The_Head

I got my truck back from the shop last night and took it for a 15 mile test drive to observe EGT's after this new manifold install. Took it up to WOT a few times. It's boosting about 35 ish with EGT's getting up to 1400. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I walk out to my truck this morning and theres coolant on the curb, under the little coolant tank, like it was overflowing after I shut it down last night.
I was like "uh-oh". I check the radiator and coolant was down maybe 2-3 inches. I added a little and got it started. When it was warming up I looked inside the radiator to look for bubbles, but did not see any.

I warmed it up today and took it for another little test drive, maybe 10-15 miles on the highway. The temp gauge reads in the normal area of the gauge. The heater works fine. The upper radiator hose was warm, but the coolant in the radiator was cool to the touch still. I could remove the cap with no worry of pressure.

Is this normal? How high do you fill the radiator? I've never had any coolant spill out of my truck before. I have never had the temp gauge flucuate from hot to cold like some people with a thermostat issue get.

jesussaves

is your water pump going out? They start squirting water out when they go bad

The_Head

hmmm I don't know. Will have to look. I had the truck open and was looking at it while it was running but didn't see any leaks.

TrkEnvy

I would start out by replacing your radiator cap. When i did my t-stat it started warming up but took a little while. The cap was like 6 bucks at Vato-zone. I compared the spring on the old one to the new one and there was no comparison. Could be the reason you arent building pressure. Oh and btw, get the standard cap. The safety release caps tend to leak..

jimbo486

i've had pretty good luck with the pressure release caps. just my experience, no problems yet. ::knocking on wood::

The_Head

Well, I did a 60 mile round trip and it ran normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. I guess I will keep a closer eye on coolant level from now on. Will also try a new radiator cap too.

big stinky

Keep an eye on the overflow... Take it out and warm it up. Mark the overflow. Do a few high boost runs. Check the overflow...

Might just have a lifted head. Ever done the gasket?

Also, keep a close eye that the heat is blowin inside the cab...

The_Head

It's still on the stock head gasket.

I talked to the shop yesterday, they said they had to remove the heater lines to get better access to the bolt holes for the manifold. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Will still keep an eye on it though. Might try and do a little towing with my camper to work it a little harder. I think it's ok though but we'll see.

jesussaves

How does the cap and tstat work together? whats the caps job?

93flatbed

Here I can copy and paste better than writing it out;
The crossflow radiator uses a pressure-vent filler cap to allow a buildup of 103 kPa (15 psi) in the cooling system. The cap allows the system to operate at a higher than atmospheric pressure. This pressure raises the boiling point of the coolant to about 127°C (262°F) at sea level, which increases the cooling efficiency of the radiator.

The pressure-type cap contains a blowoff (pressure) valve (2) and a vacuum (atmospheric) valve (1). A spring of pre-determined strength holds the pressure valve against the valve's seat. This spring protects the radiator by relieving any pressure that exceeds design limits. A spring holds the vacuum valve against the valve's seat which permits opening of the valve in order to relieve vacuum created in the system when the system cools. This prevents radiator collapse.

The cooling system uses a wax pellet-type thermostat. The thermostat performs the following functions:
• Controls the flow of coolant
• Provides fast engine warm-up
• Regulates the coolant temperature