Coolant loss....

[rusty ol ranger]

No its not going in the oil and no its not doing a stanley steamer impression going down the road....

It started after i got the lower hose changed. I topped it off and ran it with the cap off until the t stat opened, re topped it off, good.

No bubbles when running or anything, although i did get a geyser after i let off the throttle (oops).

Topped it off again.

Now i noticed a day or 2 ago it was low, thought maybe i didnt add enough so i refilled it.

Checked it yesterday afternoon it was low again. Added about 1/2 qt or so to radiator, another 1/2 qt or so to the coolant tank.

This morning i get to the shop and smell antifreeze, pop the hood and and there is f'ing antifreeze all over the drivers side of the motor, coolant tank has about an inch of coolant in it.

I noticed the radiator cap has what looks like dusty dried coolant around the relief vent on the top of the cap. At the moment im blaming that (its original i assume, its motorcraft).

Its never overheated, heats up normal, and i still got good cab heat. Untill the lower hose went i never had any coolant loss issues with it.

Im gonna change the cap today but does anyone else have any ideas? Did i over fill it maybe?

 

[Uncle Gump]

I would pressure test the system... probably every hose on the truck is original... see if it leaks.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

One possibility that gets overlooked:

Timing cover. There are two passages through the timing cover that have coolant "blow offs" that will push coolant out of the sides of the cover and onto the sides of the engine if they leak.

Those are the passages. The timing cover has vents cut in it to eject coolant to atmosphere in case of a failing gasket.

The other possibilities (that have all happened to me) is that you have a loss at the cap, hose clamps, hearer core, heater core hoses, and thermostat water neck. Damn water neck has given me fits in the past. They tend to not seal worth a f*ck without silicone.

There's three different water necks that have been on the 2.9. There's the Ranger 11:00 style, and two different Merkur/Sierra style 9:00 ones that have an auxiliary coolant line. Make sure you have the Ranger one (I've seen one B2 with a Merkur water neck), and that If you have the Merkur style, it's not bleeding off at the auxiliary port in the top.

Also possible that your water pump is taking a sh*t and leaking out of the bleeder hole in the bottom of the bearing housing. That one tends to blow down the side of the engine from the fan.

 

[91stranger]

I'm not familiar with a 2.9 but mine had a pinhole in one of the brass fittings by the t-stat area. Pinhole was on the back side of fitting where the nipple came off and it wouldn't leak until it got hot. Once it got hot it sprayed all over the bottom half of the engine and all over the sides. I thought I had blown gaskets but was just the fitting. If you are losing coolant than you should see where it is going. Watch it like a hawk while its running with a good flashlight. Unless it is leaking internally then you should see wherever it is coming from.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Its definatly not internal lol.

Im gonna pressure check it today if our mechaics tester has a small enough adaptor.

If not ill pull the pretty new cap off the 77 (both 13lb) and try it. It wasnt really all over the engine, more like the brake booster, inner fender, washer resivor, ps pump. Etc. The area around the hoses, t stat, and timing cover were dry.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've had a pinhole leak beside the clamp. It took a long time to notice it.

 

[Paulos]

If it didn't happen until after you changed the lower hose, the odds of something else going bad that you didn't touch are pretty low. That leaves the lower hose and clamps, and the cap. It's unlikely that the cap was damaged when you drained/filled the coolant.

What prompted you to change the lower hose?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

If it didn't happen until after you changed the lower hose, the odds of something else going bad that you didn't touch are pretty low. That leaves the lower hose and clamps, and the cap. It's unlikely that the cap was damaged when you drained/filled the coolant.

What prompted you to change the lower hose?

It sprung a pinhole leak. Its all dry down around the hose

 

[adsm08]

I've had pin holes in freeze plugs. That can be hard to find.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yeah, and it always seems to be one of 3 plugs; firewall side of passenger head, behind motor mount.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Just replaced one under cylinder 2 a few days ago. It was going g to turn into a leaker.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I had a seeping soft plug in my 302 also, not much fun.

 

[bobbywalter]

Don't air lock it.


One shot at that.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

@bobbywalter
What is an air lock?
What causes it?
How to prevent it?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Swapped the cap off the 77 and all seems to be well.

The spring on the old one was pretty easy compressable. Im thinking it was opening to fast and making a geyser.