Idi extreme coolant pressure/leakage

Cole250

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New here!

I have a 94 7.3 N/A. I have an extreme amount of coolant pressure built up. Ra house is swollen like a balloon. Appears to be steady leakage down passenger side of block when ran. Wonder where I should go from here. First thought it cap but that doesn’t explain the leakage. Truck has untouched engine with 150k miles.

Thank you!
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NeverHave-I-Ether

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Have a blockage somewhere. Logically to me I think it's in the radiator and that should be replaced. Or the pump?
 

Booyah45828

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If your hose is expanding that much, it's either junk or the cap is. No way a good radiator hose will expand that much at 15psi.

Replace the hoses, and use a cooling system pressure tester to find the leak. Remove alternators, power steering pumps, cowling, etc. to find the leak.
 

Cole250

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Appreciate the reply’s. Sounds like I’m gonna need to tear apart the cooling system and start from there.
 

IDIBRONCO

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Extreme pressure, ballooned hose, and coolant leaking down the side of the block when the engine runs sounds like a head gasket to me. Are you getting bubbles in the overflow tank? Does the hose pressurize almost immediately after the engine starts? If so that's another sign on getting compression in the cooling system. I didn't mention cracked heads because there's coolant running down the outside of the block.
 

Cole250

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Extreme pressure, ballooned hose, and coolant leaking down the side of the block when the engine runs sounds like a head gasket to me. Are you getting bubbles in the overflow tank? Does the hose pressurize almost immediately after the engine starts? If so that's another sign on getting compression in the cooling system. I didn't mention cracked heads because there's coolant running down the outside of the block.
Truck runs perfect. No smoke. No mixing fluids. I’ll definitely have to start up and watch what happens. Should I pop the radiator cap before start and see if it bubbles in the radiator itself or should I be able to observe from the overflow tank? I’ve had 0 issues with the truck, saw coolant leaking and started to see everything I stated above.
 

Cole250

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It won't hurt to remove the radiator cap and see.
Bubble+overflow on less than a min of run time. Also notice a slight black swirl of something in the coolant.
 

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IDIBRONCO

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Bubble+overflow on less than a min of run time.
There's your answer unfortunately. You're getting compression into your cooling system. As discussed before, I'm calling this a head gasket issue. You have two options, you could replace your head gaskets (if you replace one, I think that you should replace them both). The other thing that you can try is to loosen and retorque your head bolts in the proper sequence. Sometimes the retorque works, other times not. What happens is that (for some reason) the head bolts loosen up over time and can cause coolant and/or coolant loss. The retorque may work for you since it appears that your combustion leak is fairly slow.
 

Cole250

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There's your answer unfortunately. You're getting compression into your cooling system. As discussed before, I'm calling this a head gasket issue. You have two options, you could replace your head gaskets (if you replace one, I think that you should replace them both). The other thing that you can try is to loosen and retorque your head bolts in the proper sequence. Sometimes the retorque works, other times not. What happens is that (for some reason) the head bolts loosen up over time and can cause coolant and/or coolant loss. The retorque may work for you since it appears that your combustion leak is fairly slow.
Appreciate the help!
 

Booyah45828

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Being a 7.3, it could be a cracked block as well........

Regardless, with cooling system pressure and a bunch of bubbles you're looking at a big repair.
 

OlKoot

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We used to use a 4 gas anylizer to check for CO (carbon monoxide) from the coolant after removing the rad cap. Just in case there was exhuast coming from a bad head gasket. I'd change out the hose, clean the popit valve next to the thermostat, install a Motorcraft thermostat, If I found no air bubbles coming from the coolant while running it.
 

SLC97SR5

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That rad hose looks original from Ford and the external leak is probably from the clamp on the worn out radiator hose where it connects to the cast outlet.

As for the cooling system pressurizing, I'd try the head bolt re-torque.
 

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