6.4 Hemi Coolant Help (SOLVED)

[BTD33]

Hello all, I have a 16 2500 6.4 hemi with 162k miles. About 5 months ago my thermostat went out while idling loading cows and blew my radiator. While I was there I also noticed my water pump was starting to go so the truck got all new hoses, radiator, water pump, bottle cap, thermostat I also changed idler and belt and flushed coolant that was left and refilled with new coolant. Truck has been doing fine since, last week however it climbed to 240 so I cooled it down and noticed that my bottle was empty. I refilled with water since that’s what I had and the temp was fine and operating normally I am now losing between one and three bottles of water worth a day and cannot find where it’s coming out. I took it to the shop and he couldn’t find it either we have checked high and low for leaks or pinholes with pressurized the bottle we have to die in the system, we’ve checked the oil check compression hold the plug to make sure it wasn’t steam cleaned. I’ve done an exhaust gas test on the bottle. I’ve made sure that my heater core wasn’t leaking inside the cab. I’m not smelling antifreeze. There’s no fog on my window and both of my lines are hot. I cannot figure out where this antifreeze is going. It is nowhere in the engine compartment that we can find the only thing left that I can think of is it’s burning up on the manifold and it’s still a leak on the head gasket. Any ideas would be appreciated tonight. I’m going to pull the heater hose off of the water pump and just spin it over to make sure the pump is functioning properly aside from that. I’m at a loss. It does not overheat when driving and it does not overheat if it runs in the shade, it is only losing coolant when an idol in the sun, which makes no sense

 

[Daw14]

Clutch fan , and or elec cooling fan . Somewhere to look .

 

[Ken226]

Just a wild guess, but possibly an internal leak in the EGR cooler, leaking coolant into the intake/egr system and burning it?

Any mixture or catalyst efficiency codes? Any codes at all?

 

[BTD33]

Just a wild guess, but possibly an internal leak in the EGR cooler, leaking coolant into the intake/egr system and burning it?

Any mixture or catalyst efficiency codes? Any codes at all?

No check engine lights and no codes my cheap scanner picks up but i’ll have shop run it just to be sure.

 

[Zoe Saldana]

Hello all, I have a 16 2500 6.4 hemi with 162k miles. About 5 months ago my thermostat went out while idling loading cows and blew my radiator. While I was there I also noticed my water pump was starting to go so the truck got all new hoses, radiator, water pump, bottle cap, thermostat I also changed idler and belt and flushed coolant that was left and refilled with new coolant. Truck has been doing fine since, last week however it climbed to 240 so I cooled it down and noticed that my bottle was empty. I refilled with water since that’s what I had and the temp was fine and operating normally I am now losing between one and three bottles of water worth a day and cannot find where it’s coming out. I took it to the shop and he couldn’t find it either we have checked high and low for leaks or pinholes with pressurized the bottle we have to die in the system, we’ve checked the oil check compression hold the plug to make sure it wasn’t steam cleaned. I’ve done an exhaust gas test on the bottle. I’ve made sure that my heater core wasn’t leaking inside the cab. I’m not smelling antifreeze. There’s no fog on my window and both of my lines are hot. I cannot figure out where this antifreeze is going. It is nowhere in the engine compartment that we can find the only thing left that I can think of is it’s burning up on the manifold and it’s still a leak on the head gasket. Any ideas would be appreciated tonight. I’m going to pull the heater hose off of the water pump and just spin it over to make sure the pump is functioning properly aside from that. I’m at a loss. It does not overheat when driving and it does not overheat if it runs in the shade, it is only losing coolant when an idol in the sun, which makes no sense

Don't idle the truck - not good for lifters.

You might have a leak higher up on the engine and the coolant is evaporating before it reaches the ground. Look at the upper part of the engine - crack near thermostate?

 

[EdGs]

When the engine has sat overnight, and is cold and off, crack the oil drain plug loose. DO NOT REMOVE IT. Put something under to catch the drip. Loosen the drain plug just enough so it starts to drip.

Watch the drops. If there's coolant in the crankcase, you will see it very quickly.

Check your clutch fan and your e-fan also, esp. If you overheat at idle.

 

[BTD33]

Thanks for the replies, was the EGR hose under intake

 

[BTD33]

When the engine has sat overnight, and is cold and off, crack the oil drain plug loose. DO NOT REMOVE IT. Put something under to catch the drip. Loosen the drain plug just enough so it starts to drip.

Watch the drops. If there's coolant in the crankcase, you will see it very quickly.

Check your clutch fan and your e-fan also, esp. If you overheat at idle.

