JHZR2
Staff member
With the good comes concerns sometimes; hopefully much ado about nothing…
Bought this 96 Ram CTD. Drove it around SD a ton. No issues. Few hundred miles. Then, we drove it across SD at speed, some on the BIA 2 and SD 73, but mostly on the I-90, which has a limit of 80 MPH. So about 245 miles at high speeds. Checked everything underhood after the high speed run, and it went from this:
To this:
Closer up:
Anti freeze on some of the heater core pipes and other areas. There’s lots going on in that area, and it’s a known location for the HG to leak overboard. But the evidence doesn’t point abdolutely to a HG failure.
I cleaned up most all residues. Verified coolant, which was about 1cm below the fill hole in the neck, and at “full” in the overflow.
Fast forward 1200 miles, and today I saw similar residues. I didn’t recall seeing them any days in-between, but today’s operations had higher levels of hills and speed as I progressed through western PA. To my disappointment I saw this:
Yeah, more antifreeze splatter.
And more spots.
So, the HG is known to fail and leak overboard in some conditions, specifically in that corner. Similarly, the thermostat housing is real close in that area.
But no specific point of leakage. Where this was coming from is a mystery.
I checked it a few times when stopping for breaks. One quick stop after a hard, fast run, I noted this:
Cant tell if it’s bubbling out of the exhaust ( why would it?), or if it’s just the glycol bubbling on a hot surface. OK, so now a bit more worried. Let temperatures drop, and went to open the systems compare collant height. It was full in the overflow. OK. So whats the matter? The coolant is clean, and seemingly working well. Temperatures are always under control, no concerns.
But the residues come in the area with a lot of coolant related stuff (pump, etc., and, the head gasket could be an issue. But not the only one. So I kept driving, stopping quickly after a hard run to check. Only ever saw some dried residues, not fresh water .
After about 1200 miles we stopped to check, and Inhad to add water. The amount needed is about a quart.
You can see it wanted to run down from something in that area.
So at this point I’d like to be able
to diagnose. What’s the best bet? A pressure test of the cooling system? Licking of the records?
I can go to HF and get a universal cooling system tester. A bit expensive but not horrible, and looks decent. I can do UOA. What else should I do to absolutely determine if it’s an issue with the HG versus the t-stat or some other exterior housing?
Id like to get to the bottom of if I have a compromised HG. Folks have reported foing long distances with them seeping out. We will see. I’d still like to know what I’m dealing with.
Any thoughts and ideas would be great.
Bought this 96 Ram CTD. Drove it around SD a ton. No issues. Few hundred miles. Then, we drove it across SD at speed, some on the BIA 2 and SD 73, but mostly on the I-90, which has a limit of 80 MPH. So about 245 miles at high speeds. Checked everything underhood after the high speed run, and it went from this:
To this:
Closer up:
Anti freeze on some of the heater core pipes and other areas. There’s lots going on in that area, and it’s a known location for the HG to leak overboard. But the evidence doesn’t point abdolutely to a HG failure.
I cleaned up most all residues. Verified coolant, which was about 1cm below the fill hole in the neck, and at “full” in the overflow.
Fast forward 1200 miles, and today I saw similar residues. I didn’t recall seeing them any days in-between, but today’s operations had higher levels of hills and speed as I progressed through western PA. To my disappointment I saw this:
Yeah, more antifreeze splatter.
And more spots.
So, the HG is known to fail and leak overboard in some conditions, specifically in that corner. Similarly, the thermostat housing is real close in that area.
But no specific point of leakage. Where this was coming from is a mystery.
I checked it a few times when stopping for breaks. One quick stop after a hard, fast run, I noted this:
Cant tell if it’s bubbling out of the exhaust ( why would it?), or if it’s just the glycol bubbling on a hot surface. OK, so now a bit more worried. Let temperatures drop, and went to open the systems compare collant height. It was full in the overflow. OK. So whats the matter? The coolant is clean, and seemingly working well. Temperatures are always under control, no concerns.
But the residues come in the area with a lot of coolant related stuff (pump, etc., and, the head gasket could be an issue. But not the only one. So I kept driving, stopping quickly after a hard run to check. Only ever saw some dried residues, not fresh water .
After about 1200 miles we stopped to check, and Inhad to add water. The amount needed is about a quart.
You can see it wanted to run down from something in that area.
So at this point I’d like to be able
to diagnose. What’s the best bet? A pressure test of the cooling system? Licking of the records?
I can go to HF and get a universal cooling system tester. A bit expensive but not horrible, and looks decent. I can do UOA. What else should I do to absolutely determine if it’s an issue with the HG versus the t-stat or some other exterior housing?
Id like to get to the bottom of if I have a compromised HG. Folks have reported foing long distances with them seeping out. We will see. I’d still like to know what I’m dealing with.
Any thoughts and ideas would be great.