Coolant leak
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 1,172
Likes: 114
Coolant leak
I drove my 88 f150 for the first time yesterday, and i noticed when I got back a coolant drip was coming from around the lower radiator hose. I also noticed it was dripping from the pulley next to the lower rad hose. I had no leaks before it got driven, I haven’t had a chance to check the level cold. What are the odds of this being a leak, vs coolant dripping from it going everywhere when my thermostat housing came off?
Logistics Pro
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 3,929
Likes: 1,199
From: Mojave, Ca
Thermostat housing, water pump gasket, water pump nose seal, lower radiator hose to water pump interface, cracked upper or lower radiator hose, corroded timing chain cover.
It's impossible to tell from your description, but they make diagnostic tools to pin-point leaks so you can fix the actual problem, instead of parts-cannoning the whole front of the engine.
It's impossible to tell from your description, but they make diagnostic tools to pin-point leaks so you can fix the actual problem, instead of parts-cannoning the whole front of the engine.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 1,172
Likes: 114
I’m definitely not parts cannoning it, the radiator hoses are brand new, and the timing chain cover probably isn’t it considering it’s a socal truck. I’ll actually diagnose it, when the weather clears up. But I only looked at it for 5 minutes so I don’t by any means have anything diagnosed. I’ll look at all these. Maybe it just sucked down more coolant since it’d never been driven since I changed the radiator.
Lead Driver
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 6,185
Likes: 633
From: Houston/Sugar Land
I believe you have flushed the system. A simple problem could be a bad radiator cap. Or maybe you had or have an air lock. This can happen if you didn't burp the system to get air out.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 1,172
Likes: 114
I flushed it, I didn’t burp it as much as I did the 1st time because I felt I didn’t need to spend hours doing it again. So I probably had an air lock. I’ll drive it a few more times and hose down the engine bay.
plus it was like 50 the day I burped it the second time so idling it wouldn’t open the thermostat.
plus it was like 50 the day I burped it the second time so idling it wouldn’t open the thermostat.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 1,172
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I don’t want to start another thread on it, so I’ll just ask here. Is this a normal temp while driving? I was sitting around here while driving, it was like 50-60 outside. Thermostats brand new. When I put water in the water outlet it slowly went back into the block, which I assumed was normal being that there’s no gasket on the thermostat itself. But I feel like this is sitting lower than it would have before I did the thermostat housing. I may just be overthinking it. I don’t trust these gauges from what I’ve seen the normal range doesn’t mean anything.
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Tuned
Joined: Feb 2023
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Thats totally normal. I did water pump, flush and thermostat about 2 weeks ago on mine. 95 with the 5.0. I get the same reading with our temps being upper 40's to upper 50's.
I had a similar experience with the coolant level as well. Filled and burped the system. After the first drive I had to re top it up. It's been perfect since then.
I had a similar experience with the coolant level as well. Filled and burped the system. After the first drive I had to re top it up. It's been perfect since then.
Lead Driver
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 6,185
Likes: 633
From: Houston/Sugar Land
I flushed it, I didn’t burp it as much as I did the 1st time because I felt I didn’t need to spend hours doing it again. So I probably had an air lock. I’ll drive it a few more times and hose down the engine bay.
plus it was like 50 the day I burped it the second time so idling it wouldn’t open the thermostat.
plus it was like 50 the day I burped it the second time so idling it wouldn’t open the thermostat.
The thermostat will open at 50 degrees ambient. Give it time to idle longer or slightly raise the RPM s to help.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 1,172
Likes: 114
Thats totally normal. I did water pump, flush and thermostat about 2 weeks ago on mine. 95 with the 5.0. I get the same reading with our temps being upper 40's to upper 50's.
I had a similar experience with the coolant level as well. Filled and burped the system. After the first drive I had to re top it up. It's been perfect since then.
I had a similar experience with the coolant level as well. Filled and burped the system. After the first drive I had to re top it up. It's been perfect since then.
