Help, I'm losing coolant...
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 342
Likes: 5
From: San Diego, Tx
Help, I'm losing coolant...
I've been losing coolant for a while now, about 1 gallon every 500 - 600 miles. I've replaced the thermostat and water pump because I saw some leaking from the water pump weep hole but that hasn't solved my problem. There isn't any water in my oil and I can't visually see the coolant leaking anywhere. It's dry under the truck when I park it so the leak has to be small. No steam coming out the exhaust either.
Visual inspection of the hoses, etc. doesn't show any problems so I'm at a loss as to where to go next. Help!
Visual inspection of the hoses, etc. doesn't show any problems so I'm at a loss as to where to go next. Help!
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 342
Likes: 5
From: San Diego, Tx
Yes but, when this first started about 4 or 5 months ago, it got a little lower than it should have and the engine got hot. When I opened the overflow tank to add coolant, it boiled over and spilled quite a bit into the engine bay so it's possible that the smell is from that.
Hotshot
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 11,278
Likes: 1,658
From: Las Cruces New Mexico
Wash your engine bay and check again, also take a real close look at the thermostat housing sometimes they leak and coolant flows into the valley, also make sure your oil cooler is not the problem (plugged up with crud and not leating the coolant thru.
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 27,360
Likes: 5,960
From: Lake Hartwell, GA
I had a slow leak at the thermostat housing that did not show itself until about a year after installing a new pump and billet housing. A thin film of RTV fixed it right up.
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Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 342
Likes: 5
From: San Diego, Tx
Well, I just made another 700 mile round trip and had to add almost 2 gallons total. I still can't see where it's coming from so I've ordered a UV dye and light. Hopefully, it'll pop right out and I can get this fixed. It's very frustrating.
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 342
Likes: 5
From: San Diego, Tx
Finally got around to putting some dye in it, man that makes it a lot easier. I think having the coolant out of it and just straight water made it leak more freely as well. Looks like it's the thermostat housing and the upper radiator hose.
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 27,360
Likes: 5,960
From: Lake Hartwell, GA
As I mentioned earlier, I had to seal the thermostat housing because it was leaking just like yours is.
I used this as it came highly recommended.
I used this as it came highly recommended.
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 342
Likes: 5
From: San Diego, Tx
You did, it just wasn't showing up at all before, everything was dry.
I'm going to replace the housing/gasket with some RTV and the upper/lower radiator hoses, clean up the engine bay and then check it again. Hopefully that'll solve the problem.
I'm going to replace the housing/gasket with some RTV and the upper/lower radiator hoses, clean up the engine bay and then check it again. Hopefully that'll solve the problem.
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 342
Likes: 5
From: San Diego, Tx
I did have it dripping once before but it looked like it was coming from the weep hole on the water pump. Seeing the path that the thermostat housing leak was taking though, I think it might have been that and I replaced the water pump unnecessarily.