Overheated but didn't fail me.

[Gary Lewis]

I've never been so happy to see BLACK oil!!!

I checked everything on the engine and it all looked good. Decided to take a chance and crank it a couple times to see if it would start. After the second crank it started right up! It was a little rough as it was running so I quickly popped it up on the two wheel dolly I had so I wouldn't have to push.

I did notice when it was on the dolly and I was securing it that there was coolant leaking from somewhere on the left side of the radiator/hose area. It was getting dark so I'll look at it more this next few days.

So, now it's here at the house. I went to the local car care store today and got a new Thermostat, Upper Hose and Engine Coolant. I have the lower hose being delivered Monday by noon. Just going to swap it all out regardless after troubleshooting.

SUnday/Monday I'm going to get some time to go out and start it up and watch, listen and smell what I can to try to find where it's leaking from. I'm hoping it that the upper hose has a hole, split or leak from the connection to the radiator. Who knows though, it might be the radiator itself.

Great news is that it isn't a blown head gasket or worst at this moment.

I'll update more when I find something out.

Great news! Hope you find something simple to fix.

[Ford F834]

Great news! Hope you find something simple to fix.

Yes! What Gary said! I’m glad the oil looks okay and that it restarted readily. Hopefully it is a simple fix 👍

[Pebcak]

I've never been so happy to see BLACK oil!!!

I checked everything on the engine and it all looked good. Decided to take a chance and crank it a couple times to see if it would start. After the second crank it started right up! It was a little rough as it was running so I quickly popped it up on the two wheel dolly I had so I wouldn't have to push.

I did notice when it was on the dolly and I was securing it that there was coolant leaking from somewhere on the left side of the radiator/hose area. It was getting dark so I'll look at it more this next few days.

So, now it's here at the house. I went to the local car care store today and got a new Thermostat, Upper Hose and Engine Coolant. I have the lower hose being delivered Monday by noon. Just going to swap it all out regardless after troubleshooting.

SUnday/Monday I'm going to get some time to go out and start it up and watch, listen and smell what I can to try to find where it's leaking from. I'm hoping it that the upper hose has a hole, split or leak from the connection to the radiator. Who knows though, it might be the radiator itself.

Great news is that it isn't a blown head gasket or worst at this moment.

I'll update more when I find something out.

Today I finally got a chance to look at the truck today.

Went to O'Reilly's and got the lower coolant hose.

Came back and started troubleshooting, cleaning and looking for a possible problem.

Took the housing off and took out the old thermostat. It had some gunk in the seal and corrosion on it.

Scraped, cleaned and sanded down the connection on the engine and the housing prepping for reassembly. Realized I didn't get another gasket. Put that on the "2nd trip to O'Reilly's" list.

While inspection and cleaning I kept smelling gas. Decided to start at the carb and work my way back. Ended up finding that the fuel line hose started to blister and melt from the engine overheating! It was dripping fuel even with the engine off. I'm glad I found that instead of having something else happen. 3/8" hose got added to the list.

When I went to O'Reilly's I took the housing with me to ensure I got the correct gasket. As I was standing at the counter I asked if I should get a gasket or some high temp RTV because one of the "ears" were bent. As I brought it up to eye level and touch it, it fell off! Mind you I was scraping, cleaning and sanding this part earlier with NO ISSUE!!

At that point I just hung my head and asked "Do you have one of these here?" thinking I'd be (to quote Oh brother where art Thou) "Two weeks from everywhere!"

I had two choices, do the special order of the OEM with no price until they order it. OR get the one on hand that is an aluminum part with an O-ring. I decided "What the heck" and have decided to try out the new fangled part.

HERE are all of the pictures I have of the Old and New housings. Please read the comments and add as you see fit.

After all of the above, I'd like to ask one question. Do I still need a gasket with the O-ring on the new one?

Tomorrow my son is coming by to help with finishing the Coolant work and swap the fuel line.

Enjoy my ramblings! I'm just hoping that my adventures and stories will help someone else someday!

 

[grumpin]

Today I finally got a chance to look at the truck today.

Went to O'Reilly's and got the lower coolant hose.

