Coolant system problem

[KevsKustoms]

So I just bought a 94 explorer 5.0 V6.

So I drove it an hour home the temp gage said cold the entire time. And when I stopped and turned the car off the coolant bubbled out of radiator.

So a week ago I changed the thermostat but still same problem. I changed thermostat and still same problem.

The weird thing is when I went to change the thermostat the engine was full of coolant and so was the radiator but when I pulled the drain plug on radiator nothing came out.

Please someone help I'm so lost the only thing I can think of is a clog in the actual engine part of the cooling system



THANK YOU!!!

 

[J_C]

What does coolant bubbled out of radiator mean?

Can you take a picture of what drain plug you pulled when nothing came out? That doesn't make sense if the radiator has coolant in it.

Is it overheating? Maybe it just didn't overheat and/or your temp sensor is bad?

I suppose it's possible your radiator is so severely sludged up that it's a big mass of muck, but usually if you shine a flashlight down in you would see evidence of that. Are both intake and out radiator hoses getting hot and pressurized once the engine gets about the thermostat trip point?

Any and all additional elaboration you can provide might help. Something isn't making sense.

 

[KevsKustoms]

J_C yeah I know it's quite weird and something isn't adding up I take pics today of radiator and also the top hose gets hot but not sure about bottom I will update the status in about two three hours

 

[koda2000]

If there appears to be water/coolant in the radiator and nothing comes out when you remove/loosen the drain-**** it must be full of muck. For about $100-$120 you can just replace the radiator. I'd also do an good engine flush.

The heater core is probably also full of crap. Do you get any heat out of it?

 

[swshawaii]

Removing the lower hose should tell you what's in there. Be careful, and rinse driveway well, most coolants are VERY toxic.

 

[KevsKustoms]

So I can't figure out how to post a pic on here but yeah I pulled the plug all the way out and it looked like mud on there.

And yeah I do get heat,


And I'm about to try to remove the bottom hose

 

[koda2000]

So I can't figure out how to post a pic on here but yeah I pulled the plug all the way out and it looked like mud on there.

And yeah I do get heat,


And I'm about to try to remove the bottom hose

Sounds like your cooling system is in bad shape. You will probably need to replace the radiator if it's got that much crud in it. That "mud" is rust, which means the cooling system has probably never been serviced. I don't know how much time and money you're willing to put into a '94, but I wouldn't want to spend much on it. Oh and there's no such thing as a 5.0L V6. 5.0L V8 or 4.0L V6.

 

[lobo411]

Also, if it keeps boiling over after you clean out the gunk...I'd be thinking that the last owner thought it had a blown head gasket or something and used sealer to try to keep it going long enough to sell it.

 

[bigred4x4]

Replace coolant temp sensor there should be two one for the gauge and one for the computer if you had no flow of coolant you probably would have overheated by now. 94 and 5.0 don't make sense what is the correct year and engine?

 

[KevsKustoms]

I meant 4.0

 

[KevsKustoms]

And just did a flush through every hose only thing clogged is Radiator

 

[bigred4x4]

But it is a 94?

 

[koda2000]

I'd seriously consider getting a new radiator rather than trying to mess around with the old one. If it's not full of rust, it might be that it was leaking and the PO put a bunch of sealant in it. If it's the original radiator it probably doesn't have long to live anyway.

If your truck is a '94, this forum is for '95-'01 Explorers, but so far your questions have been of a general nature.

 

[J_C]

Since it's Not My Money ... if you're going to the trouble of replacing the radiator, the gunk has probably also chewed up the water pump seal and I'd replace the pump while I'm at it, considering a '94 4.0L pump is only $27 delivered and you're saving having to fool with coolant a second time:
https://www.ebay.com/p/Engine-Water-Pump-Water-Pump-Standard-Gates-43060/230375799

... then there's the thermostat, guess I'd take into consideration how many miles on the vehicle and overall condition when deciding what to *invest*.

 

[koda2000]

Since it's Not My Money ... if you're going to the trouble of replacing the radiator, the gunk has probably also chewed up the water pump seal and I'd replace the pump while I'm at it, considering a '94 4.0L pump is only $27 delivered and you're saving having to fool with coolant a second time:
https://www.ebay.com/p/Engine-Water-Pump-Water-Pump-Standard-Gates-43060/230375799

... then there's the thermostat, guess I'd take into consideration how many miles on the vehicle and overall condition when deciding what to *invest*.

And then there's the serpentine belt, idler pulleys, the rad hoses, the heater hoses, radiator cap, A/C clutch hub and... and... and...

As J_C said, it's not our money. LOL.