Radiator Issues

[RSchanz]

Last night I drove the truck just around town. Let it sit running for about 2 minutes came back started driving and it was smoking a bit. Shut it off opened the hood realized the hood insulation had fallen off and onto the engine. Ripped it off tossed it away but figured maybe somehow this was making the engine hot, not allowing pressure to release from the radiator etc. I checked the rad fluid and it was low as was the overflow. When I bought the truck a little over a month ago the rad fluid was really low but I didn't care. Bought more 50/50 green ( I know not the best) topped it off drove it home and then total have put on about 3,000 miles since. Clearly the rad fluid is leaking away somewhere though.

Rad looks like it's leaked before but doesn't appear to be leaking now. Nothing pooled up below it or dripping off. Large hose at the bottom of the rad is really crunchy and feels blocked up which I would imagine doesn't help with anything and needs replacement. I'm not sure what causes this, does anyone know? The oil is black as black and doesn't appear to have anything mixed into it. I've attached a photo of a fairly decent looking leak as seen from under the truck on the drivers side. Is this my headgasket? The engine block is dirty as hell and whats coming out looks black like oil or possibly fuel not green rad fluid.

The temp gauge is the stock one which I know isn't reliable but it usually rides right in the middle and sometimes slightly to the right. The fan definitely kicks up to higher speed when the thermostat tells it it's hot.

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[MtnHaul]

I don't have an answer but I suspect multiple issues. Your lower rad hose has a spring in it which might explain the crunchy feeling. Is there a different color or smell to your exhaust? Burnt coolant should be noticeable but I've never had that problem so I don't know. Depending on where that trail of oil starts it kind of looks like it might be seeping from the oil cooler header. I don't have an over flow bottle so i always run a bit low with zero issues, 2 row aluminum rad. Your thermostat may need replacement. I highly suggest even a 30 dollar Equus mechanical temp gauge from NAPA. Mine works great and was accuarte at initial purchase, now?

 

[RSchanz]

I don't have an answer but I suspect multiple issues. Your lower rad hose has a spring in it which might explain the crunchy feeling. Is there a different color or smell to your exhaust? Burnt coolant should be noticeable but I've never had that problem so I don't know. Depending on where that trail of oil starts it kind of looks like it might be seeping from the oil cooler header. I don't have an over flow bottle so i always run a bit low with zero issues, 2 row aluminum rad. Your thermostat may need replacement. I highly suggest even a 30 dollar Equus mechanical temp gauge from NAPA. Mine works great and was accuarte at initial purchase, now?

I just got finished reading about springs inside rad hoses to help keep it's shape, good to know!

There isn't really consistent smoke out of truck. Black when lugging, whiteish when semi going for it. It does puff a bit of white on cold cold starts (30-40 degree range for us Californian's haha) but I understand this might be normal? The smoke discussion seems to have a lot of different opinions. As far as smell, I'm not too well informed on diesel smells but it definitely has an old diesel truck smell to it. A gauge cluster is on the list of things! Did you replace the rad yourself? If so, where did you get it?

 

[RSchanz]

I also want to add that I ran the engine for at least 5 minutes with the radiator cap removed and fluid topped off. I saw no bubbles

 

[79jasper]

Look very closely around the water pump.

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[Oledirtypearl86]

If you dont have bubbles or a milk shake in the rad id steer away from the headgasket. Also on exhaust sweet smell is coolant . black is unburnt fuel and white is un burnt atomized fuel unless it smells like diesel fuel. If it was my truck I'd top it off and let it idle and check to see where its leaking

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Your leak in the pictures looks like a leaking valve cover gasket to me. If your radiator has a very small hole or a seep along the seam for the top tank, it can dry off from the heat of the radiator and the wind from the cooling fan without leaving a puddle underneath the radiator. Since you just bought the truck, it certainly wouldn't hurt anything at all to replace the radiator hoses unless you know that they're fairly new. If you replace the radiator hoses, you may as well replace the heater hoses while you're at it. I'll second what Jasper said about the water pump. The weep hole on the bottom of the shaft can seep slowly and not leave much of a puddle too.

