ancientx
08-14-2009, 12:10 AM
Sorry this is a long explanation. I figure if I give ya'll as much info as I can think off it'll save time and keep me from looking like an idiot. ok, maybe not.
So here's the deal. I traded a motorcycle and labor, (to turn it into a flat-tracker style steet bike), for a '91 Dodge Dakota 4x4 with a 5.2L(318) engine.
The folks I got it from thought it had a cracked head or blown head gasket. I checked the oil: no chocolate milk so I figured it must be blowing out the exhaust.
I took it for a test drive and it ran fine. Sure, it overheated, fast.
I got back, left it running, checked the exhaust: no wet or "sweetness".
Popped the hood and heard a lot of fluid flowing out from under the front of the engine. Turned out to be a bad water pump. So I replaced it and put in a new thermostat,(which had been cut off).
It still was over-heating. I let it idle to temp with the radiator cap off so I could see if it was bubbling. (To check if a head gasket was blown from an exhaust valve into a water jacket and there wasn't any bubbling.)
I also found out that to stop it losing coolant, two, maybe three bottles of stop leak had been added. ouch... So I back flushed it and added in Prestone scale and rust remover.
If I go ten miles or more it's boiling over. Not as bad as before, but not much better. I know the bottle says 3-6 hrs driving before flushing again, but shouldn't I see some improvement? And how the H%(( can it dissolve the scale if it keeps boiling out?
Could the passages in the engine be so clogged that the "stuff" won't clean the stop leak out?
Have I overlooked something entirely?
I'm at a loss here. This is my only ride 'til I get a new tranny and radiator in my 'Lark.
So here's the deal. I traded a motorcycle and labor, (to turn it into a flat-tracker style steet bike), for a '91 Dodge Dakota 4x4 with a 5.2L(318) engine.
The folks I got it from thought it had a cracked head or blown head gasket. I checked the oil: no chocolate milk so I figured it must be blowing out the exhaust.
I took it for a test drive and it ran fine. Sure, it overheated, fast.
I got back, left it running, checked the exhaust: no wet or "sweetness".
Popped the hood and heard a lot of fluid flowing out from under the front of the engine. Turned out to be a bad water pump. So I replaced it and put in a new thermostat,(which had been cut off).
It still was over-heating. I let it idle to temp with the radiator cap off so I could see if it was bubbling. (To check if a head gasket was blown from an exhaust valve into a water jacket and there wasn't any bubbling.)
I also found out that to stop it losing coolant, two, maybe three bottles of stop leak had been added. ouch... So I back flushed it and added in Prestone scale and rust remover.
If I go ten miles or more it's boiling over. Not as bad as before, but not much better. I know the bottle says 3-6 hrs driving before flushing again, but shouldn't I see some improvement? And how the H%(( can it dissolve the scale if it keeps boiling out?
Could the passages in the engine be so clogged that the "stuff" won't clean the stop leak out?
Have I overlooked something entirely?
I'm at a loss here. This is my only ride 'til I get a new tranny and radiator in my 'Lark.