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heater/waterpump/coolant/ everything

daylton

daylton

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Feb 26, 2012
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Location
Fair Oaks CA
well I have a 88 jimmy as some of yall know..

the heater used to work fantastic.. then about 3 days ago. it quit working
it just blows cold air now.. any idea? (I have no idea about the heaters my last k5 I took it out) (but I was in AZ)
 
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Check your anti freeze level... if that's good check the t-stat. It may be stuck in the open position.

Check the heater door, see if it's working.
 
well, the coolant is full and clean.
don't have a thermo gasket so ima wait to check that until I get one.

to check the door I have to pull ducts right?
 
on top of it all, got in the truck this morning started driving to work and I hear this revving/vibrating sound and my speedo started bouncing. once I got up to about 20 it started doing it. so I got a new speedo cable hoping that's all it is if its my gauge cluster, ill just put in my autometer gauges ive had laying around..
 
okay, so about the coolant. checked it yesterday it was completely full.
checked it again today (started over heating) and it was bone dry.

I looked at the hoses and the heater hose needs replaced and the lower
radiator hose. and im pretty sure the upper needs replaced too.

now since I drove it home from work roughly probably 8 miles all together today that it was running hot. could this have made the water pump bad if it isn't already?

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Hmmm this doesn't look good. Can you tell if the coolant leaked out? It looks like some of it is laying around that area below the radiator... but that's a lot of coolant missing. Might want to check the plugs, to see if a head gasket is letting loose :-/

PS, did it "smoke" a lot out the tailpipe at all?
 
fock I didn't even think about head gasket... and it smokes a lot in the morning but once it warms up it quits..
 
whats another way to tell if the head gasket is leaking? oil consistency/color?

when I was on my way home it did die out from a stop but once I got it going it was ok, but again at the stop tried dieing out.
 
go to vatozone and rent/borrow a coolant system pressure tester...
 
And buy a radiator while you are at it, that one is garbage.

Only slightly kidding. I might run it as-is as long as it never starts overheating, but the second the engine starts running a fair bit more than t-stat temp, or starts leaking out the core, replace it.

Your heater core can't look much better.
 
Coolant being burned in the combustion chamber smells like burnt maple syrup at the tail pipe...sometimes a head gasket leaks only enough to make steam out the tail pipe ,and not let enough coolant get past the piston & rings to show up on the dipstick or build up in the crankcase..it'll look like mayonaise if its been leaking into the crankcase...but "normal" condensation might also look the same,and lead to a misdiagnosis..

It does appear the radiator has seen better days,probably didn't have many (if any) coolant flushes...the water pump might survive being run low on coolant,only way to tell is to refill it and watch it for leaks at the weep hole or shaft...chances are good the heater core looks worse,that is where much of the muck goes first...flushing it out might clean it,but it'll also increase the chances of it leaking too..
 
im draining the oil tonight didnt get that far last night, its parked in the garage.
i bought new hoses/radiator and am thinking i might as well change the water pump while im at it, and probably the heater core as well.. what do you guys think? just replace it all?
 
for future reference... all you need to do is pull the dipstick and see how the oil on it looks.. if it's getting moisture in it, it will vary in it's milkyness, from very slightly less translucent to chocolate milk or worse...

a pressure test on the rad will IMMEDIATELY show you the issue... whether it's a leaking core (more than likely what's going on), leaky hose, or if failed and unseen, you need to check further for a head gasket issue..

but I HIGHLT doubt you have a blown head gasket.. HIGHLY... especially since you said temps have been norm... smoke on first fire after sitting is VERY norm for these.. valve seals... 68% of older SB cheb's have failing seals....

btw, get the appropriate therm in the thing... that's not good, usually an attempt by someone to mask a true prob...
 
good to know,
and Therm im taking that as thermostat?
and i know for sure it has been leaking out of the two hoses in the pics
but i do not know if its been leaking any where else yet, im going to fill it with water and pressure test it like you said before i start changing everything.

im probably going to buy a water pump but if it doesnt fail ill either return it or hold on to it. heater core ill change out, as well as all hoses/radiator thermostat and ill go from there. depending on what the pressure test tells me
 
yes, thermostat..

honestly, can't say I've ever seen a water pump fail due to no fluid in it.. I wouldn't do it till it leaks from the weep hole, or squeals...

if you have signs of leaking in the rad, I think you answered your own question.. test with water, replace the rad more than likely.. I would start with a heavy look at it..

if the rad core isn't leaking into the cab floor, and you can run a garden hose in one hose and out the other, it's fine...

another thing here..

IF you determine it's the rad.. do yourself a HUGE favor before you pull the old one.... first find your block drains on either side right above the oilpan lip.. they should be 2 pipe plugs with a 9/16 head more than likely, on ds and pass side...

pull them out and drain the block.. they may be blocked with crud and need a poke with a paper clip or similar.... drain.. replug.. refill with water.. run to temp, shutdown.. drain again (careful of hot fluid).. replug..

fill rad and add a couple cans of prestone flush... run to temp, shut down.. drain... refill with regular water, run to temp, shut down... replug....

NOW, replace your rad.... that does everything it can to clean the system PRIOR to putting the fresh rad in... go from there....
 
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