 

[RSchanz]

Your leak in the pictures looks like a leaking valve cover gasket to me. If your radiator has a very small hole or a seep along the seam for the top tank, it can dry off from the heat of the radiator and the wind from the cooling fan without leaving a puddle underneath the radiator. Since you just bought the truck, it certainly wouldn't hurt anything at all to replace the radiator hoses unless you know that they're fairly new. If you replace the radiator hoses, you may as well replace the heater hoses while you're at it. I'll second what Jasper said about the water pump. The weep hole on the bottom of the shaft can seep slowly and not leave much of a puddle too.

Bronco - you seem to save the day pretty regularly, thank you.

Makes total sense given how how hot the damn thing is. Looks like the leak is coming from the top middle area. I can't really tell if it's coming from the seam or not though, maybe I need to look closer. Appears there is some leakage from the water pump area also but it's fairly hard to pin point whether thats coolant with dirt mixed in or oil. The engine needs a serious cleaning to get all of the farm dust off it.

I'm hesitant to replace the hoses and flush the whole thing if I should just replace the radiator because of the leak. Given the leak is slow but still exists do you think I should just replace the whole radiator?

In reference to the potentially leaky valve cover gasket... worth replacing right now? My 63 GMC leaked a decent amount from the valve covers but I never bothered to replace them.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Given the leak is slow but still exists do you think I should just replace the whole radiator?

I'd pull the radiator out and take it to a radiator shop first. Then let them tell you how bad it is. They may be able to fix it for a fairly cheap price. If it can't, then you can take it home with you and buy an aftermarket one on your own. I'm old fashioned and would rather have a brass/copper radiator like the ones our trucks come out with. That's just me though. There are a lot of people with aftermarket ones out there and have no issues with them. The biggest problem with the aftermarket radiators is quality control like most other things these days.

In reference to the potentially leaky valve cover gasket... worth replacing right now?

You could try tightening the bolts up a little bit. Sometimes that helps, a few times it will stop the leak. Honestly, I would replace them now and be done with it. If you don't replace them now, it's something to keep in mind to do in the future. Now, since you just got the truck and if you haven't replaced the fuel filter yet, it would be good to do the fuel filter and the valve cover gaskets at the same time. It's much easier to replace the passenger's side one with the fuel filter removed. If it's already off, it would be just as easy to put a new one back on. That's totally up to you and it's just a suggestion.

Bronco - you seem to save the day pretty regularly, thank you.

No, thank you. That's what we're here for. I try and don't always succeed. Often it's because someone else gets there first.

 

[RSchanz]

I inspected the radiator more closely and it’s leaking from the top middle. It only leaks under pressure and it never makes it to the bottom because it evaporates. I have 3 options:

re-core which is $1000 from my local guy

Aluminum/plastic seems like the Rodney ones are the call for $750

Pick and pull

I’m leaning towards the pick and pull for cost obviously.

The radiator guy said I’m beyond repair because the radiator is too old and won’t hold up with soldering etc.

 

[RSchanz]

A friend sent this link: https://www.amazon.com/ALLOYWORKS-Core-Radiator-Ford-1983-1994/dp/B07L5FXDJX

Is there any reason why something like this is totally a bad idea? I'm guessing the obvious would just be reliability especially based on the price point. Does anyone have experience?

 

[79jasper]

Doesn't say the thickness of the core, but does say 4 row. May be okay.

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[IDIBRONCO]

I think it would be a steal if the quality is there. It would have to cool well enough too.

 

[RSchanz]

I asked if they could provide me with the thickness of the core. Sucks to toss $750 or more into a radiator in this thing

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Sucks to toss $750 or more into a radiator in this thing

I totally agree on that one.