hi,
guys! been a lover of the range since i can remember. Now, i finally had the money to buy one (used one, with problem ). The recent owner told me it had problems with overheating. So, I drove it and it overheated on me so when the light turned red, i turned the ignition off and try to put the heater but cold air kept blowing. i waited for about 15 min on the shoulder and drove it to the nearest gasoline station. It kept the temperature in the normal (middle) reading. and i turned the ignition off and open-up the hood and seen this .....all the coolant was being stopped just before entering the engine, you can see HOW and STUFFED the hose got with the coolant. ANY information will help guys, tomorrow am going to open up the part of the hose and see if someone try to put a thermostat on the upper end of the hose...

 

In no particular order, read them all: - you have steam from overheat

1. These engines are prone to overheat for a variety of causes, including lack of routine care by previous owners.

2. Cold air kept blowing because coolant level is too low, or no coolant at all in heater core due to bypass by plumbing means, or core restricted. But you have bigger problems.

3. Important that you have a download of the RAVE, the factory set of workshop and electrical and owners manuals. Free link below in my signature. Go to cooling section.

4. From looking at what you have in the photo, I would hazard a guess that your truck has had overheat problem in the past, the PO tried various "stopz leekz" products, your radiator is now grossly restricted, which is causing pressure to build up. The coolant cap is rated to vent at like 15 - 18 PSI, but this restriction would be before that.

5. If you have heard something that sounds like water rushing through pipes under the dash, that is air bubbles and combustion gas in the coolant. But you might not have herd this if no coolant is reaching the heater pipes.

6. The first steps are free. Check coolant level, which should be 50% in the coolant jug. Look down in there. If orange or brown, bad coolant. If lots of particles floating in it, stopz leekz is in the house. Can be aluminum flakes, copper flakes, black nano particles, blue devilz, mud (clay), ground walnut shells, and whatever the mind of man has decided to try. These seldom work for a long time. But the rest of the quart bottle goes into the radiator and settles to the bottom, clogging it up.

7. Check belt route. See attached page from RAVE. Check fan clutch, should be firm to turn, only spin part way when cold, and when warmed up not spin by hand more than one revolution. Cupped side of blades go toward engine block. Bad clutch is a problem when idle or stopped, not when going 45 mph. Replacement clutch covered in D1 technical section of this forum, $50 Chevy crossover model.

8. Your radiator should have a fill plug on top side. This is used for venting, filling, etc. There is no drain, you have to back off a hose clamp. Inspect radiator with flashlight, and space between radiator and AC condenser. Looking for mud, leaves, trash, something that can block air flow. AC fans are electric, and should come one when AC is turned on, even if truck is not cranked usually. Take a plastic wimpy bag and hold by grille. Air flow should suck bag toward grille. My PO replaced fans and wired them backwards...

With truck cool or cold, remove radiator fill cap, and shine light in there, looking for ends of the coolant flat tubes. Will proably see some grit on them, this is calcium build up from not using distilled water.

9. At this point, in your case, you have to decide head gaskets or general cooling SNAFU. There is a $50 chemical test from the auto parts store for combustion gas in coolant. It will make many tests. In all likelyhood you have a severe head gasket problem that is venting into the coolant and causing steam. The test will confirm this. You can also borrow a coolant pressure tester from an auto parts store and pump it up to like 20 PSI and leave for 30 minutes. Your's won't hold.

10. Your radiator is also part of the problem. Locate an indy radiator shop, and for less than $100 they can run hot acid through it to dissolve the calcium, unsolder the side tanks (it is brass and copper) and rod it out. This was the original problem, the radiator lack of care made system run hotter and hotter, now head gasket blown. Throw in a new thermostat, it goes in the block, with spring end inside the engine. A reversed thermostat would cause all kinds of problems. $10. You can remove radiator yourself without much problem. Test oil cooler on passenger side, if it is obstructed the engine is starved for oil.

11. Head gasket parts are $200 (with new bolts), plus another $200 for machine shop to mill heads back flat. Or indy shop $1500 - $1700.

12. But what if block is cracked? Before throwing too much money at it, you may want to remove heads (before ordering parts) and do a block pressure test (will have to rent that gear).

13. Water pump could also be toast, not circulating enough water, everything overheats and heat no work. About $50 (Rock Auto on line) and 1 hour. Pix of bad water pump.

14. If you have a plug in code scanner that can read data it will let you test more safely. It will read digital data for temp, and show you in real tie. Heat gauge reads and average, and is designed to show 9:00 for a wide range (135 - 235F). By the time it starts moving up you are already too hot.

15. The likelyhood of not needing head gaskets is very small I am afraid. But you do have more than one problem.

 

So I would advise that first project be drain what ever coolant is in there now, replace thermostat (if there is one, without it engine runs at like 145 F), and replace that hose (it will be compromised). Chemical flush and reverse flush for 30 minutes with garden hose. Also flush heater core, has to be turned to hot. See pix of what bad coolant (Dexcool) can do as sludge, or if combined with stopz leekz, also bypass method for heater core testing. I run a 180 F stat in my truck, but that's just me. Don't bother with new coolant until other things are proved out. You can also put in a bottle of water wetter, it makes the steam bubbles that form much smaller, helps with overheating.

 

Ok i has a thermostat, i want to know if this thermostat works? so my dad i thought that maybe we can by pass the thermostat and see that all the coolant fluid is circulating correctly. Is it possible to bypass the thermostat? so I dont buy if needed to be?
We where thinking of just getting the pump hose connected to the lower radiotor hose. and put in bolts on the heater hose and idk what is the other hose? is that possible? any advice?

alos thanks for your information man, i really appreciate this so much.