My grand adventure to Alaska has been scrubbed for this year. My plan to take a used TV with only 8 months shake-down time on it was too bold I guess.While driving through Montana, I hit 95-100 degree weather for two days, and it revealed some sort of fault in the cooling system. I pressed on, driving slower, taking breaks during the hottest parts of the day, etc, to Lake Louise. The cool mountain conditions helped a lot. I headed back to Calgary and had an auto shop check everything, they could find no fault except low fluid. I asked if there was no fault, where did the fluid go, they had no answers. I spent the next day driving around town in 85+ degree temps with no problems. The day after, I head back toward the Rockies and despite cold mountain air, the cooling system is acting up again. I pull over to a wayside, and the fluid is low again! With a heavy sigh, I refill, and turn around and head east.Trying to make the best of my return trip was unsuccessfully too. I come back to my home state Michigan to find the temps in the upper 90s, the few days I tried to spend camping in the U.P. were spent mostly hiding in the air conditioning of my trailer, suffering from heat induced migraines.Oh well, maybe next time.

That is sad!You may post what kind of rig and maybe someone here can help identify the problem.

Does your exhaust have a white hue and smell sweet? Also, check your transmission fluid to see if looks like a strawberry milkshake.

OLD mechanic trick. Remove your engines dipstick, with the engine hot, place a few drops of engine oil on your exhaust headers. If the oil sizzles, you have water in your crankcase, if it just smokes, no water. Also you could just have a faulty radiator cap, allowing coolant to escape when the engine gets hot.

Or a hose with a pinhole leak. I had one like that one time and it would only leak after the system got nice and hot and pressurized. Drove me nuts until one time I opened the hood with the engine hot and running and saw the slight bit of steam escaping. Try tightening down every single hose clamp. With luck, you might find one that is loose.

Had a similar situation with my BMW. I would need to add coolant every few days or so yet no indication of where the coolant was going. As previous poster mentions, check your exhaust for white hue and coolant smell preferably when you first start the car at the beginning of the day. What happened for me was that I had a small hairline crack in the cylinder head between the piston and the exhaust port. When I shut the car off, the hot coolant would leak into the cylinder and then blow out the exhaust the next time I started the car. It is very noticable when the car is cold. It almost looks like you are burning oil but goes away as the car warms up. I hope this is not the case for you though as it was a very costly repair.Good luck.

Couldn't make it... | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

kedanie
Explorer II
Aug 29, 2013
OP, there are many views here on what your problems are. However, without knowing the year and make of the truck, it's all meaningless. No one here is trying to bash your choice, just trying to help. Help us help you with a few details please.

Keith
Peg_Leg
Explorer
Aug 29, 2013
A lot of the GM 5.7 and 7.4 engines had a problem with the intake manifold gasket leaking in the right front corner. Check the radiator when cool and note the coolant level. If it's at a level equal to where the intake manifold bolts up above the valve covers this may be your problem.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Aug 29, 2013
Hope you can regroup and take your planned trip soon!!
kedanie
Explorer II
Aug 28, 2013
If it's a Ford 6.0 diesel, the EGR cooler is a known problem. When it starts to fail it leaks coolant into the exhaust stream. At first, it's just a little but gets much worse over time. You will also get hot exhaust pushed into the coolant stream causing the radiator to overflow through the cap.

The fix is expensive. It involves replacing the oil cooler,which is where the problem actually starts with a plugged coolant screen, the EGR cooler, the EGR Valve and reconditioning or replacing the Turbo. In addition, the entire engine block must be flushed.

Many, even Ford, thought it was the head gaskets when in actuality it was the EGR cooler. The problem starts in the oil cooler with a plugged coolant screen. It then restricts coolant flow to the EGR cooler which then gets melted by the hot exhaust. Then, the EGR valve gets gummed up as does the turbocharger. Ours cost $3300 to fix. It is a known problem to Ford, they even reimbursed me $1500.

It starts out as an intermittent loss of coolant, minor overheating and occasional power loss. When it finally completely lets go, there is a lot of white sweet smelling exhaust. It's not in the internals of the engine but in the exhaust stream that drives the turbo. It is repairable if caught in time.

Keith
GordonThree
Explorer
Aug 28, 2013
I don't want to give details on the TV, because I don't want to debate whether it was a good choice or not. I didn't make it, no one's fault but my own.

I will be having the system flushed and a new cap and stat installed, and will see how the rest of this camping season goes.

The worst case scenario is a head gasket leak, allowing exhaust gas to enter the cooling loop, this engine design has a history of that problem given its current mileage.
Supercharged
Explorer
Aug 28, 2013
GordonThree wrote:
My grand adventure to Alaska has been scrubbed for this year. My plan to take a used TV with only 8 months shake-down time on it was too bold I guess.

While driving through Montana, I hit 95-100 degree weather for two days, and it revealed some sort of fault in the cooling system. I pressed on, driving slower, taking breaks during the hottest parts of the day, etc, to Lake Louise. The cool mountain conditions helped a lot. I headed back to Calgary and had an auto shop check everything, they could find no fault except low fluid. I asked if there was no fault, where did the fluid go, they had no answers. I spent the next day driving around town in 85+ degree temps with no problems. The day after, I head back toward the Rockies and despite cold mountain air, the cooling system is acting up again. I pull over to a wayside, and the fluid is low again! With a heavy sigh, I refill, and turn around and head east.

Trying to make the best of my return trip was unsuccessfully too. I come back to my home state Michigan to find the temps in the upper 90s, the few days I tried to spend camping in the U.P. were spent mostly hiding in the air conditioning of my trailer, suffering from heat induced migraines.

Oh well, maybe next time.
Put a extra engine oil cooler on it and get back on the road to Ak. PS I live in AZ. we have real hot days, not baby heat like 90's or 100 temp.
DougE
Explorer
Aug 28, 2013
Tell us what your engine is. Folks would know the most likely failure to look for. Have you thought about a leaking head gasket? Water could leak into the crankcase or combustion could push into the water passages.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Aug 28, 2013
your fluid went into the crankcase.
bumpy
Harvard
Explorer
Aug 28, 2013
So, maybe the cooling system is over heating and the rad cap is releasing the fluid BECAUSE the Fan Clutch is not cutting in ????
kedanie
Explorer II
Aug 28, 2013
If your tow vehicle is a Ford truck with a 6.0 litre diesel, it could very well be the EGR cooler that has failed. When that happens the early signs are low coolant levels. It is leaking into the exhaust stream. When it goes completely, the truck will look like a mosquito fogger.

Don't as me how I know this. It's a long story on the way to Alaska 2 years ago.

Keith