adsm08
Senior Master Grease Monkey
Supporting Member
Article Contributor
Ford Technician
TRS 20th Anniversary
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2009
- Messages
- 34,623
- Reaction score
- 3,614
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Dillsburg PA
- Vehicle Year
- 1987
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Type
- 4.0 V6
- Engine Size
- 4.0
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
- Tire Size
- 31X10.50X15
So I have been chasing my tail for a few months now trying to figure out where all my coolant goes from my Bronco II. I have found and fixed a few leaks, but it was still disappearing. It would always stop loosing it right at the level of the bottom of the heads, and the recovery tank was always empty. Never took more than one full temp cycle to do it, and it always passed a head gasket test.
About 2 months ago I trimmed the ends of the hose between the overflow and the recovery bottle and put clamps on both, because I'd started to notice some drips under it on the first trip after filling the radiator.
Next time I checked the coolant was low, but the bottle was full. So I was picking the bottle up and letting it all flow back into the rad.
Today was finally nice out, and I was able to get to some things that have been getting put off because fawk winter. I stopped at Advance and grabbed a pressure tester and pumper her up. I have a 13 lb cap on it, so I went to 15 for the test. As soon as I hit 15 PSI coolant bubbles and air started blowing out around the radiator end of the upper hose. I tried to tighten it up, and it wouldn't. So I took it off, and the band side of the worm was stripped right there. Replaced the clamp, pumped it back up, and it only lost about 1/2 lb in the next 45 minutes, which is pretty good for those coned universal pressure adapters. No other hisses or leaks were found, and no drips on the ground when I moved it.
The lesson here is, don't forget the new clamps.
About 2 months ago I trimmed the ends of the hose between the overflow and the recovery bottle and put clamps on both, because I'd started to notice some drips under it on the first trip after filling the radiator.
Next time I checked the coolant was low, but the bottle was full. So I was picking the bottle up and letting it all flow back into the rad.
Today was finally nice out, and I was able to get to some things that have been getting put off because fawk winter. I stopped at Advance and grabbed a pressure tester and pumper her up. I have a 13 lb cap on it, so I went to 15 for the test. As soon as I hit 15 PSI coolant bubbles and air started blowing out around the radiator end of the upper hose. I tried to tighten it up, and it wouldn't. So I took it off, and the band side of the worm was stripped right there. Replaced the clamp, pumped it back up, and it only lost about 1/2 lb in the next 45 minutes, which is pretty good for those coned universal pressure adapters. No other hisses or leaks were found, and no drips on the ground when I moved it.
The lesson here is, don't forget the new clamps.