Automotive Mechanical Thread

[Yvonne Smith]

We went to Kroger today, and the truck is still overheating ! It did okay on a short drive, but not all the way to Kroger. No water leaking or steam coming out and no smell, just the temp gauge was pegged all the way to the top.
Bobby has changed the radiator and cap, and the thermostat. He says maybe it is the water pump, but he just put in a new one not too long ago. It might have just gone bad. Anyway, I guess that it what he is going to try next. It is SO frustrating !

 

[Jake Smith]

We went to Kroger today, and the truck is still overheating ! It did okay on a short drive, but not all the way to Kroger. No water leaking or steam coming out and no smell, just the temp gauge was pegged all the way to the top.
Bobby has changed the radiator and cap, and the thermostat. He says maybe it is the water pump, but he just put in a new one not too long ago. It might have just gone bad. Anyway, I guess that it what he is going to try next. It is SO frustrating !

I can relate to that, on the bus, I had changed the fuel pump that was not working, and when her brother Frank was dying of cancer, we went to Brunswick Ga. to see him. And the bus conked out. I was checking everything to figure it out; but never figured it to be that new fuel pump, but sure enough it was; changed it and was on the road again. It's really frustrating at times.

 

[Don Alaska]

I can relate to that, on the bus, I had changed the fuel pump that was not working, and when her brother Frank was dying of cancer, we went to Brunswick Ga. to see him. And the bus conked out. I was checking everything to figure it out; but never figured it to be that new fuel pump, but sure enough it was; changed it and was on the road again. It's really frustrating at times.

I had a somewhat similar story. Our van was running a little hot, so I took it to a shop to have the cooling system flushed. I thought I was doing a good thing. My wife had a school field trip to the Challenger Space Center in Seward and I wanted the van in top shape for the drive through the mountains. As soon as she got through Anchorage, the van started getting hot, and was steaming by the time she got to Cooper Landing on the Kenai. I friend there thought it might be the thermostat, so he removed it. That helped a little, but the vehicle still overheated the rest of the way down and back. It cracked the head on the right side, and, although we tried to repair it, we ended up donating the van to Make-A-Wish Foundation that our granddaughter had just used when she had kidney cancer at 5 years old. It turned out that the guys that had flushed the cooling system flushed all the gunk from the engine into the radiator and plugged it up.

 

[Jake Smith]

I had a somewhat similar story. Our van was running a little hot, so I took it to a shop to have the cooling system flushed. I thought I was doing a good thing. My wife had a school field trip to the Challenger Space Center in Seward and I wanted the van in top shape for the drive through the mountains. As soon as she got through Anchorage, the van started getting hot, and was steaming by the time she got to Cooper Landing on the Kenai. I friend there thought it might be the thermostat, so he removed it. That helped a little, but the vehicle still overheated the rest of the way down and back. It cracked the head on the right side, and, although we tried to repair it, we ended up donating the van to Make-A-Wish Foundation that our granddaughter had just used when she had kidney cancer at 5 years old. It turned out that the guys that had flushed the cooling system flushed all the gunk from the engine into the radiator and plugged it up.

Sounds like all the mechanics I've come across to fix our vehicles; that's why "I" have to just bite the bullet, and do it myself.

 

[Connie Bennett]

Parts: we have all learned parts can come out of the box bad. In the 90’s, the alternator went out on the 454 I had had rebuilt then put into my ‘78 GMC 4WD — yes a square body that I cried when I had to sell it two years ago, when husband passed because there was no life insurance.

Anyway, in those days, I was a pretty fair outpatient mechanic. It ended up I had got not one, not two but THREE bad rebuilt alternators out of the box. I called one of my engineers, who had built a few of his own cars, for help as I was afraid I was doing something wrong. It wasn’t me after all, it was a Lot (batch) of bad rebuilt alternators at one of the parts stores up town.

Mechanics: I am still spitting nails over the owner of the ATV dealership who bragged how much better he was than his competitor in the next county

$800 later and, yes, both ATV’s would start right up. But he did something with the timing on the old Honda Rancher to where it would buck when going into gear and misfired like heck. I’m pretty sure the plug is fouled by now. My brother got it running like it should be but didn’t change the plug. I can use it but it will be sparingly until the plug issue gets resolved. I am ok changing it, except it’s a major event just to get to it and the arthritis in my hands won’t let me do too much.

