98v70dad
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2017
- Messages
- 325
- Reaction score
- 38
- Location
- GA
- Vehicle Year
- 1996
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 3.0L
- Transmission
- Automatic
- 2WD / 4WD
- 2WD
I've got a '96 XLT that has been having the coolant level drop a little every 6 months or so for years. I never had any puddles under the truck or white tracks indicating a leak. This was my dad's truck and he didn't maintain it. But, when I got it 5 years ago I did a flush and fill . I'm thinking there may be an internal leak since the coolant has been disappearing slowly without a trace for years.
Yesterday on a short trip (half mile) driving home from the store the engine sort of hesitated and "recovered" a couple of times. A block from my house some steam came out from under the hood on the passenger side. Another bit of steam came out in my driveway. When I popped the hood more steam and I found several of the inlets/outlets on the heater bypass valve snapped off.
The temperature gauge showed the coolant temp about halfway between normal and hot. Maybe the coolant was hot enough due to a low coolant level (hadnt checked it for about a month) to degrade the 28 year old valve enough to fail.
So, anyhow I'm just trying to nail down the diagnosis and helpful comments would be appreciated. To start, I ordered a new valve. My plan is to install it and see what happens. I also plan to see if there is any coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant.
Yesterday on a short trip (half mile) driving home from the store the engine sort of hesitated and "recovered" a couple of times. A block from my house some steam came out from under the hood on the passenger side. Another bit of steam came out in my driveway. When I popped the hood more steam and I found several of the inlets/outlets on the heater bypass valve snapped off.
The temperature gauge showed the coolant temp about halfway between normal and hot. Maybe the coolant was hot enough due to a low coolant level (hadnt checked it for about a month) to degrade the 28 year old valve enough to fail.
So, anyhow I'm just trying to nail down the diagnosis and helpful comments would be appreciated. To start, I ordered a new valve. My plan is to install it and see what happens. I also plan to see if there is any coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant.