F-150 cooling system question
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Junior User
Joined: Jun 2007
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F-150 cooling system question
Hi all,
below is a copy of a post to alt.trucks.ford, now with click-poppy picture goodness.
I took my "new' truck to its first job yesterday, helping a friend
clean out a guy's stash of old car parts. No problems at all until I
got to my first stop, when I shut the truck down it puked coolant
everywhere. Still never got above the "O" in "NORMAL" on the temp
gauge for the remainder of the trip. This AM bottle was empty. I
pulled rad cap and coolant level was just slightly down from the neck
of the bottle. I noticed that there are two hoses connected below the
rad cap, one to the bottle and one to a tee in what looks like a
heater hose. The tee looks factory as the hose connections are
crimped. I noticed that the hose going to the bottle was connected to
the fitting below the sealing surface for the rad cap and the one
going to the tee was above. It seems to me that this is backwards and
the system would never pressurize in that condition; my gut tells me
that I should just swap the hoses, refill with coolant and see what
happens. Is this correct?
Truck is '93 F-150, 300, E4OD, extended cab 2WD.
Here's some pics:
http://members.***.net/njnagel2/Ford.../hosepics.html
thanks!
nate
below is a copy of a post to alt.trucks.ford, now with click-poppy picture goodness.
I took my "new' truck to its first job yesterday, helping a friend
clean out a guy's stash of old car parts. No problems at all until I
got to my first stop, when I shut the truck down it puked coolant
everywhere. Still never got above the "O" in "NORMAL" on the temp
gauge for the remainder of the trip. This AM bottle was empty. I
pulled rad cap and coolant level was just slightly down from the neck
of the bottle. I noticed that there are two hoses connected below the
rad cap, one to the bottle and one to a tee in what looks like a
heater hose. The tee looks factory as the hose connections are
crimped. I noticed that the hose going to the bottle was connected to
the fitting below the sealing surface for the rad cap and the one
going to the tee was above. It seems to me that this is backwards and
the system would never pressurize in that condition; my gut tells me
that I should just swap the hoses, refill with coolant and see what
happens. Is this correct?
Truck is '93 F-150, 300, E4OD, extended cab 2WD.
Here's some pics:
http://members.***.net/njnagel2/Ford.../hosepics.html
thanks!
nate
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 843
Likes: 1
From: Redmond, WA
when you get this coolant issue figured out, you will be content with your purchase. I'm assuming the compression was competent in all cylinders. If so...the 300I6 is a great motor!
My first vehicle was a 300I6 and my father bought it back from me...and he still drives it to work everyday. It has 275K and still pulls hard.
My first vehicle was a 300I6 and my father bought it back from me...and he still drives it to work everyday. It has 275K and still pulls hard.
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 62
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Compression test... not for what I paid for the truck. This is a cheap, used beater truck - only reason the pressure test was done was because it was low on coolant when I went to look at it and I suggested to the owner he should have it done. would have been kind of insulting to nitpick it for what I paid for it unless there was an evident issue (rough running or mayonnaise)
based on the comments I have received here and on Usenet i'll just swap the hoses and hope for the best. I hope it will be OK... someone suggested that someone may have used the hose fittings for the pressure test instead of using a cap adapter, I never thought of that but if that is the case I am probably OK.
thanks again
nate
based on the comments I have received here and on Usenet i'll just swap the hoses and hope for the best. I hope it will be OK... someone suggested that someone may have used the hose fittings for the pressure test instead of using a cap adapter, I never thought of that but if that is the case I am probably OK.
thanks again
nate
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Jun 2007
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Just thought I would follow up... swapped hoses last night but I only had one new mini clamp so I put it on the lower fitting. The hose to the overflow bottle was a little loose so I put a zip tie on it to cinch it up. Drove truck to a job site this AM near my house just to see if it would puke, well it did a little bit but it was around my zip tie and the amount of coolant loss was minimal. Did not notice any white smoke. So I'm going to give this a conditional thumbs up for now... will grab another mini clamp and keep an eye on coolant level and oil condition. thanks for the advice guys
nate
nate
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 843
Likes: 1
From: Redmond, WA
Originally Posted by N8N
Just thought I would follow up... swapped hoses last night but I only had one new mini clamp so I put it on the lower fitting. The hose to the overflow bottle was a little loose so I put a zip tie on it to cinch it up. Drove truck to a job site this AM near my house just to see if it would puke, well it did a little bit but it was around my zip tie and the amount of coolant loss was minimal. Did not notice any white smoke. So I'm going to give this a conditional thumbs up for now... will grab another mini clamp and keep an eye on coolant level and oil condition. thanks for the advice guys
nate
nate