The Kawasaki Prairie started right up, and was running great for the first time ever —- until something came loose and spilled ALL of the gas out on the garage floor. I put enough gas in it to get it to the workshop and put a bucket under it. The ATV shop did not rebuild or replace the carburetor and my brother thinks that’s the problem. He has friends in low Kawasaki places up home, so he took pictures, will visit that dealer, buy what’s needed and fix it the next time he is down here — down here is a ten hour drive, but I at least more or less have my faithful Honda Rancher.

Yes, I did speak to the owner of the shop, but words went south quick when he went defensive and said they both start and run don’t they

I apologize, this is sort of off topic, but it is things mechanical

 

[Don Alaska]

Parts: we have all learned parts can come out of the box bad. In the 90’s, the alternator went out on the 454 I had had rebuilt then put into my ‘78 GMC 4WD — yes a square body that I cried when I had to sell it two years ago, when husband passed because there was no life insurance.

Anyway, in those days, I was a pretty fair outpatient mechanic. It ended up I had got not one, not two but THREE bad rebuilt alternators out of the box. I called one of my engineers, who had built a few of his own cars, for help as I was afraid I was doing something wrong. It wasn’t me after all, it was a Lot (batch) of bad rebuilt alternators at one of the parts stores up town.

Mechanics: I am still spitting nails over the owner of the ATV dealership who bragged how much better he was than his competitor in the next county

$800 later and, yes, both ATV’s would start right up. But he did something with the timing on the old Honda Rancher to where it would buck when going into gear and misfired like heck. I’m pretty sure the plug is fouled by now. My brother got it running like it should be but didn’t change the plug. I can use it but it will be sparingly until the plug issue gets resolved. I am ok changing it, except it’s a major event just to get to it and the arthritis in my hands won’t let me do too much.

The Kawasaki Prairie started right up, and was running great for the first time ever —- until something came loose and spilled ALL of the gas out on the garage floor. I put enough gas in it to get it to the workshop and put a bucket under it. The ATV shop did not rebuild or replace the carburetor and my brother thinks that’s the problem. He has friends in low Kawasaki places up home, so he took pictures, will visit that dealer, buy what’s needed and fix it the next time he is down here — down here is a ten hour drive, but I at least more or less have my faithful Honda Rancher.

Yes, I did speak to the owner of the shop, but words went south quick when he went defensive and said they both start and run don’t they

I apologize, this is sort of off topic, but it is things mechanical

Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a rebuilt carb than to buy the kits and do it yourself as we once did. Parts dealers sometimes shop around for the cheapest rebuilders, and that is what they get--the cheapest rebuilds. I have discovered that paying the lowest price isn't always the best deal. Usually, you could have the parts dealer put the alternator on the tester before you leave the store to make sure it is good when you leave. There could be something in the truck that is killing the alternators as well, and most of us don't have the equipment to check that.

ATVs are quite a different matter from trucks. My sons have a number of them and they are often problematic. The youngest, who is a mechanic, buys them on the cheap and repairs them for resale. Often it is something very simple to repair if you know how. The same goes for riding lawnmowers. He often picks them up for free and sells then for hundreds or even thousands.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

So far, nothing has helped to keep the truck from overheating. Bobby has replaced the thermostat, the radiator, radiator cap, and flushed everything out. He thought it might be air in the lines and got some special funnel that is supposed to help clear out the air from the water.
Now, he thinks maybe it is the heater core, so he is going to try and disconnect the heater and flush that out. If that does not help, the next step might be to bypass the heater and see if that stops it from overheating.
Right now, it can run for a few minutes and then goes right up and pegs out the thermometer on the dash for the temperature. We are using the old Ford Ranger for whatever running around we have to do, but hoping to get the GMC working right soon. It belongs to my daughter, but she left it here for us to drive while she is overseas.
Both vehicles are old. The Ranger is a 2000, and the Jimmy is a 2001, but they have been fine for no further than we need to drive.

