PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Originally a thread called Is this normal?...

So, maybe two weeks I topped off the coolant in my truck and it turns out that I overfilled; This did not manifest itself until last weekend when I was driving home from a car show about two hours away from my house. For those who don't known, my truck is a 2010 with a 2.7L, and it has just over 153K miles.

It was hot as hell all weekend and I had the A/C on constantly; My truck did not overheat and showed no signs of entering the danger zone with regards to engine temperature.

I backed into my driveway and as I was walking past the truck to go into the house, I heard a gurgling noise from under the hood. I opened the hood and found that the coolant had overflowed and splattered all over the engine compartment. Again, this had no affect on the truck and it did not overheat.

I used a medicine dropper to siphon out the excess antifreeze and deposited it in an empty washer fluid jug. I had no problems for the remainder of the weekend, but today I popped the hood before starting the truck to go to work. The antifreeze was at the "LOW" mark again; Not about to have a repeat of the drive home from Carlisle, I decided to just drive into work and see what happened.

The truck showed no signs of running hot during the drive to work, but I found that the coolant level had not gone up when I popped the hood; I let the truck sit for several hours and topped it off just now, though not all the way to the "FULL" line. It is 78 degrees and I am idling with in the parking lot at work with the A/C cranked as I type this.

My truck had the coolant flushed and replaced when the dealer did the frame replacement last November, and I believe that earlier this month was the first time I had to add coolant; I also opted to have the water pump replaced by the dealer at the time of the frame replacement, as the truck had about 140K miles at the time and still had the original water pump.

I've had to add minuscule amounts of coolant at various times in the last five years or so, but there aren't any noticeable signs of a leak or other issue.

Again, my truck has over 153K miles and has NEVER overheated or run hot. Is it possible that something wasn't connected properly at the dealership, or is this just coolant reacting to changes in temperature?

 

I would have to double check my truck but I have seen on other vehicles a full low and full hot level on the tank. Take a closer look at yours, if that is in fact the case then your truck at LOW when it hasn't been running is fine.

 

The full line is on a cool engine.
(Seriously, it’s in the owners manual. I looked)

When you over filled it, was the engine warm or cool? And did you go above the full mark?

 

Sweet thank you for clarifying. Haven't ever had to add to mine before.

 

Also, my truck had two coolant flushes in 2021; In early spring 2021, a good friend and I were trying to determine why my truck was "using" oil without any signs of burning or leaking. My friend found oil in the coolant reservoir and I understandably freaked out because this was a telltale sign of a head gasket issue; After some investigation, it was determined that the likely scenario was an inattentive tech who used the same funnel for topping off the coolant that he'd just used for refilling the oil. I hadn't been to the dealer for an oil change in years, but my mechanic tested positive for COVID and had to to quarantine; I still needed an oil change, so I brought it to the dealer.

I had no way of knowing my frame had festering perforation when my mechanic did a coolant flush and replacement in April or May of 2021, and so that's how I ended up getting two in roughly six months.

 

It was warm, but not hot, when I overfilled it; I filled it to the FULL mark.

 

I know because I looked when I changed my coolant. I hate coolant and gear oil. 2 things I hate more than anything to try to clean up.

 

Was the radiator cap replaced?
If not a bad cap can cause it to puke coolant out when it's hot.

 

As far as I know, it has never been replaced; How would I know if it it is bad?

 

Take it off (with the engine cool of course) and see if the little plastic check valve is broken or missing.

 

This could very well be the problem; Should I go with OEM or buy an aftermarket one?

 

OEM

 

If it was mine I would go OEM

 

I guess I should say, you could buy an aftermarket one to run until you can get an OEM. Then put the OEM one on.

 

The truck has been sitting for maybe an hour, and the coolant is currently right at the LOW mark...

 

The seal on that cap has a lot gunk on it.
See the area below for where the seal is.

I personally would replace that cap, if for no other reason than preventative maintenance.
They can fail and the spring an bottom end fall down into the radiator. You ain’t getting it out either.
It lives there until the radiator is replaced.

 

Just ordered...

 

Yup replace the cap. top off radiator, and fill overflow tank (clear tank on back of rad) to the full mark and drive!

 

Now if only I could figure out why my truck is using oil; Already replaced the PCV Valve and the cam cover gasket, which improved the issue, but it is still "using" oil. It is obviously not leaking oil, and there are no obvious signs that it is burning oil, but it seems like I've had to top it off twice in the last week. It used to need a quart every 3,500 miles, and it is nowhere near that bad now...