Hey Guys,
This is my first post, just got my F150 4.6l 4x4 Super Crew (Roughly 159,000 and supposedly a recent water pump installed) the other day and was looking forward to a nice ride today to get some things done and this is what happened:

1.) Noticed it was very very cold outside this morning, started the truck up, usually a very quiet start-up but today noticed what sounded like a power-steering pump whine for a few seconds, almost seemed like this whine was not coming from the power-steering pump though. I moved the steering wheel and this seemed not to effect the whine.

2.) Got everyone loaded in and we took off down the road. Noticed that the temperature gauge was starting to warm up and tried turning on the heat, no heat yet. Thought this was kind of off but kept going thinking maybe this decent sized engine needed to warm up a bit more.

3.) Get on the highway, a few miles down the road I notice still no heat, and the temperature gauge immediately heads for the red.

4.) By this time I realize I am overheating and slow down, in the mean time I see a puff of smoke which I believe came from the overflow tank. Upon stopping I notice some coolant on the fenders, already iced over. (This should not happen?)

5.) On the side of the highway, open up the hood, see that the coolant in the tank is boiling and there seems to be a lot of fluid in it.

6.) After letting the truck cool off for a few minutes I try to make it back home, stopping every mile or two to let the engine cool off. I notice the temperature gauge is at about 3/4.

7.) I get home and realize most of the coolant is gone, the puke tank is empty. The first thing I think to do is remove the thermostat and check if it is bad. I boil the 192 degree thermostat on the stove and it seems to open fine, in the meantime I had replaced the coolant hose and water outlet without the thermostat with some silicone rtv.

8.) I add some more coolant into the coolant reservoir tank and let the truck run a few minutes. Pinching the upper radiator return hose with the cap off of the reservoir I notice some bubbling, and only occasionally a little bit of pressure.

9.) Not sure if anything has been solved I drove the truck a bit with the heat on, noticing it only slightly hot, nothing like what it was when I bought the truck a few days ago, up a few hills by the house.

10.) During/After the drive I did not see any change on the temperature gauge, appears completely cold.

Sorry if I missed something, but here is what I am thinking:

That squeal on the initial voyage was probably a bad mixture of coolant which had developed ice clogging the water pump, the squeal I heard was the water pump impeller coming loose of the pump. A new water pump may be in order?

or

? What do you guys think it could be?

Believe I have ruled out the thermostat, the cap on the tank seems fine, is there a radiator cap as well (under the plastic shielding?)

I also noticed the Check Engine light came on, and suddenly after the last test drive the battery light came on.

Please help!

 

How cold is cold? My PS pump will squawk for a few seconds (less than 10) when temps are below 5 deg F, the colder it is, the more it will sound off, especially below 0. so that is normal, so to speak.

If it had a " new water pump" recently odds are very good that it did not get bleed properly, another words you had air pocket, which led the T-stat to stick and boil over
maybe compounded by improper anitfreeze solution , they just added water after swapping in the WP....so it was not a 50/50 blend.

This not to say that there might be a bigger issue afoot, bad head gasket ,or intake gasket...bad heater core. so it might be well advised to test the coolant for exhaust gases.

after you got this back together was the T-stat reinstalled during the "test drive"?

If they did try to do the right thing and change the T stat with the water pump.....a Cheep T-stat can act all good in a pot and not in the engine.

 

Hey Enriched,
I want to say about 23 degrees this morning, felt a lot colder due to the wind though. I actually drove the truck home 2 hours or so just yesterday when I bought it and all was well with everything, heat was working full blast etc. The water pump was supposedly replaced about a year ago (it looks relatively new). When I reassembled the parts for the test run I did not even reinstall the thermostat, currently sitting with no thermostat at all just open. If this is/was a head gasket issue would I notice a loss of power etc? Truck seems to drive fine.

 

not suprized then that thing didn't get warmed up very well without the T-Stat after you got everything back together & you had heat on the test drive and on the way after the purchase

If the Water Pump was done about a year ago....hmmm.... any air pockets should have worked themselves out. unless it just was driven since the repair?

SO that leds back to a sticky T stat or bigger issues....a slight leak on a gasket either intake or head or a plugged heater core...may not show itself as down on power....considering that you got this recently, your comparing to only what you are aware of....If you got a buddy with a similar truck that is "healthy" ask to drive his and vise versa...see if there is notable difference, between his and yours....PLus without the T stat the resistance is all gone so it not building the pressure like it would normally on the coolant system.

Might be good to pressure test the cooling system and maybe replace the radiator caps...they may or may not be bad...with the relatively low cost to replace, it is easy then to rule out as a cause. and your radiator maybe partially plugged too.

23deg prolly not cold enough to really make the power steering pump squawk from being cold...might want to check the fluid level in it. maybe get a cheep automotive stethoscope and try to pin point the noise.

another thing that can make some noise is the alternator...considering that the battery light came on...might be good to have it checked as well

 

Water pumps do not squeal. A slipping belt can. The pump will chew up any ice that may form in the pump. A frost plug will pop if it is cold enough to freeze the water pump. A faulty thermostat will go from cold to hot like yours did and boil the coolant. It will then open when you boil it in a pot of water. A seized alternator will squeal. Change the thermostat and get the proper gasket for it too. Have your alternator checked. Did the oil pressure light come on too when the temp gauge pegged? This would indicate that fail safe cooling was activated and it will turn on a check engine light.

 

If you haven't disconnected the battery since the CEL came on, pull the codes.

Squealing could be ANY of the driven pulleys. It could also be the fan clutch.

 

Thank you for all the help guys! Enriched, I think I have concluded the squeal is the power steering, I ran some more tests last night and I ran out and could hear it coming right from the pump; apparently that is "normal" with these trucks though. JMC, I am picking up a new waterpump, thermostat, thermostat gasket, some coolant etc.. tonight and going to freeze my *** off when I get home. I hope it is just the thermostat, will replace that first and cross my fingers so I can return the rest.
I ran through the first two tests in regards to a possible head gasket leak and the truck passed with no bubbling in the res tank, and the oil looked fine on the dipstick so hopefully not a head gasket issue! Also you are dead on about the check engine light and the fail safe cooling! (Hopefully the fail safe cooling actually worked! )
Thank you glc, I will be sure to pull the codes if I can make it to Autozone.. will take a look at the pulleys for the noise also.
As soon as the cooling is worked out will get the alternator checked out, thank you all for your help! Will keep you posted of the progress tonight.

//Edit//
So when I get home am planning:
1.) Flush out cooling system (was hoping to do this but doing this with plain water is probably not a great idea, may have to leave it for now until I can find a heated garage?)
2.) Replace Thermostat with 192 degree stant
3.) Top off/refill any coolant
4.) Let her warm up and see if I get any motion on the temp gauge, check the heat etc..

If nothing on the temp gauge,
1.) Remove and replace water pump
2.) Check for change

Any flaws in the process?

 

If the PS pump is noisy, go get a quart of synthetic ATF and a turkey baster - suck the fluid out of the reservoir and fill it with the ATF.

 

Thank you for all the help guys! Ended up just being the thermostat, definitely buying the $5 o-ring for the thermostat is the way to go...

Alas, now my battery light is on, system seems to be maintaining the battery though. Guess I will check for loose grounds, wiring pigtail issues tonight? Funny how the alternator/battery was fine before the thermostat issue..

Also I will give the synthetic ATF and turkey baster a shot, it is a pretty scary sounding whine!

 

Go to a parts store and get your battery and alternator tested.