Issues cooling

[JordanStillman]

I drive with a couple people down to the Lake pretty often. Usually hauling a side by side or two and a king quad which is no where near the heaviest thing I’ve hauled but it seems that the ride back always gives me issues. The problem didn’t start until the first time we went down and we were coming back and all of my coolant was in my overflow and the truck almost over heated.. i swallowed my pride and had my boyfriends brother pull me back with a chain to the house. Since then I’ve replaced almost everything. The hose from the radiator to the overflow, the overflow itself, the water pump was leaking so i replaced that, I’ve changed out thermostats a couple times and sanded down the housing, and I’ve put enough caps on it to drive somebody crazy and they’re always leaking. We have done the block test and it’s always comes back negative.. we have done it from the radiator and when the overflow is bubbling once the truck shuts off we have tested it there too. We came back from the trip yesterday and it pushed coolant, not to the full line but damn near it and it never got sucked back in.. but it stayed cool the whole time..... The hoses after like 5 hours or so are just a soft as a buddy’s truck and his has sat for like a month so It’s not a pressure never goes down problem it’s sucking air in upon shut down somehow or just loosing vacuum?
I’m at a loss. Somebody help a sister out..
At this point I’m just wondering if it’s a clogged radiator or stretched head bolts? Or a head gasket!


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[Brando_SLT]

Hey there Jordan I just undertook a similar project. While I did not have a leaking water pump, I was losing coolant to a blown head gasket. When I was testing the coolant system while cold (vacuum test) it was hard to get a reading. The block test was what told me there was a problem.

When you refilled the system, did you use a vacuum bleeder/filler? To me it sounds like an obstruction in the cooling system. Maybe remove the thermostat and using an air compressor and adapters see if you can find a blockage.

I would start with the radiatior, then the heater core, then the block itself.

 

[Smokeybear01]

Sounds like a radiator flush is in the future. Also check for any obstructions between the different radiators up front. Weeds get in there and restrict the air flow sometimes. But I would definitely flush the radiator and go from there. Good luck

Another thought I had after reading through your post again-if it were a head gasket you would find oil in the coolant or coolant in your oil or a grey gooey gunk on the "Add Oil Cap". Have you checked that? I still think it's a radiator that needs coring. Even with todays high tech coolants, there is a chemical reaction with the metal in the radiator that will cause corrosion and a silt-like substance by-product if not flushed out occasionally and replaced. Please keep us posted. Thanks

 

[LoneWolf3574]

Test your coolant for combustion gases, if you have a blown head gasket the test will show it. They can be picked up in just about any parts store or on Amazon.
You can test your radiator to see if it holds pressure as well. Again, just about any parts store should have one for sale or rent, or you could just buy one from Amazon.
Before you replace another radiator cap, test it to see if it is good. Same deal as a radiator.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Block+Tester+BT-500&i=automotive&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
https://www.amazon.com/radiator-pre...ve/s?k=radiator+pressure+tester&rh=n:15684181
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=radiator+cap+tester&i=automotive&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Good luck and keep us posted on what you find.