell you that.
I'd go ahead and replace the waterpump and t stat and see where your results lie. Get an ultragauge so you can read the exact temperatures. Don't keep driving and letting her heat and cool so often. That's not going to help any issues, especially if you are showing potential HG issues. It sounds like you might have a HG leak but you can eliminate the first two potential culprits rather easily.
Ok. Thanks for the responses. First, this is a polish bottle
so. I finally got off my **** and did the t-stat / coolant and just finished. I have been using OBD Fusion for my temp gauge and pretty much use it every time since this paranoia began. Average freeway temps would go from 200* to 208* and around town it would go from 204*ish to 214*. This is based on the cooling system being primed to needing coolant. I just finished bleeding the system for a third time with a new 180* t-stat, green coolant and two bottles of water wetter. Temps are rock steady at 210-212 idle. It’ll creep up to 214 but the six can kicks in and brings it right back down. Freeway (only once as a quick test) is 198 and driving around town is 202-208 now. Since the green coolant is in there I can watch the weep hole and see if I see any green. I will have to take a closer look with the endoscope to see if coolant is settling on the water pump versus coming from the water pump.
A few notes about the flush flush that I Hope are helpful. After emptying the coolant I ran the garden hose through all the hoses to push out the residual fluid. I would also close off different hoses during the process to push more out
Wet/dry shop vac will work wonders for you to remains all the fresh water anywhere in the engine. Doing the same thing as the garden hose I would put the vac hose on one hose and plug others with my hand(s) and w as able to pull out all of it. Of the 3 gallons I purchased I have a little more than a quart left over.
The head gaskets were we’re done at 80k and it just turned over 140k.
On another her related topic. After getting everything buttoned up and testing I have noticed that the lower radiator hose that goes into the t-stat is barely luke warm when the engine is up to operating temperature and I am not quite sure why. With the way the t-stat is designed the pressurized coolant goes in from the top (the angled inlet). It makes a u-turn and goes up to the engine block and then on to the upper radiator inlet. I know the cooling system in discos are overly complex but the thought that I had is that there is too much pressure at the top of the t-stat to allow the cooled coolant to enter the system. I have also noticed that my radiator isn’t even warm. Does this make sense?
Temps are about 10 degrees high for a 180 stat... What brand did you get? You may need to see if you can bleed more air out of it in the morning when the engine is cold using the bleed hole method as you have been.
01-25-2019, 11:38 AM
Please Tell Me This is Not the Head Gaskets or Engine Block
I would suspect HG as well. Are you able to confirm that the weeping is coming from the water pump and not from the HG venting to the outside of the engine at the front of the head, near the water pump? Perhaps the HG is at a point now where it’s breaking down internally and combustion gases are pressurizing the cooling system. One of those kits that tests for the presence of hydrocarbons in your cooling system should be able to tell you that. 
