Hey everyone....so I just finally signed up on this site, it's proven to be helpful for me in the past (IMRC replacement last year at this time)...so thanks for that. (1998 4.2L F150 XL)

NOW, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to my own question, but..what do you guys reckon of this:

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also, I just replaced the muffler last weekend and found this the next day...the picture may not be very clear, basically the muffler blew a seem down the length of the whole can. The next morning it appears that some coolant looking fluid was sitting there in the snow mocking me.

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the truck never runs hot, the heat never smells sweet or anything like that. i bought it last year from a family member for short money, the engine was "redone" im in the process of trying to find out exactly what was redone on it. I'm secretly hoping that it was a head gasket, and the residue on the oil cap is simply an artifact. That is probably a case of wishful-thinking however :/

 

thats condensation in the cap. all motors do that.. depends on short tirps and idle time.. IF the motor dont use coolant, forget about it.

 

The oil cap is normal. And condensation is normal in the muffler also.

 

so my coolent level has been low(maybe a little too low) but not dropping and my oil looks fine. the thing that concerns me is the coolant from the muffler....i understand water from the exhaust is normal (moisture that results from the combustion process of gasoline), but have never seen coolant coming from a muffler...kind of leads me to believe that it is getting into the combustion "line" somehow, as they should be independent of each other no?


thanks for your responses, i think I'll top off the antifreeze and see what happens.