whiteboyslo
FNG
Hey all -
My cooling system doesn't always want to de-pressurize when cold. I almost always have to use a towel to slowly open the rad cap so as to not take a coolant bath, and the upper hose is as hard cold as it is hot (not rock hard, but definitely under pressure).
Over the last few months, I've been tracing erratic coolant leaks that only seem to manifest when the truck is cold. Couple of months ago, it was the clamps for the heater hoses at the heater core end. A couple turns on the clamp screws and all was well. Then it started leaking again from the same area a couple of weeks ago after a long highway trip. This time, I took the hoses off, trimmed a bit off each end, and put on new clamps thinking maybe I pinched/cut one of the lines by tightening the old clamps too much. That worked just fine for about a week, but tonight I came home from work (driving my other vehicle) to find the heater hose that goes into the block was leaking at the block end. My guess is the extra pressure in the system is causing the weakest links to give up, so the leaking at the hose ends are a symptom.
Otherwise, the truck runs great. It idles at 203-205 (measured using an Autometer digital gauge with the probe installed at the port where the sensor for the 'ENGINE TEMP' light would be) and cruises anywhere from 199-210 depending one what you're doing, though mostly it stays right at the same temp as idle. There's no oil in the coolant (fresh Fleetcharge), it doesn't appear to lose/consume coolant, coolant doesn't smell like exhaust, nor does the exhaust smell like coolant. No white smoke either. Hoses are all new, t-stat is probably original, same with the water pump. Radiator is a Champion aluminum unit with a new OEM cap. Miles are right around 75K, original.
Please please PLEASE tell me it can be something way more simple (and less expensive) than head gaskets or cavitation. Maybe the little ball next to the t-stat is stuck?
Mike
My cooling system doesn't always want to de-pressurize when cold. I almost always have to use a towel to slowly open the rad cap so as to not take a coolant bath, and the upper hose is as hard cold as it is hot (not rock hard, but definitely under pressure).
Over the last few months, I've been tracing erratic coolant leaks that only seem to manifest when the truck is cold. Couple of months ago, it was the clamps for the heater hoses at the heater core end. A couple turns on the clamp screws and all was well. Then it started leaking again from the same area a couple of weeks ago after a long highway trip. This time, I took the hoses off, trimmed a bit off each end, and put on new clamps thinking maybe I pinched/cut one of the lines by tightening the old clamps too much. That worked just fine for about a week, but tonight I came home from work (driving my other vehicle) to find the heater hose that goes into the block was leaking at the block end. My guess is the extra pressure in the system is causing the weakest links to give up, so the leaking at the hose ends are a symptom.
Otherwise, the truck runs great. It idles at 203-205 (measured using an Autometer digital gauge with the probe installed at the port where the sensor for the 'ENGINE TEMP' light would be) and cruises anywhere from 199-210 depending one what you're doing, though mostly it stays right at the same temp as idle. There's no oil in the coolant (fresh Fleetcharge), it doesn't appear to lose/consume coolant, coolant doesn't smell like exhaust, nor does the exhaust smell like coolant. No white smoke either. Hoses are all new, t-stat is probably original, same with the water pump. Radiator is a Champion aluminum unit with a new OEM cap. Miles are right around 75K, original.
Please please PLEASE tell me it can be something way more simple (and less expensive) than head gaskets or cavitation. Maybe the little ball next to the t-stat is stuck?
Mike