A few months ago I did the head job. All went well, and my truck runs.

But lately it's been burning coolant. It's been leaking coolant too (im replacing the radiator soon) but it's definitely burning coolant. I checked the overflow a day ago and it was full. Now, 24 hours later, it's half empty.

The only thing I can think of during the head job that might cause a coolant problem is the hoses that go under the throttle body and intake manifold. I snagged some pictures.

Can someone verify that these are hooked up properly? I replaced the hoses while doing the headgasket, that's why one of them doesnt look stock and does look a little longer (#1, the long loopy one)

 

hoses look correct, but it looks like you're leaking

 

why dont you cut the #1 hose so it will fit alot better the more it touches that gets hot you can burn a hole in it and be in trouble and also the #1 hose looks like it could be pushed on a little better than what it is it looks like its spraying on the motor from not being on all the way you can have a clamp on and it will still leak out

 

Why do you have to post these things when I'm not around by 91 to take a look?

They look 'okay'. but as mentioned cut the longer hose- if the hose is too long, it is more likely to kink, cutting off or restricting flow.

 

I'll go cut the hose tomorrow morning.

As for the leak, yeah, it's seeping a bit. I bought some gasket maker material and never got around to removing that part to use it. It's been 20 degrees out lately, so I haven't been in the mood. I bought silicone gasket material because I'm using the DIY gasket making material (the trace & cut kind) and this is the 4th gasket I've made for this.

My truck has been burning coolant and smoking on start up and I'm still looking for an cause/excuse to fix something. The large amount of coolant loss has me baffled, though. Right now there is no puddle where it stands. At work, however, there's a tiny puddle. But for a 24 hour period, there's no excuse for half of an overflow tank to be empty.

Assuming it's not the small drippy leaks, and it's not the head gasket...where else could it be leaking into the engine and burning up? While the engine is getting up to temperature, I do smell a warn musty coolant smell, but that's only for a brief 20 second as the engine is just getting up to temp.

 

you might be surprised... a lot of coolant can leak out of a small hole when it's under the pressure of normal operating temp...

 

... from a hose that's kinked....

 

in general...

 

duperman dave, check the thread "22re coolant loss" and read them. Or, Google "22re thermostat problems" and take a look at the first couple links. In short, if you take your thermostat and cut the jiggle valve off it, exposing the 1/16" hole, it will allow the water to bypass the thermostat enough so that coolant will not build pressure on top of thermostat and then blow out the radiator cap, thus loosing coolant. Just try it,and let us know what happens.

 

So drill a 1/16" hole inside the metal plate? Seems easy enough. I heard the dealer was also selling newer thermostats that of this hole in by default.

I was wondering why people were so adamant about upgrading/replacing to the new "two stage" thermostat. I didn't know it would build up pressure like that and blow out coolant.

I'll give it a shot sometime when the weather is nice. Would be a good time to also use silicone sealant on the water bypass gasket.

So this 1/16" hole needs to be drilled in the flat outside plate?

 

If you're building up enough pressure in the cooling system to blow coolant out of the radiator cap, a 1/16, 3/32, 1/8" whatever sized hole in the thermostat WON'T relieve that pressure. If anything, it'll make the cap blow off pressure sooner.
The 2-stage thermostat, or the aftermarket with 'jiggle valve' were meant to allow coolant to flow around the thermostat to affect the temp 'overshoot' problem where the temp gauge would read high until the thermostat opened, then drop down to 'normal.

It's more of a solution looking for a problem, the 2 stage thermostat.

 

I have a single stage (without the jiggle valve even) in my 88 and no problems.

If you suspect the thermostat as a problem, leave the heater on cold and see what happens.

 

Well, I would say the thermostat makes sense. I filled my coolant overflow reservoir and It keeps squirting coolant out. I leave it as empty as it is (still leaking from radiator somewhere) but it's still being blown out of the overflow tank. What could cause this?