E fan is not cutting on so good call on that as well. Got a new one on order, it’s getting power so i’m hoping it’s just the fan, sometimes comes in sometimes doesn’t at high temp idles full AC

 

[EdGs]

E fan is not cutting on so good call on that as well. Got a new one on order, it’s getting power so i’m hoping it’s just the fan, sometimes comes in sometimes doesn’t at high temp idles full AC

Good find on the leak, that could've went south in a hurry.

The e-fan could definately add to it, the brushes go bad over time.

Mine is probably close to done also, at 200k miles.

 

[crackerjack1957]

Thanks for the replies, was the EGR hose under intake

The winner is..........Ken226
That's a **** poor design there!!!!

 

[BTD33]

Well the cool and level is holding steady but a new issue has come up. Getting a coolant smell with AC on not heat, core seems fine no wet carpet but did have lack of heat for a few hours. I think I may have an air bubble in my cool and system still despite burping several times driving with heat on and even put the thing on a hill. My temp is fluctuating from 203 to 221 but once per run it jumps to 228-230 and nothing helps its while driving or idling doesn’t matter if the heat is on or the AC and goes away on its own within a couple of seconds to a minute tops, I’m assuming it’s an air bubble but nothing I do is getting rid of it. I’m also assuming the antifreeze smell that I’m getting since it’s not as bad with recirculating on is antifreeze smell from the engine bay from flushing the coolant system before I refilled after fixing the EGR hose I did not have a hose to fit the stopcock on the radiator since this is an aftermarket radiator so it flew all in the engine bay. I did gently hose it down once the engine cooled, but didn’t use any cleaner which I just picked up to try to see if that remedies the situation the biggest issue is the potential bubble that I cannot for the life of me seem to resolve. Ideas or tips?

 

[Zoe Saldana]

A couple of ideas:
1. Bubble - My guess is that eventually it would work it's way out of the system.
2. Make sure the coolant cap is tight - the coolant system is a pressurized system from what I understand - check all that.
3. Try Rislone Hy-per Cool Super Coolant, 16 oz. at Walmart. It may help with bubbles and temps.

In my truck 2016 6.4L When I see the engine temp gets to 203 the temps go down below 203 into 190s as the thermostat opens. It gets above 203 when going slow or stopped. If you don't see that; it may be your thermostat.

 

[hemihustlin]

there exists a vacuum tool that runs off off shop air. attach the tool where the rad cap goes and you create vacuum in the cooling system. there is a hose with a valve on it that you stick in a 5 gallon pail (or whatever) full of coolant and when you are ready open the valve and it draws the coolant in. very little top up required, if at all. its been a while since i used that tool. not necessary in normal situations but when you need it its the best haha

 

[BTD33]

I found one and have a new leak, if I can find it i’ll use it lol. Loosing from Max to Min line each day now, since last post heatercore finally went, truck is a POS. I never had even the smallest issue with my diesels but this thing is one after another. I am waiting on a scope to come so I can see if that brand new EGR hose is leaking, I don’t see a leak anywhere else. Still nothing in exhaust, oil or coolant so i’m confident it’s not a HG.

 

[EdGs]

Hope its an easy fix. Was the max to min thing after bypassing the heater core?

 

[Rustypipes12]

Hello all, I have a 16 2500 6.4 hemi with 162k miles. About 5 months ago my thermostat went out while idling loading cows and blew my radiator. While I was there I also noticed my water pump was starting to go so the truck got all new hoses, radiator, water pump, bottle cap, thermostat I also changed idler and belt and flushed coolant that was left and refilled with new coolant. Truck has been doing fine since, last week however it climbed to 240 so I cooled it down and noticed that my bottle was empty. I refilled with water since that’s what I had and the temp was fine and operating normally I am now losing between one and three bottles of water worth a day and cannot find where it’s coming out. I took it to the shop and he couldn’t find it either we have checked high and low for leaks or pinholes with pressurized the bottle we have to die in the system, we’ve checked the oil check compression hold the plug to make sure it wasn’t steam cleaned. I’ve done an exhaust gas test on the bottle. I’ve made sure that my heater core wasn’t leaking inside the cab. I’m not smelling antifreeze. There’s no fog on my window and both of my lines are hot. I cannot figure out where this antifreeze is going. It is nowhere in the engine compartment that we can find the only thing left that I can think of is it’s burning up on the manifold and it’s still a leak on the head gasket. Any ideas would be appreciated tonight. I’m going to pull the heater hose off of the water pump and just spin it over to make sure the pump is functioning properly aside from that. I’m at a loss. It does not overheat when driving and it does not overheat if it runs in the shade, it is only losing coolant when an idol in the sun, which makes no sense

Get an oil test done by Speed Diagnostics. If you're leaking internally it'll show up. Then you've got a major problem.