Mark Bailey
New Member
What would cause this sort of pressure in the coolant line on first crank? Cracked head(s)? Blown head gasket? Something else? It is likely my son drove it too long over heated. This was the first crank after replacing and initially refilling the radiator (which had cracked open too). NOTE: The engine is STONE cold! The "smoke", I suspect, might be combustion chamber exhaust (which might explain the geyser-like coolant eruptions too). If something like this is true, with 210,000 miles on this engine, my thinking would be to locate a replacement engine (and not waste $$ on rebuilding this high-mileage one). Since the truck is presently at my house (where I swapped out the radiator at), and I don't have the tools, I have not yet had a compression test run, but I think I already know what the results of such will be. FWIW, I've refilled coolant in this truck before (bubbling and burping at first, yes), but I've never had it behave like this. Likewise, I don't want to give it any more crank attempts until I've garnered some opinions from some of you more knowledgeable than I, lest I inadvertently guarantee the engine's ultimate demise. I should add that the engine ran extremely rough and sputtered and then stalled (again not the norm).
Thoughts?
Thoughts?