 

[Beth Gallagher]

So far, nothing has helped to keep the truck from overheating. Bobby has replaced the thermostat, the radiator, radiator cap, and flushed everything out. He thought it might be air in the lines and got some special funnel that is supposed to help clear out the air from the water.
Now, he thinks maybe it is the heater core, so he is going to try and disconnect the heater and flush that out. If that does not help, the next step might be to bypass the heater and see if that stops it from overheating.
Right now, it can run for a few minutes and then goes right up and pegs out the thermometer on the dash for the temperature. We are using the old Ford Ranger for whatever running around we have to do, but hoping to get the GMC working right soon. It belongs to my daughter, but she left it here for us to drive while she is overseas.
Both vehicles are old. The Ranger is a 2000, and the Jimmy is a 2001, but they have been fine for no further than we need to drive.

I know absolutely nothing about engine mechanics, but is there a way to test the temperature gauge?

 

[Yvonne Smith]

Probably, but it seems to be working. It starts at zero and gradually goes up and then just keeps overheating past where it would normally stop, so I think the gauge is working. I wondered about that, too, but decided it is working. At first, when the radiator was leaking and it went up, we know the truck was overheating, steam coming out and smell, so that was definitely right.

Bobby flushed the heater and said he got lots of gunk out of that and brown water, then flushed the whole system again. He think there is still more air to get out, but it does seem to be working better now. With all the parts being old, it was probably the heater has been getting clogged for while now, and just finally was too clogged to work anymore.
Hoping that this fixes it !

 

[Connie Bennett]

@Yvonne Smith your husband might try replacing the thermostat again.

I once had to replace the alternator three times out of the box on my old GMC.

It took my husband two tries to replace the thermostat on my John Deere 4110 before it stopped overheating.

What about an in-line filter somewhere?

I know you probably don’t have a blown head gasket or a cracked block because you folks would see white smoke coming out the exhaust or the milky look in the radiator.

Regardless, it’s a PITA trying to figure it out and hopefully you can get that done sooner than

 

[Jake Smith]

Took me awhile to find this thread; got a notification awhile back telling me it was moved but didn't go to it then, been too busy around here, but anyway, came to say while daughters and oldest granddaughter was here, I got them to help Marie and drove to town to get dog and chicken food, well on the way it performed like the cats meow running great. Got their food and threw the 50 lb bags in bed of truck took off coming back same thing running fine, was so happy with it, got maybe 1/2 mile from house and it acted like it was running out of gas, though what the hey? So I kept pumping gas and it sped up then cut off, rest way home and made it. When other motor was in it it wanted to flood and black smoke so I had put a cut off valve on it near carb and could cut back on fuel which helped; so was thinking maybe that was problem.



Went out the next day and opened it all the way up, cranks and ran ok around the yard, but didn't have time to road test yet, Marie doesn't love riding in truck as much as van, or as I do, she says it to low to ground, like riding in a go cart.
So maybe a fuel filter, or electric fuel pump, who knows?

 

[Faye Fox]

Probably, but it seems to be working. It starts at zero and gradually goes up and then just keeps overheating past where it would normally stop, so I think the gauge is working. I wondered about that, too, but decided it is working. At first, when the radiator was leaking and it went up, we know the truck was overheating, steam coming out and smell, so that was definitely right.

Bobby flushed the heater and said he got lots of gunk out of that and brown water, then flushed the whole system again. He think there is still more air to get out, but it does seem to be working better now. With all the parts being old, it was probably the heater has been getting clogged for while now, and just finally was too clogged to work anymore.
Hoping that this fixes it !

I had that problem years ago on an old GMC and had to pull the head and have some cooling ports in it reamed out. Some one had used Bars Leak in it before I bought it to stop a radiator leak. That junk also plugged up the small cooling ports in the head. Since Bobby has flushed out a lot of corrosion and gunk so far, it certainly sounds like the problem is gunk stuck in the head cooling channels.

Another problem I encountered on a tractor was, the water pump shaft had come loose from the impeller, so no circulation. That was an easy fix with a new water pump.