Hello,
New to this forum, but decades of wrenching on various cars, trucks and heavy equipment. Hoping for suggestions on how to proceed.
Bought the truck in 2005 or so, with 160K miles. Truck has 240K miles now. At 180K miles, swapped in a new radiator, hoses and thermostat. At around 200K, like 3 years ago, I changed timing gear, sprocket & chain, fan clutch. Also changed water pump, thermostat housing, hoses (again) and the two front freeze plugs while it was apart. Had to change one of the driver's side freeze plugs on the side of the road shortly after.. Since these repairs, I've driven across the country and back, with no issues.
Been using it daily for past couple of weeks. Two days ago, I noticed coolant leaking after I stopped for gas.. Coolant seemed to be coming from bypass hose area, or around the thermostat housing. Coolant was not spraying out under pressure, just weeping. Hard to see in there. It could be a split hose, but hard to say without removing all stuff from front of engine.. I had only driven about 15 minutes, but truck had reached 180, normal operating temp.
Drove it home 2 miles. No leaking, no dripping afterwards.. Checked radiator level after it cooled off, and radiator is "full", as is overflow tank. I've read in this forum and others about burping the cooling system, so, there could still be an air pocket.. I thought I had burped it pretty good the last time..
Tried to start it today. It started hard, like battery was dying. Once started, it only ran for about 5 seconds. As soon as I let off the gas, it died, quick. Acted like it's out of gas. The 5 seconds of running time, it was running rough and would not stay alive without giving lots of gas pedal. Never had idle problems or start problems before..
Checked all spark plugs on passenger side. 2 of the 5 appear to have moist green residue under the spark plug ground tang, directly above the electrode. Can't quite smell coolant on them, but the only green fluid in the truck is coolant..
I will read more about plenum leaks here, but prior to this, engine was running fine - I do not think I have an intake manifold (plenum) air leak. But can the plenum crack in its coolant passages, without cracking next to an air passage?
I also read some posts here about cylinder heads cracking inside the valve guides, where it's not possible to see the leak when pressure testing..
I don't think it's a good idea to try and run the engine to warm it up. I can pressure test it cold, but I don't think a crack would show unless it's hot..
Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.
New to this forum, but decades of wrenching on various cars, trucks and heavy equipment. Hoping for suggestions on how to proceed.
Bought the truck in 2005 or so, with 160K miles. Truck has 240K miles now. At 180K miles, swapped in a new radiator, hoses and thermostat. At around 200K, like 3 years ago, I changed timing gear, sprocket & chain, fan clutch. Also changed water pump, thermostat housing, hoses (again) and the two front freeze plugs while it was apart. Had to change one of the driver's side freeze plugs on the side of the road shortly after.. Since these repairs, I've driven across the country and back, with no issues.
Been using it daily for past couple of weeks. Two days ago, I noticed coolant leaking after I stopped for gas.. Coolant seemed to be coming from bypass hose area, or around the thermostat housing. Coolant was not spraying out under pressure, just weeping. Hard to see in there. It could be a split hose, but hard to say without removing all stuff from front of engine.. I had only driven about 15 minutes, but truck had reached 180, normal operating temp.
Drove it home 2 miles. No leaking, no dripping afterwards.. Checked radiator level after it cooled off, and radiator is "full", as is overflow tank. I've read in this forum and others about burping the cooling system, so, there could still be an air pocket.. I thought I had burped it pretty good the last time..
Tried to start it today. It started hard, like battery was dying. Once started, it only ran for about 5 seconds. As soon as I let off the gas, it died, quick. Acted like it's out of gas. The 5 seconds of running time, it was running rough and would not stay alive without giving lots of gas pedal. Never had idle problems or start problems before..
Checked all spark plugs on passenger side. 2 of the 5 appear to have moist green residue under the spark plug ground tang, directly above the electrode. Can't quite smell coolant on them, but the only green fluid in the truck is coolant..
I will read more about plenum leaks here, but prior to this, engine was running fine - I do not think I have an intake manifold (plenum) air leak. But can the plenum crack in its coolant passages, without cracking next to an air passage?
I also read some posts here about cylinder heads cracking inside the valve guides, where it's not possible to see the leak when pressure testing..
I don't think it's a good idea to try and run the engine to warm it up. I can pressure test it cold, but I don't think a crack would show unless it's hot..
Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.
