Why can’t anything be easy? Would it destroy the universe if some things weren’t such a miserable chore all the damn time? Would it? Would that be so terrible? Remember when a week ago I replaced the water pump in my 1989 Ford F-150? Remember how that was an unexpected ass-pain but it all seemed to work out in the end? Well, it almost did.
After I replaced the water pump, I drove my truck home and was delighted at how it all worked – it started up without me having to roll under the damn thing with a wrench (thanks to finally replacing the broken-toothed flywheel a bit ago) and it made the whole trip without completely filling the cab with hot, sickly-sweet coolant steam, which I regarded as a victory.
A truck that starts with a key and doesn’t create huge clouds of steam? This must be how millionaires live! Unfortunately, my taste of the Good Life was to be short-lived.
Because it seemed my truck was working again, there was some manner of mystical signal that was broadcast to all of my friends to let them know that it was time to start asking me to move bulky shit for them, because that’s a crucial part of truck ownership. And I’m happy to do it! That’s just part of the Truck Haver’s Code.
This time my friend T.Mike reached out first, needing a refrigerator re-located respectfully. I, giddy at the chance to use my new, non-steam-belching truck, lept at the chance.
And it was fine! Great, even! Well, at first. It was fine getting to the fridge’s initial location, but then sometime in the trip to its next location, I started to hear a whistling sound. A sound suspiciously like a teakettle, an object pretty famous for, you know, shooting out bursts of steam.
Very soon after that, my truck decided to emulate a teakettle further, and began steaming.
When I got to where the fridge’s new location would be, I opened the hood and found the radiator cap was gone. Huh. How the hell did that happen? Did I not secure it well when I refilled the coolant last? Maybe? I was hoping that this would be the only issue, with the wan optimism of someone who, deep down, knows better, and got a new radiator cap.
Did it help? Well, it couldn’t have hurt, but no, it didn’t help. Soon the whistling re-appeared and the steam billowed out dramatically. Looking under the hood, I think the thermostat housing gasket failed, and it’s jetting some coolant out from there. At least, that’s what it looks like:
The coolant is hitting other hot bits and sublimating away into the aether, which I think is what’s happening because it starts to do this when the temperature gauge is still well within the normal zone. Eventually, the gauge creeps up to H, but it takes a while.
So, I guess I’ll replace the thermostat and gasket yet again. Maybe I’ll buy a less crap one this time. I hope that’s all it is. I just want to drive my damn truck.
There was probably air stuck in the system when you did the water pump. When that happens, the steam gets much hotter vs. liquid coolant/water and can cause other issues.
Some engines are easy, some are a huge pain to get all the air out after doing any cooling system work. As others have mentioned, hook a garden hose nose up to the heater core pipes to get the crap out of there and the radiator too.
You’ve got it all wrong.
Torch’s truck was merely doing a tribute to the recently-departed Ace Frehley.
It’s the little Cold Starter from Carolina
Go Torchy, go Torchy, go Torchy go
Has a driveway full of older sleds
Doesn’t hanker for finer
Go Torchy, go Torchy, go Torchy go
But parked in the yard near his dead camper Dodge
Is a rattletrap truck bent on self sabotage
And everybody’s saying that there’s no sight that’s greener
Than an antifreeze geyser that’s becoming a steamer
Yeah the Ford’s sprung another leak it’s understood
It’s got a real bad problem sitting under the hood
It’s the little Cold Starter from Carolina
He’s gonna blow a gasket now sooner or later
Cause he can’t get no coolant through his radiator
It’s the little Cold Starter from Carolina
Go Torchy, go Torchy, go Torchy go
It’s the little Cold Starter from Carolina
Go Torchy, go Torchy, go Torchy go
(Fade out)
That’s a lot of pressure.
I would be looking at the head gasket.
I would pull the plugs before the next time you crank the engine, just in case you have a cylinder slowly filling with water.
Didn’t Jason ALSO mention finding oil in the coolant in the previous article?
I didn’t catch that but I would definitely say that probably should have been taken more seriously. Ignoring oil in the coolant will leave you at the side of the road 10/10 times.
My first thought as well. Unlikely to blow out a thermostat gasket like that.
I’m not a Ford guy but did a water pump and thermostat on a friend’s similar rig and had that problem too. The thermostat sits vertical instead of horizontal like most engines, and it’s difficult to position the thermostat, gasket, and housing to get them assembled correctly – the thermostat wants to slip down.
