LLY: low coolant
- Thread starter WolfLMM
- Start date
do you let it cool down before you crank it back up for 10 minutes? smoke or funny smell in the exhaust? Have you tried pressurizing the system?
Probably has popped head gaskets if its using that much coolant and it pressurizes the system after 10 min. Could be a cracked head too.
Water pump weephole, Leaky EGR cooler, my 05 was about a half gallon low 2 weeks ago, turned out to be a leaky egr cooler. Was easily diagnosed because it looked like I had a oil leak on top of my passenger side valve cover and it looked like there was oil running out of the EGR cooler.
Weep hole just jump underneath your truck with a flashlight the underside of the waterpump you should be able to see a little 1/4" hole, check for signs of moisture, those are less serious problems that seem to have a common occurance.
Weep hole just jump underneath your truck with a flashlight the underside of the waterpump you should be able to see a little 1/4" hole, check for signs of moisture, those are less serious problems that seem to have a common occurance.
The system doesnt pressurize until the engine has been running for quite some time. I just drove it today, engine temp gauge will not move up past 160, drove it for 30 mins engine temp gauge never really moved. Checked upper rad. hose... dead soft. I cant see it being head gaskets.
If that's the case then you are loosing 1 gallon of coolant externally and it shouldn't be that hard to find the signs. Check the weep hole and the egr cooler.
So after the WOT runs, did it drop back down to 160*?
The reason I am asking is I had a similar issue when I had to replace the hard line going to the heater core. Thought I had all the air bled out of the system but the temp gauge only when to 160*? Dealership told me I still had air in the system and to run it at WOT a few times to get the air out. After I did a few WOT runs, temp gauge went up around 210, put a little more coolant in, and no more problems. I am wondering if you are having a similar issue with air in the coolant system.
The reason I am asking is I had a similar issue when I had to replace the hard line going to the heater core. Thought I had all the air bled out of the system but the temp gauge only when to 160*? Dealership told me I still had air in the system and to run it at WOT a few times to get the air out. After I did a few WOT runs, temp gauge went up around 210, put a little more coolant in, and no more problems. I am wondering if you are having a similar issue with air in the coolant system.
Sounds normal, maybe a coolant leak by the turbo? A ripped line somewhere? If the weep hole is dry, I really think maybe it'd help to look closer into the EGR cooler, especially if your EGR isn't blocked or disabled, you could be dumping coolant into the motor everytime the EGR valve opens and you'd never know you had a leak, because other than coolant missing there'd be no visable signs.
Also when it does finally warm up, the temp guage will bounce around quite a bit, usually ending up at 160* again. Still air in the system? I have filled the burp tank several times, the system was really low so I expected to have to fill it more than once, I just hope its not actually using coolant this fast. I should know more tom. when I check again.
Thanks guys,
Wolf
Thanks guys,
Wolf
Does the truck loose cabin heat...as in it comes and goes somewhat related to the temp gauge? This is sounding more and more like a dislodged head gasket. The cooling system shouldn't hold more than about 15-16 LBS. Take the truck to a reputable shop and ask them to do a test for disolved hydrocarbons in the coolant, the results should tell you if the headgaskets are bad or not.
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When a headgasket is leaking combustion gasses are forced into the cooling system and hydrocrabons (combustion gasses) disolve within the coolant. Most reputable shops have a chemical test they can do to find the amount of hydrocarbons disolve in the coolant.