Came back and started troubleshooting, cleaning and looking for a possible problem.

Took the housing off and took out the old thermostat. It had some gunk in the seal and corrosion on it.

Scraped, cleaned and sanded down the connection on the engine and the housing prepping for reassembly. Realized I didn't get another gasket. Put that on the "2nd trip to O'Reilly's" list.

While inspection and cleaning I kept smelling gas. Decided to start at the carb and work my way back. Ended up finding that the fuel line hose started to blister and melt from the engine overheating! It was dripping fuel even with the engine off. I'm glad I found that instead of having something else happen. 3/8" hose got added to the list.

When I went to O'Reilly's I took the housing with me to ensure I got the correct gasket. As I was standing at the counter I asked if I should get a gasket or some high temp RTV because one of the "ears" were bent. As I brought it up to eye level and touch it, it fell off! Mind you I was scraping, cleaning and sanding this part earlier with NO ISSUE!!

At that point I just hung my head and asked "Do you have one of these here?" thinking I'd be (to quote Oh brother where art Thou) "Two weeks from everywhere!"

I had two choices, do the special order of the OEM with no price until they order it. OR get the one on hand that is an aluminum part with an O-ring. I decided "What the heck" and have decided to try out the new fangled part.

HERE are all of the pictures I have of the Old and New housings. Please read the comments and add as you see fit.

After all of the above, I'd like to ask one question. Do I still need a gasket with the O-ring on the new one?

Tomorrow my son is coming by to help with finishing the Coolant work and swap the fuel line.

Enjoy my ramblings! I'm just hoping that my adventures and stories will help someone else someday!

From what I've experienced with o rings, I would not use a gasket, just the o ring.

Hope you get her going and no damage!

[Pebcak]

Got everything swapped out and started the beast up and it sounded great!

BUT.....

I went to the engine bay and apparently my radiator has turned into a colander and once the engine was running it started leaking all over.

So, now I have a radiator waiting for me to pick up in the morning since the Mrs has the other truck out at an arena riding horses.

I just want The Beast back up and running. I miss driving it.

Hopefully I'll have better news tomorrow.

[Ford F834]

Got everything swapped out and started the beast up and it sounded great!

BUT.....

I went to the engine bay and apparently my radiator has turned into a colander and once the engine was running it started leaking all over.

So, now I have a radiator waiting for me to pick up in the morning since the Mrs has the other truck out at an arena riding horses.

I just want The Beast back up and running. I miss driving it.

Hopefully I'll have better news tomorrow.

Bummer. Hope that fixes it... any idea if that was the original point of coolant loss?

[Pebcak]

Bummer. Hope that fixes it... any idea if that was the original point of coolant loss?

I would say one of the following is possible. Maybe a combination too.

1. The housing where the thermostat was from my initial post.

2. The petcock on the radiator was dripping after I drained everything. I can't confirm if it was that was to begin with or not.

3. When I started the truck it was pooling at the bottom part of the radiator. With the fan running it would pick up the coolant and fling it everywhere. That might be why my whole engine bay was saturated when this all first happened.

FYI to everyone. O'Reilly's has a two options for the radiator. Pay close attention.

1. Upper hose on the Passenger side and Lower on the Drivers side.

2. Upper hose on the Drivers side and Lower on the Passengers side.

Double check your options because it's not obvious if you don't read the whole description.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I would say one of the following is possible. Maybe a combination too.

1. The housing where the thermostat was from my initial post.

2. The petcock on the radiator was dripping after I drained everything. I can't confirm if it was that was to begin with or not.

3. When I started the truck it was pooling at the bottom part of the radiator. With the fan running it would pick up the coolant and fling it everywhere. That might be why my whole engine bay was saturated when this all first happened.

FYI to everyone. O'Reilly's has a two options for the radiator. Pay close attention.

1. Upper hose on the Passenger side and Lower on the Drivers side.

2. Upper hose on the Drivers side and Lower on the Passengers side.

Double check your options because it's not obvious if you don't read the whole description.

I suspect it was the radiator as the fan will, as you described, fling it all over everything.

As for the two types, the inlet on the driver's side is for the 300 six, and the one on the passenger's side is for all other engines.