I put a rubber band through the top of the thermostat and pull it through the housing and hold it in place with a metal rod of the proper size. Helps hold the thermostat in place while lining up the housing and starting the bolts. Once secure, you pull the rod out of one loop of the rubber band and then pull it out of the thermostat housing.
I think you are used to air cooled VWs and this is new technology for you lol.
New project: Let’s throw in one of those new air-cooled flat 8s for Porsches.
https://www.autoblog.com/news/tiny-minnesota-shop-builds-a-9000-rpm-air-cooled-flat-eight-for-classic-porsches
That needs to go into a VW Karmann Ghia.
But is it more fun to work on an old Ford truck’s cooling system than to cut fused batteries with a chainsaw? I think I know which is safer!
This failure happened to my Mercedes 300 SDL once. I had to go to NAPA and get a cardboard kit to cut to fit and replace the destroyed gasket(it literally crumbled upon removal and the thermostat was also cooked), and it required removal of the radiator to get to.
Too much 100+ mph driving did it.
Huh. I didn’t know BMW made a truck.
No, no, this one HAS turn signals.
Out of sympathy, I’ll let this slide as a “Cold Start” even though it appears to be pretty far from cold.
I read the last update on this truck and immediately ran to RockAuto to cross reference parts. As a former parts guy, this is the way.
I immediately noticed that the new water pump that you installed was indeed correct for that year truck. The OLD water pump was the wrong one… so the bolts ‘not being the right length’ was done by the former owner the last time the cooling system puked it guts out.
Either that, or the entire motor in this truck is a newer unit, installed some time in the past.
In this case, I think that you should also confirm the thermostat housing is correct and also flush the ever living beejeezus out of the radiator, the block, and the heater core.
Your 2CV is air-cooled, and if you put the top down, you’d be amazed what you can carry…
Next week on the Autopian:
As has already been noted by others, I am betting on a radiator issue here.
Fairly certain that radiator is blocked up, which constricts the flow of coolant in the motor. Which happens when a new water pump is creating a pressure in the system that is blocked or severely restricted in its flow.
The coolant will always blow out the weakest points, thermostat, hoses, cap.
Especially since I lived this, many times with the older shit boxes in my yute.
My experience goes two ways here. I had lots of radiators cleaned out, and repaired.
And several times I just bought a new in the box radiator instead.
The new rads were always worth the little bit of extra cost. In fact several of them cost WAY less than I imagined.
Bonus was not wasting a ton of time, money, and coolant half passing my way to the solution…
Best of luck with this one Torch…
Nailed it. Its not just blowing caps and gaskets for fun. The system is over pressure. Just need to find out why.
I probably should have mentioned the possibility that the block also might have semi blocked water passages.
But I would still go with trying a new radiator just to see if it stops the problem.
Think buddy has same issue with aVolvo Penta in a boat = PITA.
Surely a radiator for a F-150 they sold trillions of should be cheap and easy to find.
I, for one, am shocked that a former farm truck did not get regular coolant changes.
Or that perhaps someone just refilled the thing with water instead of coolant, hence the rather unflattering description of the contents evacuating the radiator when the water pump was changed.
Shocked, I tell you.
It was decades ago, but when I changed the radiator on my slightly-older-than-Torch’s F150, it came remarkably cheap. And on a non-air-conditioned, manual transmission truck, it’s stupidly easy to do the swap. The hardest part came while taking a moment to preemptively free up the draincock on the new radiator, which was frozen in place with paint — the fun was trying to break the paint seal while trying to avoid twisting the whole thing off.
Good luck with the repairs!! (Yeah, now’s not the time to make jokes about acronyms being for Fix Or Recall Daily or Found On Road Dead so I shalln’t do that…)
Maybe it’s sunspots or solar flares or something?? Currently dealing with my borrowed 1989 Chevy Silverado K1500 where the bracket holding the power steering pump turned out to be held in place with only half of the required bolts so the bottom bolt, which was under-spec’d to boot, sheared off resulting in the bracket bending so the power steering pump pulley was no longer in line with the other pulleys. Consequently the fan belt came off & refused to stay on when put back on. Gah. Had to source some correctly spec’d bolts to re-secure the bracket & now it turns out the belt tensioner needs to be replaced. Awaiting the delivery of a new one.
