Yea Jethat used that stuff once and it cost him a motor, BUT I think he dumped it in the wrong hole.

 

Lol, pretty sure I dumped it in the coolant reservoir.

 

I can't recall what he did exactly, - it was an accident for sure. He posted pictures of what happened.

 

Worst I ever did was accidentally put some window washer fluid in the coolant tank, but it wasn't enough to hurt anything. And it wasn't my car. Lol

 

I ruined a radiator, and a heater core using stop leak. Haven't used it since then, and would advise anyone else not to.

 

Right, its hell on the heater core , plus it can totally plug the by-pass line. Results with things getting hot, then applying more pressure upon what your attempting to repair. Might as well just fix what's broke.

The stuff worked fairly well in the much older engines that had the plumbing for it.

 

So far the truck has ran well. Slightly rough start in this cold weather, but even it's not bad. Knocking on wood that it keeps on running. At least long enough for me to trade it off.

 

I got a chance to hook my shop-vac to the heater core. Put the hose on to blow through the core with a jug to catch whatever came out. I can back flush just fine and get decent airflow, but something is in it acting like a valve and if I try to blow air the other way, I barely get anything. Nothing in the jug but coolant. Wondering if I could hook the hoses up backwards and reverse the coolant flow to the core and see if that works, or would that hurt the core? I can't get whatever is in there out, at least not without tearing the dash apart... Again. I dont want to go through that anymore.

 

So what was the cause of the misfire Sauce? Did the first 2 COP replacements solve the problem? It seems you moved on to other things and I couldn't be sure what the solution was...

 

To be honest, I don't know. I may have assumed a coolant leak was causing my problems because of the moisture I saw on the COP boots, but I didn't drive the truck around with the new coils long enough to see if they alone fixed the problem. I've driven it all week with no apparent problems. Thought it was misfiring the other day, but I think it was my imagination. I didn't realize until I was posting a couple days ago that I never smelled coolant under the hood, which would normally be indicative of a leak. Maybe I was just going on assumptions? Like I said, I don't know. I do know that I'll be lucky if it doesn't misfire on me tomorrow because I spilled coolant on top of the engine. Used the shop-vac to blow as much away as I could, but it got dark before I could clean it up.

 

LOL, it's always something!

I'm chasing a similar problem that's why I'm wondering, with #2. Threw the code a year ago summer, replace the plug and no problem, until about 2 weeks ago when it threw the same code. When I replaced the plug this time I noticed a major vaccum leak that I finally found today. The connector between the PCV and the hard hose to the back of the TB has a big hole in it. So I put a new 3" piece of hose on and the leak is gone.

Today I cleaned my throttle body, IAC, EGR and had a good look around. Things were amazingly clean for 207k, but the 2 holes inside the TB from the IAC were pretty clogged. It actually started and ran smoothly when restarted, but on the test drive it was running rough. Didn't throw a code, but I didn't go far.

I think I'm going to replace my coils and wires since they're original. I can't find in my records anywhere that I ever changed them. I'm studying that now but I think that's my next move. It starts and idles fine and always has, so I'm looking at the fuel filter and COPs as my next move. I think this fuel filter has going on 20k miles on it, as do the plugs.

I can't think of anything else to try at this point, but I'm still studying on it. BTW, I've got some light moisture in my plug boots. Several people have said that's not uncommon and not a problem, but then again I'm not talking a coolant leak. I think that's a weak design anyway, just getting to the plugs and the problems associated with them being recessed in the valve covers like that.

I'll post up when I make my next move and the result. I hate not having the confidence in my truck I used to. It's been a great truck and I'm hoping to get this solved and get another few years of use out of it!

 

Joe

You have plug wires on your truck? I just replaced mine. I had a very bad miss when the air was moist or wet, enoiugh to set off a code. I checked the resistance of all the plug wires and they were in spec. Replaced all the wires and the problem went away. I noticed an imeadiate power gain when replaced.

 

I'm oh so glad to hear that. I'm in the middle of replacing mine now. I got half done today before I got frustrated and quit. I'll finish tomorrow. In the last few days I've replaced coils, plug wires, plugs and fuel filter, cleaned the throttle body, egr and IAC valve. I've got over 200k on my originals so it's time anyway. I tested for vaccuum leaks today before starting on the coils and wires and didn't find any, so that's good.

I was thinking all day it could be something more serious, but now I'm back to optimistic after your post. If I still have a miss tomorrow, I'll check more thoroughly for vaccuum leaks, and take a harder look at the egr to make sure it's working properly. I may just replace it anyway along with the DPFM.

I was thinking all day about replacing the heads if it's a bad valve, then though, hell if I'm doing that I may as well throw a new engine in and maybe a new tranny! I love how this goes! But it's been a great truck and I could easily see driving it another 200k.

Thanks for the post and I hope my miss is gone tomorrow!

 

Yea a miss when it's wet is a good clue to a electrical problem. Mine was missing under all conditions but not consistently.

But you called it. I finished the new plugs, wires and coils install and the miss is gone. Not only that but the truck runs ssooo much better it's hard to believe. Runs like it's only got 100k on it! lol

I realized during this I've neglected her slightly so I'm going to do a better job going forward. I'm looking forward to many more miles now!