odd cooling prob's

[chuglife]

tonight on my way home, i started 'er up and drove for a while, and the temp needle just kept rising... so i turned the heaters on. that just stopped it from heating any further, but it was still almost at the top! i stopped at a light, with intentions of pulling off into a gas station a block up when i noticed that while i was stopped the needle started dropping all of a sudden. i turned off the heaters and it kept dropping, all the way down to normal O/T.

it seems to me that a faulty (or just wrong for the season) thermostat would do this? but i just want to ask you guys before i dig into the account and start working on the truck again. what do you guys suggest?

 

[hammerhead]

Sounds like time for a new thermostat to me. I've seen 'em do that before. Sometimes you don't get a warning. You should consider yourself lucky.

 

[chuglife]

thanks hammerhead

after driving it again i'm realising that its probably from a hole in the rad. i felt the hoses at the top and bottom and they were both hot, which makes me think that the thermostat is working properly? although i don't know how that ties in with how it heated up and then cooled beforehand.

after i drove it just now, i noticed a crack in between the top of the rad and the first row of fins, and coolant was dripping out. i added coolant and water, and ended up pouring a buttload in there before it was full again. drove it home and had no cooling problems.

i'm going to assume that the thermostat is ok (and didn't open before because there simply wasn't enough liquid to open it up) and that the reason its not cooling is because i'm losing all my damn coolant.

my next question is this: is there a way of sealing this crack myself? or do i need to take it into a shop? this is one part of the truck (of any vehicle for that matter) that i have never had to tinker with.

 

[TonkaC]

I had the same problem on my '70. I took it out and went to a local rad shop. He had it done in about 1/2 hour. I still think I would get a new thermostat, gasket, tools, and coolant in the rig for a while, just in case it was that. I've always found it better that when you have any cooling problems to change them anyways. Only $5-6, so cheap insurance.

Chris

 

[chuglife]

thanks guys! i always keep tools in the truck, but i'm gonna have to start keeping more spares and some fluids in there too. TonkaC was it expensive? tight budget over here once again thanks guys!

 

[TonkaC]

IIRC it was around $30. They removed both bowls and cleaned them. Cleaned and flushed the stock core. Put it all back together. I pulled it out of the truck and took it to them as just a rad. They did a good job and I got it back in a couple days. Cruiser was apart, so wasn't in too big of hurry.

Chris

 

[chuglife]

thanks, i dropped by the local rad shop and they quoted me 75 (canadian though) to fill about a 6 inch crack along the top front, and beef up the back as well. i'm also gonna get rid of my 13lb cap and put a 7lb on there, just to make sure those new seals won't blow. will take the rad out this weekend and hopefully have the truck ready for monday

 

[Ming89FJ62]

Chuglife, reconsider the thermostat - cheap insurance to protect your engine. Doesn't cost more than $20 and will take 30 minutes to install.

Ming

 

[chuglife]

i will for sure replace it, and keep a spare in the truck, i am just saying that my problems right now are being caused by the rad. but i will go through and check for clogs, replace the thermostat, gasket, etc.
thanks