We've got a bubbler. Bubbles in the coolant overflow tank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eul7NoItreE

Video is a warm truck after a 20 mile drive towing 6000lbs.



I recently noticed I'm getting some bubbles in my coolant overflow tank whenever the truck is running It starts after the truck has run for about 15 seconds and will continue for a few minutes after it is shut off. Pressure is quickly getting to the cooling system.

I'm fearing head gasket is leaking ever so slightly somewhere. Its been about 3000 miles since I put these rebuilt heads and studs in. Not too happy right now.

Truck runs FINE otherwise. No coolant loss, don't see any smoke while driving. Temps haven't been any different. I only noticed it on a quiet evening when I shut the truck off and I heard the bubbles.

Can I possibly retorque the heads and see if something was loose?

Isn't there a test kit you can get to see if combustion gases are getting in the coolant? That would tell you real quick.

I don't see what it would hurt to at least try to torque them again. Doubt it would make it any worse.

Edit:

http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI

cpdenton said:

Isn't there a test kit you can get to see if combustion gases are getting in the coolant? That would tell you real quick.

I don't see what it would hurt to at least try to torque them again. Doubt it would make it any worse.

Click to expand...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007ZDRUI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I do have one of these arriving tomorrow

yeah I would try the kit like CPdenton posted.

Next thing I would try is use one of the cooling system pressure kits. Put pressure on the cooling system overnight and see where you have coolant getting to. If it ends up in the cylinders you'll need to remove the glowplugs so you don't bend a rod from hydro locking. This is a very common test on subarus where they are known for bad headgaskets.

With the bubbling I would be concerned it's a head gasket.

good luck!
Jeremy

what about the possibilities of a bad cap?
is the radiator doing the same with the cap off?

i would absolutely re torque the heads.

IDIoit said:

what about the possibilities of a bad cap?
is the radiator doing the same with the cap off?

i would absolutely re torque the heads.

Click to expand...

It bubbles coolant with the cap off too. It blows some antifreeze out then, but the coolant overflow gives the air only a chance to escape with no water loss.




Got the combustion gas leak checker in the mail today. Showed no signs of turning colors until I exposed it to exhaust pipe gasses. Then it changed. So the fluid was confirmed good.

........... And then I saw that you need a different fluid for diesel.

Diesel:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I16L90?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Gas:
http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75630-T...263_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0W4WTT9FZEBA03Z06ZQ3

I ordered the diesel fluid and a new 7lb and 13lb Stant radiator cap too. The new fluid and caps will be here Friday.

When cold and not on high idle, IT DOESN'T BUBBLE! Weekend cant get here fast enough so I can get some hours to get these heads retorqued.

Midwestern "daylight savings" is not my favorite. I need evening light, not 6am!!

jhenegh said:

Midwestern "daylight savings" is not my favorite. I need evening light, not 6am!!

Click to expand...

I wholeheartedly agree!!! I get home from work at ~5:30PM, and I still have a couple of "winter prep" things to do, like put the mower deck in the barn, which has no lights...... so the 15 MINUTES of DAYLIGHT I have when I get home is BULLS**T!!!!!! Oh, it's light at 6:15AM when I get up..... but I DON'T need the light to see to drive to work........ Nothing like having to rush home to beat the SUNSET!!!!!!

Sorry, Rant over.....

BTW - Good luck on the truck, hopefully it isn't anything serious!!!!

With you guys there. When I lived in Nashville was the worst. Just across the time zone so it was getting freaking dark at 4:30.

Now it's not quite as bad I'm in the eastern part of the time zone so but not quite so close to the edge. It still sucks though.

just another way for big brother to control us!
we dont need no fricken time change!
if we did i would choose to have it dark at 7:30 on the winter solstice!

jhenegh said:

It bubbles coolant with the cap off too. It blows some antifreeze out then, but the coolant overflow gives the air only a chance to escape with no water loss.




Got the combustion gas leak checker in the mail today. Showed no signs of turning colors until I exposed it to exhaust pipe gasses. Then it changed. So the fluid was confirmed good.

........... And then I saw that you need a different fluid for diesel.

Diesel:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I16L90?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Gas:
http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75630-T...263_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0W4WTT9FZEBA03Z06ZQ3

I ordered the diesel fluid and a new 7lb and 13lb Stant radiator cap too. The new fluid and caps will be here Friday.

When cold and not on high idle, IT DOESN'T BUBBLE! Weekend cant get here fast enough so I can get some hours to get these heads retorqued.

Midwestern "daylight savings" is not my favorite. I need evening light, not 6am!!

Click to expand...

Did the diesel fluid combustion leak test. And the fluid never changed colors...

I confirmed the fluid was good by holding it by the exhaust and it changed colors.

Do I just have a TINY leak you think? I am going to try and retorque the heads this weekend regardless. When it is cold and at an idle off the cold advance it doesn't bubble and even when up to temp after just empty driving the bubbling subsides but doesn't completely stop after a few minutes of idling.

Any other ideas?

Only possible source for those bubbles is a blown head gasket, retorque your heads or try again with a new set

That tool can some times gives a very vague result with a small leak. Large leak the fluid changes color pretty quickly. But I've also seen a truck that was overpressurizing the surge tank on a dyno be run for 30 minutes and barely change hue of blue.

I pulled engine for a 3rd time in 15 months last weekend and replaced head gaskets and put it back in this weekend. I'll update after a few weeks if I solved my problem. It never totally blew or anything but coolant was getting nasty and snow isn't falling yet so I had some time to try and fix it right.

How'd your old gaskets look? Find an obvious source for the leak?

Reminds me of my 6.9. Redid the head gaskets, put studs on it. Started leaking again.... pressurizing the coolant. New head gasket was shot even with studs. Turns out the deck on the block was warped, not allowing proper sealing of the cylinder/water jacket area on hole #1.

Had to have the decks machined 7 thousands to get it fixed.

Hope this is fixed for you man.

Heath

No obvious signs of failure. I was kinda bummed to see that, since it provided no rock-solid diagnosis. I could see what I though was a path on the block near one of the big water jacket holes but nothing was blown out. I probably could've run it for quite awhile as it never got much worse over 1000+ miles.

What I think happened is I may not have used enough lube on the studs the first go around. When I retorqued the heads in-truck 3 weeks ago some of the nuts & studs were stuck together and the whole stud spun when I went to loosen then retighten the nut. ARP provides a TINY packet of lube with the studs and I was worried about running out. So I essentially think I didn't get an even torque the first time.

2nd round with studs I bought the big jug of lube and went liberal with it, along with removing and cleaning all studs again. I went 55-75-95-115-130 ft. lbs on torque sequence. Instructions specify 125 lbs for the studs and my torque wrench is (supposedly) +/-3%. So I'm comfortably somewhere in the 126-134 ft lbs range. I just didn't want to be under 125.