Coolant Leak

[RamCreeper]

I have a coolant leak somewhere on my truck and for the life of me cant seem to figure out where it is coming from. I have to add about 1/4 to 1/2 gallon of coolant to my truck every week.

About a year ago I put a new water pump, radiator, lines, fan/clutch, and thermostat in the truck. This fixed the overheating issue it had. But since I have still smelt burning coolant. I rented a pressure tester and put it on the radiator and left it for an hour and didn't see a drop in pressure.

When I start the truck in the mornings I get a really strong smell of burning coolant and some steam coming from the exhaust. I would assume if the truck had a blown head gasket it would be eating a lot more coolant and loss of power but its not.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Blown head gaskets can very well be slow leaks. On my old 4.7 the combustion pressures would actually force exhaust gasses back through the head gasket and into the coolant system, pressurizing the coolant. It would then leak out at the top of the radiator overflow bottle through the pressure cap. It was a very slow leak, but you could definitely see at the end of the tube coming off the cap that there was a trail of dried coolant. Once the truck was shut off, the pressure from the coolant system would push coolant back into the cylinders, causing it to ‘puff’ steam on start up, hence the name. Lol.

Try renting one of those exhaust gas coolant test kits from your local parts store. They have little test strips that will indicate if exhaust gas is leaking into your coolant.

 

[RamCreeper]

Dang, I guess ill try a leak down test this weekend, and the exhaust test.

 

[LoneWolf3574]

You could try a combustion leak test or UV dye in the coolant. I tried the latter after I changed out my radiator thinking I had another leak, turned out to be air in the system was still bleeding out.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_20?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=combustion+leak+test+kit&sprefix=combustion+leak+test,aps,193&crid=1GL22C1W1D1WW&rh=i:aps,k:combustion+leak+test+kit
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BV4CSKE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Nick_rp]

Last time I was chasing a leak on a friends 92 acura for a couple days then i used UV dye and a UV flashlight. Dump in the dye, drive around the block a few times and take a look. Found it instantly.

Afterwards you can use the UV flashlight around the house and make you never want to take your shoes off again while inside. My 2 kids mattresses lit up like Christmas trees

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015W17OSW?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_yo_pop_mb_pd_t2

Also, an often missed culprit is the intake plenum gasket. What isnt evaporated in the cylinders would be boiled off in the exhaust but if the leak is substantial enough it could pour out the tail pipe