New head gasket, now truck overheats

yes I didn't realize you have well water, you NEVER want to put well water in your cooling system.

I know its not the best but I have used regular tap water for 30 years without issue and didn't notice any ill effects but im sure distilled water would be better. im just to lazy and cheap to go to the store to buy water when I have it coming out of the tap. now if I ever saw something to point at and say it made a difference I wouldn't do it.

 

ahh, well there is your white stuff.

its from that stupid inner spring that corroded and those things often break apart leaving spring pieces who knows where stuck in your radiator

never never never under any circumstances should you use a radiator hose with an internal spring. it tells you the hose is just cheap crap and it needs a spring so it doesn't kink or collapse in on itself and they always end up turning to crusty crud

 

The HG job was performed in west kansas. There is so much limestone bed rock it makes the soil and water more alkali than is typical. Probably has a ph >8. And since this was done on a farm it could be well water, but I can't be sure. When I flush I will use tap water from the city. I can pick up a couple gallons of distilled water to flush out the tap water.

 

A bit off topic but while going over the top of the engine I see this loose bolt. Can any one tell me what it's for? I'll look up the torque specs when I know what if is.

 

Damn, it looks like the freeze plug under the passengers side motor mount is leaking. It's pretty crusty, and wet.

 

See, alkaline water. Thats how all these backwoods old timers can live off bourbon and red meat and live to over 100 years old.

Though really, there is never never never a reason to put tap water in your truck.

 

just went look, that's where a bracket mounts to hold that wiring harness up and off of the exhaust manifold. its kinda "tee" shaped and it connects to that bolt and the one all the way farthest to the left (on the alternator bracket) then goes straight up about 4" and the wiring loop clips onto it.

 

Thanks for the reply on that. Guess mine has been re routed.

So the radiator and fan clutch were installed today. It's still overheating, but it overheats at low rpms. If I down shift and bring the rpms to 3k it cools it slightly. On the highway at 50mph, it overheated In fifth gear. I had to park and when we left I noticed it wasn't too hot so I sped out Into the road to hurry home a couple blocks away, and it cooled. So now I'm thinking it's the water pump impellers not moving enough water (or the HG is installed wrong).

When I soaked and flushed overnight I got milky white out and floaties, so I flushed a bunch of times by refilling, running the engine with therm out and then dumping. I binged and purged like this till the water came out clear and refilled with fresh red antifreeze.

 

Dang, im sorry! i feel like i gave ya shatty info by telling ya i thought it was a restricted radiator! I didnt think about it but had i did, i totally would have mentioned to swap out the water pump since it would have been a really convenient time to do so with the rad and fan clutch off. Especially since youre fighting cooling issues anyway.

But it did change the characteristics of the way it overheats now, if im comprehending your post correctly? If it did make a small difference i suppose it wasnt a full waste of time and monies! But yeah, aside from the HG installed improperly(which seems very unlikely since it would just overheat very quickly and with no variables) the water pump is bout the last component not yet changed.

Its funny though..well not really..but youre still getting the exact same symptoms i had on one of my tacos with a restricted radiator.....damn thing anyhow....

 

The white stuff...you were still getting lots of that shit after the radiator swap?? I bet thats from either one of two things. Like keakar said it could be from that spring corroding inside that funky coolant hose(wouldnt think itd be white but never know). Or its mineral deposits from years of running tap water in the system. Maybe or maybe not but it got there somehow and theres not too many variables on how crud got in there like that. I guess if someone put shit tons of radiator stop leak in there, that could be a possible culprit too, i suppose.

Forgive me if its already been discussed but get a new radiator cap if you havent...

 

Yep, now it does not come close to overheating while idling for 20 min. The gauge goes up to operating temps and then stays there, no fluctuating like before.

When I overheated on today's test drive I noticed bringing the rpms up cooled the engine.

Seems like it took longer to overheat as well. And when it did overheat, I checked the top hose on the rad and it's really hot while the bottom is cold.

I'm squeezing the hoses while idling with a burping funnel and I see a little air bubble now and then. But I still think it could be water pump not moving enough fluid.

