The truck did great all the way to Fairplay, all loaded up it got 15 mpg's at 65 mph. It had a hard time keeping speed on hills but we did not push it.
Sheri's boss and his wife showed up so we headed over Weston pass. I deflated the tires to 12lbs and it rode nice over the rocks. On the way up though when it got steep the temp gauge spiked real fast to 240 degrees, then back down, over and over so we had to pull over 3 times to get up a car trail. We made it to Leadville, bought a water pump and thermostat and headed back over the pass to camp, and yeah we had to pull over 3 times on the way up,
Got back to camp, worked on swapping out the water pump and thermostat, took it back up the mountain ( we were camped right on the trail up) and it did the same thing. I was so pissed when a Toyota camry stopped to offer help.
so we unloaded the 700 lbs of tools parts and air tank stuff and tried again. Nope, still heating too high.
We then called it a day, ate, went to bed and the temps got well down to the 20's. We shivered all night, and had enough. On the way back down the mountain the truck's temp spiked again so I pulled over to let it cool down , pulled the radiator cap and looked at it ( I am an idiot for not looking closer) the bottom seal rubber was cracked in half. I had every little thing I could think of but this stupid 5 dollar part knocked us out of the game. It wasn't letting pressure build in the radiator-and thus it was boiling internally. I feel so stupid.
Anyway, I cut out a circle of cork gasket sheet, and stuffed it in the radiator neck, this let it build pressure, but would not allow coolant to circulate back in from the reservoir.
crap. almost fixed but not enough, so, we limped all the way to Canon City, about 78 miles away, because the Carquest in Fairplay was closed.
While fueling up there a guy stopped and wanted to buy the explorer, even though there was no sign on it. HE was driving an ex caged f 150 but needed back seats now for kids. He saw the VD wagon and just had to stop to say hi. As we were talking he pointed at a purple lifted explorer driving past ( didn't even look at us though) and I immediately recognized the truck He is a member here but the screen name escapes me now.
Anyway, Bridger was his name. He pointed us to his buddy who worked at Orielly's, and they had the right cap.
Got a new cap on, burped the coolant, and we headed straight out of Canon city for home. We drove all night and got here about 7:00 AM. Monday morning. The tuck did great.
I did break a shock mount,while trying to position the truck with the front high for coolant burping and snagged a rock ( nother whoops lol) and tore off a fender flare too, ( whoopsie again!) but that is easily fixed. Made it all the way home dragging the driver side rear shock. I threw the flare into the woods, then realized that was littering but it went down pretty far so I couldn't get it back. Bad example I know, but I was pretty fed up at this time. Sorry guys. ( nobody saw it though thank goodness)
Pics to come, I need to unpack all the crap and find the camera. I know we have some but I was too busy to take many pictures --and was stressed we would even make it home. Feeling pretty dumb I was----
I can't believe I was so prepared, yet a spare radiator cap never entered my mind. I also can;t believe I panicked and overlooked it while trying to troubleshoot the "overheat"
Morale of story:
Put on a new cap, and carry a spare. The issue didn't show itself until we really stressed it hard.
On a side note, the truck did make it to Leadville and back. Considering where we started with it, well, I am impressed. I failed it, not the other way around. K thanks.
Sheri's boss and his wife showed up so we headed over Weston pass. I deflated the tires to 12lbs and it rode nice over the rocks. On the way up though when it got steep the temp gauge spiked real fast to 240 degrees, then back down, over and over so we had to pull over 3 times to get up a car trail. We made it to Leadville, bought a water pump and thermostat and headed back over the pass to camp, and yeah we had to pull over 3 times on the way up,
Got back to camp, worked on swapping out the water pump and thermostat, took it back up the mountain ( we were camped right on the trail up) and it did the same thing. I was so pissed when a Toyota camry stopped to offer help.
so we unloaded the 700 lbs of tools parts and air tank stuff and tried again. Nope, still heating too high.
We then called it a day, ate, went to bed and the temps got well down to the 20's. We shivered all night, and had enough. On the way back down the mountain the truck's temp spiked again so I pulled over to let it cool down , pulled the radiator cap and looked at it ( I am an idiot for not looking closer) the bottom seal rubber was cracked in half. I had every little thing I could think of but this stupid 5 dollar part knocked us out of the game. It wasn't letting pressure build in the radiator-and thus it was boiling internally. I feel so stupid.
Anyway, I cut out a circle of cork gasket sheet, and stuffed it in the radiator neck, this let it build pressure, but would not allow coolant to circulate back in from the reservoir.
crap. almost fixed but not enough, so, we limped all the way to Canon City, about 78 miles away, because the Carquest in Fairplay was closed.
While fueling up there a guy stopped and wanted to buy the explorer, even though there was no sign on it. HE was driving an ex caged f 150 but needed back seats now for kids. He saw the VD wagon and just had to stop to say hi. As we were talking he pointed at a purple lifted explorer driving past ( didn't even look at us though) and I immediately recognized the truck He is a member here but the screen name escapes me now.
Anyway, Bridger was his name. He pointed us to his buddy who worked at Orielly's, and they had the right cap.
Got a new cap on, burped the coolant, and we headed straight out of Canon city for home. We drove all night and got here about 7:00 AM. Monday morning. The tuck did great.
I did break a shock mount,while trying to position the truck with the front high for coolant burping and snagged a rock ( nother whoops lol) and tore off a fender flare too, ( whoopsie again!) but that is easily fixed. Made it all the way home dragging the driver side rear shock. I threw the flare into the woods, then realized that was littering but it went down pretty far so I couldn't get it back. Bad example I know, but I was pretty fed up at this time. Sorry guys. ( nobody saw it though thank goodness)
Pics to come, I need to unpack all the crap and find the camera. I know we have some but I was too busy to take many pictures --and was stressed we would even make it home. Feeling pretty dumb I was----
I can't believe I was so prepared, yet a spare radiator cap never entered my mind. I also can;t believe I panicked and overlooked it while trying to troubleshoot the "overheat"
Morale of story:
Put on a new cap, and carry a spare. The issue didn't show itself until we really stressed it hard.
On a side note, the truck did make it to Leadville and back. Considering where we started with it, well, I am impressed. I failed it, not the other way around. K thanks.
