I usually lurk here and find the list archives an incredibly valuable
resource. I am now posting after a frustrating few days after a
coolant flush.
I have a 2003 4.7 V-8, with 61000 miles. It came with the long-life
orange coolant, and the maintenance schedule recommends changing it at
five years or 100000 miles. I just hit five years and took it to a
local mechanic to have the coolant flushed. Everything seemed fine,
and the next day I drove 75 miles without noticing any irregularities
on the temp gauge---it always sits just below the mid-line when warmed
up. Later, after it had been sitting in the garage, I noticed a small
pool (maybe 8oz or so) of antifreeze under the front driver-side of
car. I cleaned it up and also cleaned antifreeze from the bottom of
the chassis. The coolant reservoir filler dipstick reads full. I
wasn't sure wether perhaps the mechanic just did a messy job draining
the system, or I had a leak. So today I drove about ten miles; while
stopped on the road I noticed more leaking antifreeze as I was heading
home. Just as I got home the temp gauge started getting a little hotter
than normal (moving slowly past the center), and by the time I got
home there was leaked coolant visibly smoking from under the hood. I
opened the hood and saw plenty of coolant (not enough to really pool
anywhere, but everything on the driver's side was wet with it) from
the top of the engine compartment down. As I cleaned it up I noticed
the radiator cap was loose, and I tightened it. I then went for a
short test drive to see if that fixed the leak. The leak is fixed (at
least as far as I can see; I'll see if there's anything under the
truck in the morning), but now as soon as it warms up the temperature
begins rising very quickly. On a short test drive around the
neighborhood I had to shut it off when I got the "consult gauges"
warning, and after it cooled I drove slowly back home (less than a
mile, I had to stop another time for the "consult gauge" warning). I
walked to get a new radiator cap and installed it, but the car still
seems to want to overheat as soon as it warms up. I noticed when I
replace the cap that there's no visible coolant in that part of the
radiator hose, and when the engine warms up the hose feels cool on the
radiator side of the cap, but hot on the engine side.
As you might guess I'm no expert here. I can imagine the mechanic
forgot to tighten the radiator cap, but everything was fine for 75
miles after the flush. Would the cap loosen and leak on it's own just
a day after a flush? Would it allow air into the system and thus cause
the overheating issue I'm now having? I'm short on time to
troubleshoot and the truck is my daily driver. I can't decide whether
I should follow the FSM procedure to bleed air and add coolant and see
if that fixes it, or have it towed in and checked out by someone else,
whether to the mechanic who did the flush or the dealer.
I would be grateful for any thoughts or advice.
Jud Herrman
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