I noticed I started loosing more coolant then ever. About a gallon a week and a couple days. As well as a lack of power. Ive never driven a ford with a regular no Ho 302. But I know its capable of more power and torque. Back to the post. I found a very slight bit of rusty water on the bottom of.my dipstick. So I just jumped the gun and figured it was head gasket. So upon disassemble of the front of the engine. I noticed rusty water stains coming right out of the water pump ports at the block. So I figure that that was the leak . It was leaking water onto my engine and into my oil pan via timing.chain gasket. And my plentum was finger tight at most. So make a long story short. I fixed the timing chaing cover gasket and water pump gaskets. All the good stuff. Threw it back together. Ok plentum was the loss of power. My truck is.running a lot better. But I'm still loosing coolant. My truk does not leave water on the ground. It does not get hot ever. No bubbles in radiator. And doesn't steam at all when driving. Only when I first.Starr up while ot warms up it will steam nicely. I don't know what's going on. I only have water in my radiator . Is it possible that it is just evaporating away? I don't.have a compression tester. Any other ways to find a bad head gasket or whatever the hell is.going.on

 

Do a leak-down test (google it if need be), or have one done by a local shop if you can't purchase/rent/borrow the tools & equipment. Diagnostic work up front will keep you from wasting time and money.

 

My 302 has a coolant line going through the throttle body housing. Make sure that is intact if you have this option. Why are you using water only in your radiator? Wont this just accelerate rust?

 

Coolant gets expensive when buying a gallon a week.. I checked all hoses super tight. I guess I could have a bas head gasket. 5 days ago my motor was strpped .would have been perfect time lol. Can the water evaporate

 

Check your overflow reservoir. Mine had quite a large gap around the top and coolant would splash out. But I don't think you would lose that much from it unless you are driving over washboards all day.
I suppose the water could evaporate from the reservoir, but it can't evaporate from the main cooling system unless air can get to it.
I dunno if that helps any...

 

Anything helps just strange. Loss. Not showing any signs of bad head gasket.. thanks

 

Nothing leaking from the tranny cooling lines? I hear ya on the cost of constantly replacing fluids. did you try the radiator stop leak stuff? It fixed a drip I had. I still can't account for the steam, where does it come out of when you fire the engine up?

 

Steams out exhaust until engine isles down. And I drive for a couple seconds

 

Idles I don't think that stop leak is good for your vehicle. I've read

 

I have flushed the cooling system since I put the stop leak in and everything seems fine now. (knock on wood). This may seem a little whacky, but it might be worth a shot. If that cooling line in the throttle body has a leak in it you could be drawing some water vapor from the cooling system into your air intake. It would seem most noticeable at startup because you are drawing less air through the system than you are at throttle and there would already be condensation from the last time you had then engine running since this is the highest point in the cooling system and the hot stuff wants to rise. So, to check it remove the two lines from the cooling system to the throttle body and pressurize it to see if you have a leak. Or just take off the throttle body and see if there is any indication that rusty water is getting into the efi. Just a thought.