21stApril2010, 09:20 PM
On the way home this evening, my truck began to run rough and began knocking. I checked the guages on the hood, and saw that the temp had jumped up to 220º and was heading for 230º in a hurry.
I got off the road (not far from home), and began to assess the situation.
It was clear that the system had no coolant, yet the level in the tank was correct. Somehow the coolant evacuated without me noticing. That was puzzle number one.
I let it cool a bit, and tried cranking it every few minutes to keep it freed up, because the temp hage was pinned somewhere around 250º.
It cranked oddly, even considering that it was extremely hot.
That was puzzle number two.
My wife came out with the van and strapped me home. Maybe two miles.
I did a compression check and number 1 was fine. Number 2 had nothing. I stopped there and began tearing it down.
WARNING! Lousy phone pic.
![[Image: 42123894.jpg]](http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd110/Reserector_/Phone%20Pics/42123894.jpg)
Puzzle number one solved: A heater hose under the intake manifold had split near the firewall, draining the system in seconds.
Puzzle number two pretty much solved: I suspected a bad head gasket because the valves appeared to be moving freely. After tearing down the top end, the valves appear to be closing. The head gasket was fine. No visible cracks or holes in the head, pistons or cylinders.
I suspect that the valves just hung because it got so hot.
The exhaust valve in #3 is burnt, but that was a pre-existing condition. At least I get to fix that, now.
The blessing is that this episode will allow me to do some very thorough maintenance in places that are hard to reach with the head and manifold on. I will turn lemons into lemonade by freshening the whole thing up.
I had already scheduled a vacation day for tomorrow to take my wife to teh doctor, and most of the day was free with no plans. So it really couldn't have happened at a better time. If it tore up on the weekend, I would not have access to the machine shop in town.
It's all good, as long as I can get it overhauled in time for work on Friday.
I got off the road (not far from home), and began to assess the situation.
It was clear that the system had no coolant, yet the level in the tank was correct. Somehow the coolant evacuated without me noticing. That was puzzle number one.
I let it cool a bit, and tried cranking it every few minutes to keep it freed up, because the temp hage was pinned somewhere around 250º.
It cranked oddly, even considering that it was extremely hot.
That was puzzle number two.
My wife came out with the van and strapped me home. Maybe two miles.
I did a compression check and number 1 was fine. Number 2 had nothing. I stopped there and began tearing it down.
WARNING! Lousy phone pic.
Puzzle number one solved: A heater hose under the intake manifold had split near the firewall, draining the system in seconds.
Puzzle number two pretty much solved: I suspected a bad head gasket because the valves appeared to be moving freely. After tearing down the top end, the valves appear to be closing. The head gasket was fine. No visible cracks or holes in the head, pistons or cylinders.
I suspect that the valves just hung because it got so hot.
The exhaust valve in #3 is burnt, but that was a pre-existing condition. At least I get to fix that, now.
The blessing is that this episode will allow me to do some very thorough maintenance in places that are hard to reach with the head and manifold on. I will turn lemons into lemonade by freshening the whole thing up.
I had already scheduled a vacation day for tomorrow to take my wife to teh doctor, and most of the day was free with no plans. So it really couldn't have happened at a better time. If it tore up on the weekend, I would not have access to the machine shop in town.
It's all good, as long as I can get it overhauled in time for work on Friday.