LB7: Stiff upper radiator hose

[SparkZ03DMAX]

About a month ago Trey noticed that my truck had a very stiff upper radiator hose. I wasn't too worried about it because the truck has never seen past 210 on the temp gauge, never has coolant leaks, nor does it use up coolant. Now on this hot NC day I decided to give the truck a bit of throttle going around town, does fine. Temp gauge only got to 200. I checked the upper hose, I can't squeeze it at all. What could be causing this, I hope it's not head gaskets, I can't afford it.

 

[delong_1]

have the injectors been replaced recently?

 

[SparkZ03DMAX]

In 2011 if I remember correctly

 

[Chevy1925]

if the rad hose is hard AFTER a night of cool down, then you should be worried. after running it hard, then feeling the hose right away, its no surprise the hose would be hard. the system will be under 13-15psi of pressure to keep the boiling point up

 

[hondarider552]

I squeeze my radiator hose every chance I get.

 

[SparkZ03DMAX]

Its kind of hard even after cool down overnight, but I can squeeze it end to end with both hands. Not as easy as other trucks

 

[hondarider552]

When my single cab went bananas I couldnt even compress the radiator hose.

 

[Chevy1925]

how much pressure come out the cap after sitting over night?

 

[SparkZ03DMAX]

If it's honestly the headgaskets, I'm selling the truck because i don't want to pay that much to fix it.

 

[Chevy1925]

If it's honestly the headgaskets, I'm selling the truck because i don't want to pay that much to fix it.

how much pressure come out the cap after sitting over night?

..

 

[SparkZ03DMAX]

how much pressure come out the cap after sitting over night?

Haven't checked, I'll do that tomorrow morning

 

[Chevy1925]

everyone freaks over a "stiff radiator hose" like a kid that just had his first hard on. If your not eatingloosing coolant, have no to very little pressure come out the cap in the mornings, and no other obvious signs, 90% of the time its nothing. old/bad hoses will balloon out and make it seem like bad headgaskets too so if they over 100k old and never been touched, better start looking into them. specially the little ones at the turbo and at the front cover of the motor. those are often missed and will balloon out and start pissing coolant eventually. been there before

 

[SparkZ03DMAX]

Ok I'll look into it. Yea no smoke, no leaks, doesn't eat coolant. I just don't believe its head gaskets

 

[SparkZ03DMAX]

Not to mention, I have stock trans and don't even give nearly as much hell as other people do

 

[x MadMAX DIESEL]

If there leaking coolant the it will start to overheat. If its not burning a ton of coolant is just keep driving it.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Sledhead]

If it's honestly the headgaskets, I'm selling the truck because i don't want to pay that much to fix it.

Even if it is HGs, that thing is way too nice to sell. I bet GM has sold hundreds of caps to people with bad HGs BUT I have heard of it being that simple. I'll go look for the one I bought, you can have it.

 

[SparkZ03DMAX]

Does the cap really have that much effect on the cooling system, i know it keeps it pressurized but would it cause that hose to be so stiff?

 

[Aaron@LDS]

The cap should release pressure higher than 15psi. So if it's not releasing the pressure it could continue to climb in the entire cooling system. It might be that simple! It may also be why your not losing coolant from the overflow tube at the higher pressures.

 

[Chevy1925]

Does the cap really have that much effect on the cooling system, i know it keeps it pressurized but would it cause that hose to be so stiff?

Put 15psi in a hose filled with water and tell me how stiff it is. Yes it has a big affect on it. Without that cap, your coolant would be boiling at 220*. Don't believe what your coolant temp gauge says, it's slow and inaccurate to actual engine temp. By the time your gauge says 210, it's much closer to 220-225.

 

[SparkZ03DMAX]

Just realized i dont have a pressure gauge...