Goalie990

I was talking to a buddy and he brought up a good point.. I donno if i believe it but he said that the reason i might be blowing coolant out of my overflow is because i have a bad cap. My truck doesn't have any oil in the radiator fluid nor does it burn coolant. It just blows out the overflow, and bubbles.

C2O

pressure check your cap and then you'll know.

Goalie990

yea but would that really do it?

C2O

have you checked the system and cap? once you rule those out then you dig deeper.

Need95-00CTD

No...your not boiling your coolant in the engine. C2O is probably more familiar with a high temp gasser. Your Head Gasket is shot. Get it done before it blows your oil cooler like mine did. Your running a lot of pressure for an o-ringed head, especially with spray, your cylinder pressures are high enough to warrant fire rings and XHD Studs, not saying you need both, but overkill is nice.

schaef_12

Its' the gasket, just replaced mine for the same reason.

Need95-00CTD

I'm going on the 3rd gasket in a week...make sure everything is super flat, or you'll regret it.

C2O

uhhhh i know nothing about gassers. the only engines that come through the shop are diesel, i was just helping diagnose the prob. sorry for trying to help i've only seen this numerous times ill keep my typing to a minnimum now,
again sorry.

Goalie990

so its not good to drive it like this? Yea i will be replacing it these next couple weeks. I dont have the money to get it fireringed with now.. i wish i did.

turbos10

I chased water leaks for a while and just figured I was not getting things tight or had bad luck. Ended up pulling the head for broken bolts and found the head cracked. I would suspect you could have the same issue with what you are describing; It could be a gasket, but usually if they go to water you would not be able to drive it due to it puking water like crazy. I did find a source out of Canada for new Cummins heads under $500, so if you need one let me know and I can hook you up with them.

turbos10

I would not drive it at all. Washing down a cylinder would not be worth having to catch a ride until you can fix it. If it were mine I would park it, drain the water, and run it for a few seconds to dry it all out. If you dont do this you can open up the engine to find a cylinder holding water with a nice rust line in the cylinder right at the water level....trust me, I have had it happen.

mysterync

Regardless of what anyone on here says, Keep in mind theres millions of variables, 90% of all shops when diagnosing, if oil is not coming out the from of the head or anywhere near the head will do a pressure test and test the cap and go from there! Most likely it is your headgasket, but just because someone else had a similar problem in no way says thats your problem! Start at the bottom and test up! In the mean time dont drive or run the truck!

Goalie990

yea it has been sitting for about a month.. i didnt drain the water tho. All i plan on doing is driving it about 45 min away to where it will be fixed.. will that be ok u think?

dodgeguy71

Test the cap, if good move on. Compression test on engine or if you have a bore scope(cheap ones available) you can remove injectors and look down in cylinder and look for the really really clean piston, steam cleaning a piston will make it look different than the rest. Or pressurize the cooling system and look for the leak in the cylinder. A good diagnostic is key cause at the end of the job if you have not found anything obvious you'll be wondering..."did I really fix the problem?"

That's just me though, I like to know exactly what's wrong or the cause and why......just curious I guess.

And make sure to use the K.I.S.S method at all times, Keep It Simple Stupid. I.E don't just replace a computer without first checking your fuses.

Not calling you stupid, just a general rule as far as a starting point that people forget.

C2O

i agree 100%