what is going on????

[SPR1NK]

on the way home form work cruising about 55 everything was normal, oil pressure about 40 psi, temp on cold edge of bracket, then all of a sudden the oil pressure drops to 20 and the temperature shoots up to the A in normal, get it home(thankfully was close to home) and shut it off, pop the hood and the radiator sounds like its boiling inside and the overfill tank is bubbling antifreeze out of the cap, the solder that was there to fix a crack in the radiator is popped loose and steam is pouring out. 5 or so minutes go by and boiling sounds stop, still have steam coming out of crack in radiator, so let some pressure off the radiator and after just a little pressure is let off the nasty boiling gurgle sound comes back for a few seconds. wait till it stops then get cap off radiator and look inside, no antifreeze to be seen, all of it seems to have blown out the crack all over the engine and into the overfill tank. checked oil, still at normal level, doesnt seem to have any antifreeze in it. my dad tells me to start it again with the radiator cap off, when i do temp is much closer to normal and oil pressure is normal, and when i shut it off radiator was making gurgle sound that lasted for a couple minutes then stopped.

what could it be? head gasket? or something else?

 

[turbo elk]

Could be the head gasket... I would refill with water antifreeze... Running with the cap off and see if it starts bubbling air out of the cap.

 

[SPR1NK]

thats what my dad suggested doing, but i figured i should wait till it cools off cuz of how hot that radiator is

 

[SPR1NK]

if its head gasket what would cause that gurgling?
compression bleeding in coolant system or something?

 

[junk]

Before I thought head gaskets I'd wonder if that crack opened back up and it was just low on water and got hot. How low is the crack on the radiator? I'd fill it up with water and run it with no radiator cap and see how it goes. Then i'd probably put a radiator in it and see how it goes.

 

[SPR1NK]

the crack is in the top tank right below the cap, radiator was full this weekend when i checked it

 

[F350camper]

Could be the head gasket... I would refill with water antifreeze... Running with the cap off and see if it starts bubbling air out of the cap.

+1 on this.

 

[SPR1NK]

worst part of this whole ordeal, this is my only vehicle and i have class at 6
driving dads car till i can get truck fixed

 

[sassyrel]

just the engine being hot,,would gurgle like crazy. check it in the am,,when engine is cold.......

 

[SPR1NK]

just filled rad back up with water and started it, no gurgle sound at all, no bubbling air, temp still a little high(halfway between start of bracket and N) and oil pressure normal, only thing it did was after i revved it up to 2k and held it there for a bit when i let off it shot a spout of water out the cap probly a foot high

 

[typ4]

You need a new radiator and thermostat to start with.

 

[turbo elk]

i revved it up to 2k and held it there for a bit when i let off it shot a spout of water out the cap probly a foot high[/QUOTE]

That's normal, just the fluid surging.... probably do need a new radiator.

 

[turbo elk]

On e-bay there is a nice 4 row champion for about $285.00 or so.... not like the NAPA radiator I had to buy while I was on vacation for $300 bucks.

 

[SPR1NK]

radiator i definitely need to replace, just cant really afford one right now, but thermostat was new about a year ago, it was however just a generic NAPA thermostat, suppose it already crapped out on me?

would bad radiator and thermostat combined cause this issue?

 

[turbo elk]

From what I've read on this forum and FTE is to ONLY use motorcraft thermostats.