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low coolant level and related issues
Old 04-05-2004, 01:31 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 14
low coolant level and related issues
The story so far:
Truck is a 96 that I purchased from another TDR member in January, on the 2000 mile drive home we were a little bit low on coolant, but the PO had removed an Espar previous to sale so I attributed the low coolant to needing to bleed the system after it was opened up. Now we have put 5K miles on the truck and in this time I have had to top up the coolant level twice. Last night we drove home from a 400 mile trip and when I got home the coolant was about a gallon and a half low! It was topped up when we left so this is a significant loss. Despite this leak the system never get hot, it will barely get to the 190 degree mark on the gauge, and I can always pull the radiator cap off when the engine is hot with barely a hiss of steam.

There is a flourescent tracer in the coolant and using a big blacklight on a dark night there is no obvious leakage anywhere. The weep hole on the water pump is dry. There is no foaming of the oil or other signs of water contamination. The only thing I can figure is the coolant is leaking into the combustion chamber at the head gasket. I am going to get a Stant pressure tester and check the pressure integrity of the system and look for leaks one more time just to be sure...

Other relevant info: the truck is very mild, #11 plate and a gov spring kit. Never over EGT, never overheated, driven firmly but intelligently. Previous owner overheated once due to an external head gasket leak, the head was replaced with a new one for good measure and the correct new gasket was installed with the proper torqueing procedure. I wont mention neames but he is a member in good standing here and I trust his judgement.

Questions for the experts here:

How likely is it that the coolant would leak into the combustion chamber but the engine would continue to run fine and not completely blow out the gasket?

Keeping in mind that the truck has never gotten over 190 degrees in the entire time I have had it, do you think any damage was done due to the low coolant? i.e. localized overheating where air pockets have formed?

Is there anything else I should be checking before I assume this is an internal head gasket leak? Keeping in mind that there are no drips, no wet spots or anything to indicate an external leak...

Thanks in advance for your help!

-Zach
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