Overheating trouble shooting

Hi all. I need some outside input on a overheating problem with my truck.

I overheated at ROTR(light came on) it got up to 260*. I put bars stop leak in the expansion tank to help seal a leak in the screw hole where the fan shroud in mounted. Everything ran fine for a month.

Fast forward to this weekend. I was driving and the ultra gauge alarm went off and it overheated again getting to 250*(light came on). I took it home let it cool off opened the expansion tank and the coolant was black.

I put a radiator cleaning product in it ran it through the system, emptied and flushed the system twice. The water and coolant came out clean a little on the dark side. I refiled the system with coolant bled it than took it for a ride it came up to temp. But then started to climb above the normal operating range.( light didn't come on)

Through all this I didn't find a leak, and there wasn't any coolant in the oil. I don't know what to check next so any input to where to look is appreciated.
JT

Black? I'd pull the spark plugs and see if any are steam cleaned...the black in the coolant could be the carbon being cleaned from the inside of one or more cylinders...

I'll check them. I was thinking black had something to do with the Stop Leak in it.

i forgot, did you check the radiator? i think your radiator is shot. maybe clogged, or the fins are broken, or there is just a crap load of debris there.

bars leak probly clogged you rad/ heater core that was already full of calcium

not sure what type bars leak you used but did you follow the directions? not being a dick just asking

I had my rad rodded out and it still does not cool correct I will probly need a new one in spring going with aluminum since they are around $200 on ebay

TOM R wrote:

bars leak probably clogged you rad/ heater core that was already full of calcium

not sure what type bars leak you used but did you follow the directions? not being a dick just asking

I had my rad rodded out and it still does not cool correct I will probably need a new one in spring going with aluminum since they are around $200 on ebay

A guy put it in while I overheated at ROTR. I was at the back of my truck so I don't how much of if it was used properly.

It threw a couple codes after I flushed it. (P0141 P0135). I am going to try figuring it out tomorrow. If nothing comes from it I am parking this D2 and shopping for a new truck. This truck has been nothing but trouble.

When I have used stop leaks in the past directions usually say drain and flush, fill with water run to temp,dump in product, run for x# of minutes leave cool off,drain and thoroughly flush, let sit x# of minutes, re add fresh anti freezes

That is a guide
, it is easy to clog your system depending on the leak stuff and how bad your system is

Got some time in on it again. It seems to be holding temp at 221* I couldn't find any leaks. Heard a slight water rushing when I pulled out from a stop sign. I noticed the electric fan behind the grill wasn't running, and when I shut it off after my ride I heard what sounded like sucking sound from the Expansion tank cap. Would that cause overheating?
At this point its headed for a trip to Trevor's, and I am buy another D.D. I am not wasting anymore time on the gold turd. Thanks for the input guys.

Rushing water = low coolant which can cause overheat, sucking noise = you have air in the system

So you have a leak and/ or and air pocket

Doesn't d2 have an wait bleed on the coolant T?

I would flush e everything ,add clean coolant, follow air bleed procedure for the model type

Give you $1 for it   

get yourself a small used honda civic to get around. thats what i did! best move ever. let us know what Trevor says.

I got a late model CTS yesterday afternoon. So far I love it, 21mpg. I probably won't get the D2 down there till after the new year.

Update: Swapped out the thermostat and expansion tank cap, and now it runs cooler than before.

jveen wrote:

Update: Swapped out the thermostat and expansion tank cap, and now it runs cooler than before.

well that was easy...

Yea I read threads across a couple forums and let it get into my head that my truck was fucked. I still have to swap this radiator out for one that isn't leaking.

It started over heating again. I swapped out the radiator. Still same problem, and the system seems to pressurize above 200* I did a chemical test for exhaust gas in coolant and it was negative. Went out this morning and found the hoses like this.




I ran another chemical test and nothing again. I looked and couldn't find a leak. I checked the oil fill cap. I was looking for a milk shake, and saw this.




I am thinking I have to do the heads again. Any input? I want to get this running so I can get rid of it.

thats not good. did you do the heads? maybe the heads were not the problem? did you have the block tested?

That just looks like some moisture condensation under the cap from washing the engine bay, what does the oil on the dipstick look like?

From the hoses I would say definite air pocket in the system

If you let it idle/get to temp where the stat should be open start grabbing hoses till you find a cold one

Does is heat up and just keep climbing? I just replaced a fail safe that went bad, need to start buying stant again

Hilltoppersx wrote:

thats not good. did you do the heads? maybe the heads were not the problem? did you have the block tested?

Did heads the summer of 2012.

TOM R wrote:

That just looks like some moisture condensation under the cap from washing the engine bay, what does the oil on the dipstick look like?

From the hoses I would say definite air pocket in the system

If you let it idle/get to temp where the stat should be open start grabbing hoses till you find a cold one

Does is heat up and just keep climbing? I just replaced a fail safe that went bad, need to start buying stant again

The oil on the dip stick looks normal.
I started it takes a bit to get up to temp, but then it holds at 194* then after a while it will climb but not above 210*.
I am out of ideas of what it could be. I am going to bypass the heater core for the hell of it to see if that does anything.

Any coolant leaking anywhere? My truck runs hot when it's sitting still...temps sometimes hit 207, but fluctuate between 194 and there while sitting still. (The truck will run at 188 all day long as long it is moving or idling above 800 RPM.) I've had similar residue inside my oil filler cap for 35k miles. My truck does consume coolant and does periodically leak coolant off the passenger side rear of the motor. It doesn't pressurize the cooling system beyond what is expected though.

Anyway, after consulting with some guys who run Rover shops, I think I have an intermittent leak at the back of the intake manifold gasket...this keeps the system from building pressure as it should and causes the temps to bounce around depending upon variables like how the truck is sitting, ambient temperature, etc... It may not be the same thing for you, but it has been suggested that I go back through to check the gasket and tighten down the intake manifold. I'll hopefully be doing this sometime this spring...

I'm not sure the above helps, but maybe it will.

Today I rented a cooling system pressure tester. I pumped it up to 15 psi let it sit a bit it dropped to 10 psi. I couldn't find any external leaks. Then I tested it I fired it up, and it spit what I think is coolant out the exhaust pipe. So the next thing I'll ask. Is it head gaskets, cracked head, cracked block, or slipped liner?

Did it smell like coolant? These newer engines make condensation/water mine does, leave a crown Vic cop car idle and take off water pours out of the pipes

If you do not lose coolant, do not have a leak, air in system, water pump replaced?

exactly, you sure that is coolant and not just water?