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New to me truck and I've got a million questions. Most revolving around some leaks I've got. I will say I've already replaced a steering pump that was leaking from the pulley shaft. During this I have spayed some degrade and cleaned up some but it's been over a week since I've sprayed it down and I love in a very dry locating and have driven it daily so I'd think that would have all dried up by now. Also the PO had the battery fall into the pulley and leak acid everywhere. You'll see some remnants of that in some of the photos.
1. I noticed some residue when I bought the truck around the top of the radiator but it didn't seem fresh. Now I'm noticing it a little damp around the top and the tank isn't full anymore. Still running with the temp sensor dead center. Am I looking at a new traitor replacement in my future? If so what's a good one? I'm not seeing any huge leaks but I do appear to be losing antifreeze. This seems like the leaky area. The lower bolt on the passenger side of the top of the radiator.
2. What's leaking? Where's it coming from? Just behind passenger front wheel. Seems to just appear right behind the away bar. Ran my finger through it and it seems like oil but doesn't have a smell really. Here it is from the side where it doesn't seem to be a leak from above.
3. The tow hook also seems to have oil on it. At first I thought it was from the radiator but it doesn't smell like antifreeze. Any thoughts?
My tow hook on the passenger side also seems a little oil covered. Again no noticeable leak from above. Frame is striped and rusted a but from the battery acid incident.
4. What is this hose? Is it leaking something? Behind these hoses is a hose with a metal fitting pictured below. This fitting and bracket seem to have a lot of residue on it.
5. When I bought the truck I noticed this old residue on the driver side valve cover and noticed the clip thing holding the hose down on top of the valve cover want very tight and I thought maybe some oil was leaking out of that and running back on the VC. But lately I've been smelling oil and it seems like the is some oil around the last to books on the back of the VC. Am I looking at needing a valve cover gasket?
Last edited by Prafeston; 11-12-2017 at 03:46 PM.
Reason: Wasn't finished with original post.
Well I just put like 700 miles on it in the last two days. I'm not noticing any bad active leaking. I did top off the oil and coolant before I left. Still has an oil burning smell from the engine bay though. No noticeable smoke while driving. Just giving a small update as I haven't had any replies. It's currently parked for the next 3 weeks until I get back from a Thanksgiving Vacation.
Yeah I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for where I might be leaking. I know it's hard to tell exactly, but if someone has had similar damp spots maybe they could steer me in the right direction. I'll do some more digging around after Thanksgiving.
Leaks are hard to find over the internet. Sometimes looks can be deceiving!
I think the best thing to do is spray down oily and greasy areas with a degreaser really well.
Then drive the truck around and look for leaks.
It should be much easier to spot where the leaks are coming from when you have a clean engine than when it is covered with oil and dirt. Remember, gravity will pull oil, coolant, ATF, etc. downward. Once you have found an area where you think the leak is coming from, look at the area above the oil spot to see if it is leaking from higher up in the engine bay.
11-12-2017, 03:11 PM
