Pulled the radiator today and it looks pretty dirty. Maybe this is the whole problem. Took the radiator to the car wash and washed it out, makes me wonder if I should pull the inter-cooler too.

 

fbh31118 - Leaving that hose to fend for itself (unsecured) can lead to problems.


ELC MIA 1

I see coolant all over the place from the passenger side of the vehicle. Is there anything in the degas that doesn't belong... like soot?

 

Ya, I'll zip tie that hose back down.

That's not coolant you see in that picture its oxidation from the battery terminal that I cleaned off.

 

Good catch. It looks like the belt might have already nicked that collapsed hose.

 

I have a new clutch to install for the fan but I'm concerned about being able to get the old one off. Will a heavy duty strap wrench be enough to hold the pulley for the water pump?

 

Put a wrench on the fan nut and smack the wrench with a hammer. That should loosen the nut.

 

Thanks spdmpo. I'll give it a try.

Got word back from the radiator shop today and there are no flow issues so its not plugged up. Hoping to pull the inter-cooler today and see what that looks like.

 

It has never worked for me.

The only way I have been able to break the fan loose is with an F wrench big enough to hold the pulley mounting bolts or by renting the water pump wrench from autozone. I have heard of guys using an air chisel to break it loose but have never tried myself.

 

Air chisel took mine off in half a second
That was after trying wrench with hammer and holding pulley with belt, then strap wrench, then ratchet strap.
If you dont have an air chisel borrow/rent the WP wrench that goes over the pulley bolts and maybe get another pair of hands

 

X2 on the air chisel. I know doing it that way is seen as controversial by some, but it works for me. Harbor freight has them real cheap, but I recommend buying the three piece attachment kit that includes a long chisel.

 

I don't have a problem using an air hammer on the fan as long as I'm not planning to reinstall the water pump later.

 

There are a couple of ways that the hose can collapse:
Bad cap on the degas bottle. The cap has a vacuum release check valve. When the engine cools down and wants to pull in coolant from the degas bottle, the cap allows air to enter the degas bottle to replace the coolant pulled into the engine. The other very slim possibility is that the small hose out the bottom of the degas bottle is kinked, which prevents the engine from pulling coolant from the degas bottle. Either way, that upper radiator hose is cut deep enough that it needs to be replaced. Hoses are cheap, engines are not. I suggest an OEM degas bottle cap. There are some aftermarket caps that do not work properly. The odds are the cap is causing that hose to collapse. When under normal operating pressure (15 Psi) they should not collapse. Larry

 

Larry thanks for the insight on that. I had ordered an OE cap which I swapped out this morning upon reassembly. Oh, the picture of the nicked hose is from Rich and not my truck although I will be sure and zip tie mine into place. .

I took another picture of the radiator after cleaning to so you could see the difference between the two. Now, admittedly this is a 'car wash' cleaning and not professional so be gentile with me here. The truck needs a new radiator due to some hair line cracks that I found around the lower hose area so doing a full on professional cleaning is a waste and a new radiator will be going in when finances permit.









In the process of all of that, I slipped with the strap wrench and busted the EBPS and had to tear out the tube and replace the sensor. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise being that the end of the tube and the sensor were completely blocked off.

 

Ok here's whats been done so far.

1. New T-Stat that was boil tested for opening
2. New fan clutch installed
3. Radiator cleaned and flow tested
4. Coolant changed (againt, just done two years ago)
5. New upper and lower hoses
6. New recovery tank and OE cap

Here are the results of a 110 mile trip with A/C on full blast and 85 degree day with the cruise set at 65 and lots of change in grade.

The begining



Near the end


After changing speed and getting off of a grade.



I've made a dent in the problem but I just haven't gotten to the root of it yet.

 

Three potential issues come to mind for me.

1: lack of air flow, AC condenser or CAC is packed full of crap.

2: Water pump.

3: The gauge is lying.