Quick question on HG's/ cooling

[Big Dan P]

Hello all, I think my HG's went out again. I was told that a failed water pump can cause coolant to puke out of the degas bottle. So, question, is that true? I also have a coolant leak that looks to be coming from the water pump. The truck has been parked ever since this started. Last time my HG's went out i had a lot of white smoke. This time there is none. So my main question is can a failed water pump make coolant puke out of the degas bottle causing me to believe that my HG's went out?

Thanks for your replies, Dan

[nitrogen]

very few cases where HG's result in white smoke. generally that is coolant going into the intake from a bad egr cooler. puking from combustion gas getting into cooling system and overpressuring it is more likely a sign of bad HG's.
before I ASSUMED head gaskets were/are the issue I would want to do some basic testing. suspicious wet water pump, pressure test the system with some UV dye and prove it. some of the older engines had issues with the pump impeller getting loose on the shaft and freewheeling. if the coolant is not circulating properly boiling can certainly occur which will result in coolant being forced out.

[Big Dan P]

Thank you Nitrogen for the reply. Good point on the white smoke thing I'm an idiot lol! I'll rent the pump and do a pressure test when I wake up today. Does anyone know that if I hook up a gauge to a tee at my degas bottle to test for a headgasket leak, if head gaskets are the only thing that can cause pressure in your system? Because I am thinking, if it is my water pump not circulatuing and causing coolant to flash boil, wouldn't that also pressurize the system? Thanks for any more replies, Dan

[bigredak]

Check youtube as there is one that shows how to find what side HG has a leak if there is one.

[Big Dan P]

Ok thanks. I'll take a look at it. Do you happen to remember the name of it? Thanks, Dan

[bigredak]

Get a YouTube account and subsribe to these two channels and get good how to videos.
This one has the test for what side may have a cracked head or injector cup.
6.0 powerstroke diesel fuel in the coolant - YouTube

This is to test HG or if it is EGR cooler. You can make your own tester using auto/hardware store parts.
HEAD GASKET TEST for 6.0 POWERSTROKE - YouTube

[04 oilburner]

is headgaskets the only thing that will pressurize the cooling system?

[TKOPerformance]

A ruptured EGR cooler or bad engine oil cooler could as well, but the effects will be much less pronounced than with a blown HG.

[bigredak]

To get the fast high pressure like in the video it can also come from a crack in the block or a head. I once worked on an engine that had only water running in it and it cracked the block when cold weather hit it. It would start and ran fine when cool, but at normal engine temp it blew water out. An engine that gets too hot can crack or warp the block or head to let the combustion gases into the coolant system. So be sure to have heads checked for cracks when off.

[Big Dan P]

Just got back in town from vacation. I'll definitely subscribe to those pages. I've been out of town for approximately 3-4 weeks. Truck has been sitting for at least 4 weeks, possibly 5. Went to start it up today to make sure batteries stay charged, and the wierdest thing happened. Truck ran perfect. Didn't overheat. Took it for a ride around the block, romped a little on it, and never overheated. Didn't overflow out of degas bottle or anything. It ran for a total of about 45 minutes. Before, it was overheating within 15 minutes of being turned on. Now I am lost. It is back parked now. I'm driving my F-150 around. What do you guys think. I am now thinking that it maybe is the water pump that is going bad and intermitally working? I am probably just being optimistic though. Thanks for the replies, I appreciate any and all input, Dan

[TKOPerformance]

I didn't notice you had studs when responding to your last post. It is unlikely that you have HG problems with studs and new Ford gaskets properly installed. Not impossible mind you, but unlikely.

I'm liking the water pump for your woes.

[Big Dan P]

Man, that would be fantastic!! Still not going to get over optimistic lol. But, the way I'm looking at it is, either way I have to do water pump, so why not do that first. Thank you everyone for your replies. I will order the water pump from tousley probably tomorrow. As soon as it comes in I'll put it in. I'll let you guys know the results.
Again, Thank you very much!! Dan P

[bismic]

A failed water pump can make it puke (anything that can make it overheat can make it puke), but you would see very high coolant temperatures w/ a bad water pump. Please post the coolant temps you have (and the oil temps). If you don't have gauges, then you need to get some.

How full do you keep the degas bottle? Since you have a coolant leak, have you been filling it with water or a 50/50 mix?

The early model years had water pumps w/ impellors that broke or came loose. the later ones - not so much. An intermittant water pump does not sound likely to me.

[Big Dan P]

My coolant temp got up to 250-255 when I realized they were that high I stopped driving and had it towed home. At that time my oil temp was 218-225. I keep my Degas bottle filled to the minimum line. I filled it back up with Ford gold, which I know is crap, and plan on flushing out when i do my water pump.

[djshum]

As bismic stated, highly unlikely to have an "intermittent" water pump issue. When you replace the water pump, I would recommend replacing the thermostat as well. It is cheap insurance, they can be intermittent, and is good preventative maintenance while cooling system is empty. One other thing I would suggest is testing pcm for any fan codes. If there are no codes, I would still run the fan test, to verify it is reaching proper operating speed. I have seen numerous fan clutches that do not reach full speed and cause overheating issues, along with A/C concerns in warm weather...you may want to check this before removing water pump. If the fan clutch is not operating properly, you can replace it while fan is off while do water pump. A fan clutch may give you an intermittent issue depending on ambient temp and how hard you were working engine.