Shoot, - and I thought DEGAS went in DETANK, dOOOO

jk ( :

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Hey rudes , - about how much water/coolant do you put in that tank? Do you fill her right up?

What's going on with the truck now, - how is it running currently?

Is there any gurgling noises after you shut the truck down by chance?

Pop the hood, take off your degas cap, start her up and set your heater on full hot, -fan on high. Let the engine wam to operating temp. Watch your coolant in the tank, - also check to see if it's blowing hot in the cab as it should be. Everything good? Yes? Now turn your selector to vent/ other to full cold. Go check the degas bottle. Everything still good? Yes? Now go turn the AC on and do the same as above.

Watch for a drop in coolant, - if it drops you were most likley getting hot spots in the engine, - the kind that move around. Maybe one developed over your CHT at some point. Air trapped in the coolant system.

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Yea, definitely listen to what others are telling you in your thread, - very good advise for sure.

It might be easier for you to just take it to Ford and at-least have them run a diagnostics on it. I wouldn't instruct them to fix it, - just have them find out what's wrong, for now anyway. It should be around $85 or so for them to figure it out, then inform you. Might be the way to go , -if your not comfortable with some of this stuff

 

@mr. bill: i didnt add 1 quart of cooling. sorry for the confusion. when i checked the oil for water it was low, so i added a quart. when i put more coolant i disconnected the upper hose first to let out all the water i had put in it because i didnt have coolant at the time(sorry if this was important to mention). after everything was out i hooked the hose back on and put 1 full bottle of 50/50 coolant in it and it was good. i checked it the next morning and it was fine.

@dynotech: ya the white smoke was coming from where the windshield was, so i can agree that the coolant might have jsut been hitting something hot.

@jbrew:i put one whole bottle of 50/50 coolant after i disconnected the upper hose. i usually fill it up to where its really close to the max. my truck is running fine now. other than the ugly popping miisfire when i step on it(its always done this).

i cant thank you guys enough for the help your giving. i REALLY appreciate it. im only 18 hah i really dont know much so you guys come in handy!

i have an eye exam right now and will be going through each of yours "troubleshooting". i will post what i find when i do this. once again thanks guys!

 

If the hot water was coming out of the degas bottle, I think a head gasket just went out. To confirm this, get the coolant checked for combustion gasses in the coolant (relatively easy). If this test confirms combustion gasses in the coolant, then the fun begins.

As far as replacing head gaskets, I would leave this up to a professional on today's engines. Yes, I have done head gasket replacement on engines in the past, but doing a head gasket on a 1937 Ford flathead V8 is almost as easy as doing a lawnmower engine, and a 302 in a 1972 Ford Maverick is more complicated but can be done without to much fuss, but a Triton V8 in a pickup is more than I want to tackle.

And thank you, Dynotech, for answering the question I had about how tough Triton heads are. I thought they were not crack prone like some heads, but I was not sure.

And rudes, you're welcome. As long as you are willing to ask questions and learn from others helping you, and are willing to answer pertinent questions to help diagnose a problem, I'll be more than happy to help.

 

i just went through checking everything. i didnt see any puddles.
i checked all hoses, squezzing each one. they were all squishy. except 3 bottom ones. these ones.


after i checked them i went through with what jbrew said. everything was fine. coolant didnt drop or nothing. checked all hoses again. all were squishy except those bottom ones again. dont know if that means anything. my question now is how do i check for combustion gasses?

 

Well just keep driving it and see what happens I guess. Keep an eye on the coolant level in the degas bottle and your temp gauge. If you continue to lose coolant or see any of the symptoms mentioned by others here then either have the hydrocarbon test performed by a garage or some auto parts stores rent the kit I understand. You obviously are losing coolant somewhere. If it keeps spewing out of the degas bottle cap then first have the cap pressure tested and then the hydrocarbon test. Good luck.

 

Those are not coolant hoses in that pic. That looks like the power steering cooler to me.

 

well guys. i started my truck this morning and the CEL was gone.
but im wondering..is the light just gone? or is the cylinder head over-temperature protection still active? and the fail safe cooling stragedy?

 

CEL: Probably for the cylinder head temperature being high.
Temperature protection and fail-safe mode should still be okay.

I would still do the combustion gas test to the coolant, and an engine running pressure test of the hoses to confirm a head gasket problem. I really think you have a head gasket out, unfortunately.

 

There are SEVERAL posts in this thread suggesting you do a hydrocarbon test on the coolant - and you seem to be ignoring them. I'm guessing this is because you are not familiar with this procedure. Go over to Autozone and inquire about renting the kit to do this, and DO IT - or take it to a garage that has the kit and pay them to do it. If there are hydrocarbons in the coolant, you no longer have integrity between the cooling system and the combustion chambers, which is something you MUST fix, and fix it soon.

 

@glc: i go to school and work. only get 4 hours a day. its not that im ignoring the advice, im trying to save money so i can have everything done. although i should go get a price estimate. thanx for your concern anyways