Yeah, mighty vexing when previously reliable ‘n’ dependable trucks start having problems…
Likely root cause was the tensioner locking up
Yeah, something does seem to be up with the old tensioner. When I rectified the bracket and put a new belt on I noticed how the tensioner kept continually moving so the tension was not consistent. It did take some grunt to move the tensioner when I put the belt on so I figured the spring was okay but then its actual operation seems to suggest otherwise. The pulley itself spun freely but the old belt did have what looks like glazing on the back; I’d occasionally smelled burning rubber when out and about but I live in an area chock full of older vehicles in various stages of maintenance so the smell could be from anywhere, lol.
The K1500 has over 370k miles but the engine is not original and the TBI has been replaced with an Edelbrock carburetor; the previous owner(s) was/were not particular about putting things back together (hence the halved number of bolts & the under-spec of said bolts on the aforementioned bracket) so I’ve been having to do this, that, & the other on the truck though it’s generally been pretty reliable. And I’m not used to working on domestics (heck, most if not indeed all of my wrenches and sockets are metric, lol) so this is a bit of a learning experience. All the more reason to follow Jason’s experiences with his F150 (as well as David & Mark’s experiences with their respective K1500s, both of which are also ’89…)
You missed the best acronym for Ford:
Flip
Over
Read
Directions
Peak of 11 year solar cycle is now.
Ha, yeah, makes sense now, as my other operational vehicle, a ’83 Mercedes 300TD, is also experiencing some troubles (the turbo is in dire need of a rebuild; awaiting my next paycheck(s) to order the rebuild kit…)
That sounds particularly irritating.
This truck reminds of the three (or was it four?) late ’80s/early ’90s OBS Fords that my friend went through over a few years until I convinced him to buy a first gen Tundra. I helped him on far too many jobs that I personally would not have done. I hate these trucks.
At least the 300 I6 is legendarily reliable.
This is more of a Hot Start than a Cold Start though.
It’s just like the Unkillable AMC 4.0! 😉
I’ve owned both; they’re each awesome engines. The Ford 300 edges to the top though, given its overall diesel-like construction. Timing gears, even. No chain.
The 300 I6 is built for this kind of abuse.
All of my “new” (new to me) cars get a flush T installed. Spent all day flushing the 250k mile 99 Cherokee 4.0 before the water became relatively clean.
“Maybe I’ll buy a less crap one this time.”
We make our own luck.
“It’s not fine!”
Your truck is from 1989, coincidentally;
Seinfeld (1989) – S07E21 The Bottle Deposit (1) clip with quote “Okay, see this gasket? I have no confidence in that gasket.”
https://share.google/6BsLmILSEWo8SgYL6
Except those episodes are from 1996. Regardless, good pull on the quote. Also, the mail truck Kramer and Newman are driving ends up dying due to radiator damage, spewing coolant and steam all over an Ohio highway.
Correct. Seinfeld 1989-1998 run, and entirely too much of my brain is stuck there.
If my brain was a head of lettuce, a small scrap would represent the intellect, with the rest filled with Seinfeld quotes and references.
I hear that a K1500 is going up for sale soon. The owner seems like a good guy, I bet he’d give you a great deal even if it is a bit of a drive to get it back home.
Knowing the owner of the K1500, he’ll probably just trade straight-up. The rust and mechanical issues call to him with their siren song.
This is going to work out great.
Jason goes cross country in a Chevy while wearing a body cam.
The Ford goes to the SWG guy who fixes it for <$100 and sells it to a wannabe farmer as his dream truck.
I see the potential for wonderful content.
Opening picture reminds me of Back to the Future – DeLorean – fogging, covered in ice, returning after first time jump 😉
If thermostat is easy to be removed, try boiling it in a pot of water. If it doesn’t open completly, than just replace it. If it opens properly, clogged radiator is the next suspect.
Driving with removed thermostat is also a way to test it.
Or… your truck just protests against being driven with FARM USE plates 😉
Jason did say… unmentionable… contents drained from that radiator. Would not surprise me if it’s plugged.
Why am I soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?
I see what you did there.
But can you hear it?
Could you repeat that? I’ve got a short little span of attention.
I don’t find this stuff amusing anymore.
Don’t want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard
The truck just decided it was ready to decorate for Halloween, the eerie fog will burn off by November.
You need to rename this truck Cleveland. For…reasons.
But that’s not a 351 Cleveland engine!
No, but I feel like this repair will cleave more than $351 dollars from Jason’s wallet. Or the taillight he stashes his bills in.
That’s a pretty hot take. Might even be described as… steaming.
I’m an F150
Big and stout
I have some coolant leaking out
When I get all steamed up, hear me shout.
Jason’s money’s running out.
Damn, COTD on the Cold Start?
Time to get a VW Hormiga