Fishyer777

I was driving home on the interstate like usual, and all of a sudden i noticed my temperature gauge went up a little higher than usual (About half way) I slowed down to about 50 and it stayed where it was. when I started to hear a little bit of rattling and noticed a lose of power I immediately pulled over. After I pulled over the truck died on me and the temperature gauge just started to climb higher and higher before it was all the way to the red. I have not touched it engine wise since then, but towed it home about two hours ago. Before I do anything I would like to know what are the first things that I need to inspect and look at.

My truck is a 1987 Long bed pickup, with a 22r (Carburated) engine in it

Things I have noticed/Looked at so far

1)Engine oil seems to be fine

smithyboy69

To start with, check and make sure the rad is full, try pulling your thermostat out and make sure it works properly and isnt sticking closed. Try burping the rad aswell to make sure there are no air pockets. The rad cap itself can go bad aswell and not allow proper pressure to build in your rad, listen for air escaping from the cap.

Fishyer777

Well I found my problem, but I don't want to run it. I took the spark plugs out and of corse they were showing signs. Do these vehicles have a safety shut off?

bbrideau

no they don't have a safety shut off. they will go until something stops them.

pull oil cap look for chocolate milk. check rad for coolant, is it milky or oily? check along the head to block mating surfaces. anything coming out that shouldn't be?

your rad looks a little damaged, if u lost all your coolant you will overheat with a quickness. you might get lucky and just over heated because of the coolant loss and not done any other damage.

Fishyer777

Oil is fine, and I can't see anything around the head. Pulled spark plugs and cranked engine and nothing came out. Would it be safe to put these new plugs in and check if it runs for just a second?

bbrideau

did u check coolant?
i would also try a compression test, it wont tell you what failed ie: rings headgasket or valves but it will tell you if u need a rebuild.

Fishyer777

There was no coolant to check, it was all gone. And I will try a compression test

oldblue

why did the fan kiss the radiator? is the radiator loose? water pump wobbly?

bbrideau

check engine mounts and tranny mount. if a mount breaks you can end up hitting the rad. also the fan clutch/water pump could have come loose or been improperly installed. u can fire the truck up for about 30 seconds/minute without doing any damage. i wouldn't run it any longer than that tho, doesn't take long to warm up

snobdds

First, find out how your fan took out your radiator.

Then proceed from there...

Fishyer777

A couple bolts came off the radiator allowing it to fly back, I got the truck started and it runs fine. I just can't let it run long at all. My next step is to see if I blew a head gasket or not

Fishyer777

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...68825916648580

This is how it is running now (It does have an exhaust leak you can hear when I rev it)

Gamefreakgc

No coolant? Uh... not sure. The internal temps probably skyrocketed higher than the dash was telling you. I'd be concerned your water pump is toast.

Your best bet is to fill it up with coolant and just run it as usual. If it starts loosing coolant or if the coolant looks oily (or oil looks milky) that's when you want to be concerned. As long as the head gasket is intact, the heat won't really hurt much else I would think.

RJR

Sounds like it's running OK, although that's not the final test. You really need to fix the radiator and get coolant into it before you run it any longer. Then take it out on the road and see if it has the same power it used to have. If so, you're probably fine.

In general, I'd be cautious about running an engine even as long as a minute with no coolant. The problem isn't how hot it gets in that short of a time, but how unevenly it warms up with no water in the block. Uneven heating causes all kinds of stresses that the engine was never designed for.

Gamefreakgc

Yeah what he said. Air is terrible at transferring heat in an engine.

Ryan G.

can we spare the environment just a little bit here? He already dumped several gallons all over the interstate for all the deer and raccoons to lap up and die along side the road. We don't need another few gallons out there too. Fill with water first then test.

SoCal4Running

Use plain distilled water with no antifreeze until you are sure its fixed. If freezing is a issue overnight drain system.

Once its fixed 100% then put antifreeze back in.

Fishyer777

I've only used water since I have had the truck. I am on the gulf coast so it doesn't get cold enough to worry about anything. The holes in the radiator are so bad that it can not even hold 1/4 full of water. So it is stuck at my college for now.

I am skeptical about putting a radiator on it because I do not know the condition of the head and head gasket. I am working on getting a hold of a compression tester for now

SoCal4Running

If the bottom of the oil fill cap is dry and dark then the HG is most likely fine. If the motor runs fine, idles fine and doesn't smoke out the tail pipe the HG is most likely fine.

It is perfectly OK to run the engine without any water in the system for a short amount of time. Less than a minute at idle is not going to damage anything.

With the radiator looking how it does this was the failure point, replace it and move on.

Should run at least some antifreeze for the Corrosive protection, or corrosive additive. Straight water will allow rust to form in the system and it has been proven that antifreeze can absorb more heat and dissipate it thru the radiator than just plain water also.

mtrdud

Head Gasket?