HELP! Coolant loss issues....

[E350Floorguy]

Hello to all....this sucks that this has to be my first post here but hopefully you guys can help me out some. Great site here btw, wealth of information for sure

Here is my problem:

94 Ford E-350 Box truck (ex Uhaul) 7.3 IDI 206,000 miles
I am loosing in the neighborhood of 2.5-3 gallons of coolant (water now, until this gets sorted out) during a 30 mile trip No leaks that I can find and no smell either. When I bought the truck just a month ago it ran great had no issues with starting, power, smoking, or fuel consumption. The last few times I have ran it it has been hard to start first thing in the morning. I have had to crank it over for maybe 8-10 seconds before it blows a huge cloud of white smoke and fires. The glow plug ready light has been going out fairly quickly so I think that bad glow plugs be a contributor to that as well. When I got the truck I ran it on its first trip (about 50-60 miles) and it started running very warm (almost past L on "normal" ...damnit I need some gauges) so I pulled off of the interstate and found it about 2 gal low on coolant. I found the hose going to the overflow was disconnected....Uhaul had just put a new radiator in it that week . Hooked up a piece of 3/8 tranny cooler hose I had on hand, topped it off and got back on the road. Temps came back down, no leaks, and it ran great so I figured my problems were over. Fast forward 2-3 weeks, I have driven it maybe 3 or 4 times in that span only short 10-20 mile trips and had no problems until I noticed the gauge reading hot again and now recently the starting issues.

I am green as a cucumber when it comes to diesels, but not to mechanics in general and have had many a hotrod/playtoy in my time. Wouldn't this motor have hydro-locked with that much coolant consumption if it was a head gasket?? But if its not a head gasket, why no visual leaks? I am confused, frustrated, and overall bummed out about this whole deal.....this is supposed to be my "new" work truck (I am a flooring contractor) and I have spent alot of time in designing a shelving system and work benches, etc. Other than these issues the truck has been a real pleasure to drive and work out of.

Any help/advice someone could give would be greatly appreciated at this point....thanks in advance.

Paul

 

[Mr_Roboto]

My bet is the truck overheated and blew a headgasket or cracked a head. IMO U-Haul won't replace anything until it's REALLY broken.

You could try running 2 bottles of Bar's pelletized stop leak in it, with the radiator cap backed off, to try to get some more life out of it. In the then you will probably have to go into the motor.

 

[Diesel JD]

You can often get by with a good bit of coolant consumption before hydrolock with these motors but at some point, hydrolock is imminent with an internal leak. I hate to say it but it sounds like that motor might be cavitated. Good luck fixing it,
Oh and welcome to the forum

 

[E350Floorguy]

With that amount of consumption wouldn't I be seeing water in the oil, overheating (other than when it gets low), sluggish performance....I mean you would think there would be a host of other symptoms other than just the coolant loss.

If in fact the block and or heads are toast, where is a reputable place to get a long block from?