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176 Posts
Hey guys wondering if you can help point me in the right direction.
Background info:
2012 2500 6.7 Smarty Tuned (lowest setting), egr, dpf, nox, tv delete. 160k miles. Radiator cap changed from OE to stant just a few days ago, OE water pump changed to Gates due to failure at 149k. Truck is basically a toy, I pull 3,000 lbs trailer and payload once in a blue and its only for about 5 miles.
I noticed some drips on the front driver side of the truck and upon inspection found coolant basically everywhere around the fan. There is far more on the driver side than on the passenger. I'm assuming its from the fan slinging it around during operation. Coolant reservoir was empty, radiator was low. Quick search led to believe it was the cap so I ordered one quick, swapped it, topped off and went on my way.
About 2 days later I got drips again and the reservoir was empty again. Radiator was not as low but I topped it off again. At this point I'm a little more worried so I got a pressure tester and tested the system. For anyone wondering in the future the Stant 12270 tester works perfect and is well built. I tried the $265 loaner kit from Advance Auto and it doesnt not have an adapter suitable for our trucks. Found a leak at the plastic radiator tank where its crimped to the aluminum fins. I used vise grips to crimp the metal a bit more, dried up the area, topped off the system and pressure tested again.
The system held pressure with no leaks or visible weeping. Fast forward another day and I see stains on the ground, albeit less. I wrote it off as residual coolant from the previous leak and proceeded to clean the engine bay so I can see where/if it happens again. So after my next drive where the truck got to operating temp and stayed there I got out and wanted to inspect for coolant. There was no coolant where I re-crimped the tank and it was dry but there was still coolant seemingly slung all over by the fan. Thats when I checked the hoses, cap, and radiator. Hoses are hot, cap and radiator are ambient temp which was about 40 at the time.
Due to mileage I did order new hoses that I plan on replacing but I want try and get this diagnosed correctly. I'm going to replace the thermostat as well when I do the hose. The area around the water pump is dry.
tl:dr
Leaking coolant thats being slung by the fan, found a radiator leak and fixed it. Hoses are hot, cap and radiator are cold. WTF.
Thanks for any input.
Background info:
2012 2500 6.7 Smarty Tuned (lowest setting), egr, dpf, nox, tv delete. 160k miles. Radiator cap changed from OE to stant just a few days ago, OE water pump changed to Gates due to failure at 149k. Truck is basically a toy, I pull 3,000 lbs trailer and payload once in a blue and its only for about 5 miles.
I noticed some drips on the front driver side of the truck and upon inspection found coolant basically everywhere around the fan. There is far more on the driver side than on the passenger. I'm assuming its from the fan slinging it around during operation. Coolant reservoir was empty, radiator was low. Quick search led to believe it was the cap so I ordered one quick, swapped it, topped off and went on my way.
About 2 days later I got drips again and the reservoir was empty again. Radiator was not as low but I topped it off again. At this point I'm a little more worried so I got a pressure tester and tested the system. For anyone wondering in the future the Stant 12270 tester works perfect and is well built. I tried the $265 loaner kit from Advance Auto and it doesnt not have an adapter suitable for our trucks. Found a leak at the plastic radiator tank where its crimped to the aluminum fins. I used vise grips to crimp the metal a bit more, dried up the area, topped off the system and pressure tested again.
The system held pressure with no leaks or visible weeping. Fast forward another day and I see stains on the ground, albeit less. I wrote it off as residual coolant from the previous leak and proceeded to clean the engine bay so I can see where/if it happens again. So after my next drive where the truck got to operating temp and stayed there I got out and wanted to inspect for coolant. There was no coolant where I re-crimped the tank and it was dry but there was still coolant seemingly slung all over by the fan. Thats when I checked the hoses, cap, and radiator. Hoses are hot, cap and radiator are ambient temp which was about 40 at the time.
Due to mileage I did order new hoses that I plan on replacing but I want try and get this diagnosed correctly. I'm going to replace the thermostat as well when I do the hose. The area around the water pump is dry.
tl:dr
Leaking coolant thats being slung by the fan, found a radiator leak and fixed it. Hoses are hot, cap and radiator are cold. WTF.
Thanks for any input.