Yeah and I've pretty much eliminated everything else. I mean it sat for four years so if I didn't replace it now I'd probably be replacing it very soon.

 

The white crud only came out after an overnight soak in vinegar and water (50/50). I topped t off with that cocktail and let it sit for 20hrs and then flushed multiple times to dilute the vinegar and neutralize the acidity. Once I was satisfied with that I flushed with distilled water two more times. On the first three flushes (the first being vinegar water) the water was milky cloudy and then came out clearer with each following flush. For every two gallons I put it, I flushed 1.5 - 1.75 gallons back out each time.

 

could be the fins corroded away sitting in just water for 4 years.

the rad was going to be clogged up by all that crap anyway so its still good you replaced it.

I could have sworn you said you just replaced the water pump and thermostat???? that's why I never considered the water pump as a likely problem seeing as how it was brand new (or so I thought)

 

I thought it was new as well, and it was, before I parked it forever. My fault for not being clear. Before I had my friend do the HG, we did the timing belt and water pump, also a wheel bearing. It went so smoothly I thought why not have him do the HG?

So to date the time line is. Timing belt - water pump (several weeks pass) - HG - truck overheats on highway - truck sits for 4 yrs.

I've just been working my way through a tune up, but could it have been the crappy components that caused the overheat after the HG job?

So even if a new water pump sat there it could be corroded away?

I'm changing the damn water pump. Do you agree that it seems like coolant is not passing through the engine fast enough?

 

Well since the new radiator for sure changed the way it overheats it was definitely partially clogged a bit ans becoming more so with the white crud circulating, so thats good.

Now you say when it overheated this last time the bottom hose was cool to the touch? This is good...sorta. it very much narrows down the problem. I know you said the tstat is brand new but it could be fouled up already or screwed up by the white crap. Then lastly the water pump. Those are the only 2 things that wouldnt allow that cool water in the lower hose to not be drawn through the system!! So on your last question, YES, it seems the coolant is not being or able to be pumped through the system properly. Solely due to the bottom hose being cool to the toutch! Id be suprised if the pump is bad since it was changed out...but with 4 years of setting anything is possible!


On a side note i thought the HG job was just recently done. In your last post you make it sound like it was done just prior to the 4 year set??

 

Damn I suck at starting threads, I did a poor job on this one.

After the head job I essentially abandoned this thing. So it sat 4 yrs because I pretty much figured the HG job was bad.

My neighbor used to be a mechanic at a dealership, he suspects water pump as well, mostly cause he knows I've changed everything else. He did mention one thing. What are the chances this is a clogged water jet?

Oh, and he loaned me his ir temp gun.

 

Ah lol...i totally have been thinking this whole time that the HG job was performed after the 4 year sit...

As for clogged passage ways...anything can happen, thatd suck if that were to be the problem...

 

and with the water pump off the engine you can run a hose in the block and flush it even better because the water pump isn't holding it back.

flush in all possible directions so water goes in and then runs out of each opening.

also I would pull the heater hoses off and flush it in both directions in case there is crap that got into it as well.

 

Water pump replaced, heater rad flushed both directions, heater hoses flushed down through block (both sides) block flushed both directions through waterpump ports and upper/lower rad ports.

The old water pump had some corrosion and rust, but looked to be in good working condition.

Took the truck on a test drive, started overheating as usual (3 miles out), I was able to push the clutch and rev the engine up between 3-4k and cool it. By doing this every so often on the way home I was able to cool the engine and didn't need to stop. Everytime it started to go up I simply increase the rpms and it cools (fast!), as long as it wasn't in gear. Just putting it in neutral didn't cool the engine, must be rev'd.

When I got home I shot the upper/lower rad hose with the ir temp gun. They were 170 on top vs 70 at the bottom. I also shot the freeze plugs I could get to on the block, they were 230.

Coolant level dropped a little from last night too.

So, I'm getting in touch with a mechanic, I'll let you know what they say.

I haven't changed out the gear oils in the front/rear diff, or transfer case. I have everything to do it, but haven't yet. Could that have something to do with it? Kinda like pulling a trailer can overheat an engine. Sigh, probably not.