Ok Just got home from work and on the way home I saw my temp gauge go up higher than it normally does, not real high or anything but still higher than normal, about halfway on the gauge. About another mile down the road I see smoke coming out the side from under the hood. So I pull over and take a look under the hood and I see what seems to be some leaking from right around where I just had the heater core bypassed and it just seems to be leaking a little from around the clamps where it was bypassed. I felt of the engine itself and of the radiator and both did not seem that hot at all, my house was only about 3 miles away so I decide to go on home. Well by the time I get home it is started to run hotter, about 3/4th the way up on the gauge. I pull into my garage and turn the truck off and pop the hood and now the engine feels hotter and the radiator is completely cold. There is still fluid in the reservoir and now I also see smoke coming from the engine itself around the head gasket. So my question is what do you think is wrong? The radiator is cold the engine is obviously hot the gauge is reading about 3/4ths hot but not in the red and the oil level is normal and smells ok. Truck was not making any bod noises or anything like that. Thanks in advance for your help!!
Help Truck over heating
- Thread starter mcrn
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It sounds like maybe the thermostat has failed closed or you have an obstruction/plug somewhere. Or maybe there's an air pocket in the system. If you overheat way too much it can warp the heads, but if your gauge went only like 3/4 it's probably fine.
ok thank you porcupine! I just went out and took the cap off the radiator and put about a gallon in. Reservoir was still pretty full but the radiator itself was almost completely empty. Now I feel like an idiot that I did not even check the radiator itself when I pulled over, I just looked at the reservoir. I didn't feel any of the tubing, Im an idiot, I just hope that I did not do any damage. Thanks porcupine and in advance to anyone else.
Ok on a closer inspection there is a plastic piece that joins 2 tubes on one side and one into the other side. Well this plastic piece has a hole in the top part so I lost just about all the fluid from this hole. I don't know how long it was like that. My entire drive home is 10 miles. What do you all think? It never did reach the red but I did see smoke coming from around the head gasket. Another question I have is where is the actual guage at in perspective to the water? I mean could the engine be way too hot and the water be showing that its still not in the red? Because like I said the radiator was cold and the engine was smoking?
Just fix it and run it and see. If water gets in your oil or oil gets in your water, you have an issue
Chances are you probably didn't do a lot of damage. usually your sensors will shut down the motor before the temps get to high. I had a similar experience in the past, the motor kept stalling and I could figure out why. Duh, I was bone dry, lol. Filled it and the motor was fine, although a lil rusty.
Chances are you probably didn't do a lot of damage. usually your sensors will shut down the motor before the temps get to high. I had a similar experience in the past, the motor kept stalling and I could figure out why. Duh, I was bone dry, lol. Filled it and the motor was fine, although a lil rusty.The 2.3 Lima is a tough engine. Repair it and go. Should be cheap to fix if something got warped though.
Ok well I got the car put back together yesterday. It started up fine, its not overheating, runs smooth, but there does seem to be more valve ticking than before. Other than that it seems fine. Think any damage was done? Or should I say bad damage?
"I also see smoke coming from the engine itself around the head gasket."
That sounds bad.
Like Eric said, it's worth fixing even if it's a head gasket.
I've had a stuck thermostat before, while the mechanic was getting a new one of the shelf and getting ready to change it, I heard the 'snap' of the T-stat open. If that happened at home, I could have had the time to fix it myself.
Oh-well.
GM has had it's share of warped heads and gasket failures in the past(some due to brittle head bolts).
That sounds bad.
Like Eric said, it's worth fixing even if it's a head gasket.
I've had a stuck thermostat before, while the mechanic was getting a new one of the shelf and getting ready to change it, I heard the 'snap' of the T-stat open. If that happened at home, I could have had the time to fix it myself.
Oh-well.
GM has had it's share of warped heads and gasket failures in the past(some due to brittle head bolts).
If water was spraying out of that crack and darn near emptied your cooling system, was it maybe steam pouring off the heads that looked like a blown gasket? If it didn't go all the way into red I doubt you did anything.
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