So noticed some smoke/steam coming off the motor and noticed it was coming from inside the Radiator hoses. Anyone seen this before or know whats going on? 1988 4wd 3.0 truck

 

seems like u need 2 put sum antifreeze in it?

 

really?! i need to put anti freeze? lol jk I have anti freeze in it but smoke/steam is still coming out

 

Is it coming out of the overflow bottle or are you actually looking inside the hoses?

In either case that is not a good thing. You're either low on coolant, or might have a leak in the system (either internal or external).

 

wait, backup...

inside the radiator hose?




I'm thinking "inside the hose" is not the wording you're looking for...


maybe, steam coming from a certain point around the hoses, or one hose in particular?


definitely sounds like you have a leak, thus the steam from the hot antifreeze escaping. when's the last time you replaced the hoses? if never, and you've got a leak, now's a good time to go through them ALL and replace every radiator hose to prevent future leaks and possible breakdowns

 

I'd watch the oil real close and compression test it.

 

Its coming from around the hoses so I took a few off and the steam or smoke was actually coming out the hose once I took it off to look in it

Never placed the hoses and the bottom and top are a little soft


I have been keeping an eye on the oil just in case nothing odd there yet but I will have to go pick up a compression tester to check that out whats the normal psi for the 3.0?

 

Especially now that it's cold, hot coolant will make lots of steam or "smoke" when it comes out. I popped open my radiator cap when it was still partly hot yesterday and it made alot of steam in the dry, 35F weather.

 

I just realized I don't understand how you have the hose off, it should be full of flowing antifreeze when the truck is running. From what I understand, even a bubble in the system can mess up the flow.

Anyway, it isn't quite clear what you're doin at this point so your answers might not be that good.

Cheap compression testers are known to be not calibrated very well. You end up looking for consistency. The number doesn't matter so much as long as they're pretty even.

 

Ah my bad I should have made this more clear. It was AFTER the truck was running and I had shut it off