hopin it aint a head gasket...

[beyerodeath]

New to posting, ive always taken care of my sploder myself and have not had any major problems except for my master cylinder needin to get changed out. have been smelling some coolant at times while the windows down and cant see any major leaks and nothing under the truck, took out the plugs to take a look and they looked like a bad battery terminal. cleaned em off and theem put them back in, the truck runs a little better and i'm planning on changing the plugs for new ones and plug wires. any ideas or where i should look next? any ideas would be greatly appriciated. thanks.

 

[reapereviltwin]

No major leaks? Are there leaks anywhere you can see? Do you have a coolant loss? Blowing white smoke, anything else that you noticed. Do you have access to a maintenace manuel to compare the spark plugs to the reference in the manuel?
sorry to throw more questions at you, but need a little more information.

 

[beyerodeath]

mike, no have no major leaks that i can see and have the haynes manual for the sploder. going to be driving back down to the airstation here in a few and will keep an eye on her, soon as i get back ill look the engine/compartment completely over and check the coolant before i go. have some answers shortly. P.s. i'm a vet too and cant wait to see this land, taking the sploder up to sacramento soon to take my boys camping.

 

[reapereviltwin]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252818

Sounds great beyer! The link above is for the military, emt, police and firefighters to post about their service.
There is plenty of info on the forum, we will get it figured out.
Which airstationare you at?

 

[beyerodeath]

just got back, as for the airstation is thee 22 area at Camp pendelton where i did 10 years as a jarhead and am now a civilian contracter doin the same job i had in thee corps, just more money and less b.s.! checked everything a few minutes ago and there is a little less coolant and no major leaks. just had the master cylinder changed out two weeks ago and looks like maybe there was a leak at one time on the bottom lip of the driver side valve cover. no white smoke and the plugs before i cleaned them looked like something from under the sea. runs alot better since i cleaned them too, (go figure huh?) but still smell coolant. huh?

 

[Vargas]

When you can smell coolant, look at the seams on the sides of the radiator. The core is attached to the side tanks by a series of crimps. It is not unusual to find a little seepage along the seams in one or more places. I have noticed the coolant smell from my '94 for about six months and the seam on the right side tank is wet at times, but it is not losing a measurable amount of liquid, and the system holds pressure.

 

[reapereviltwin]

Give under your dash a look and see if any seepage is showing up there, (heater core?)
I was army, my son is a marine at camp lejuene. know what you mean doing the same job without the bs.

 

[Verno]

Hey Mike, I added my info on the mil link also. Didn't know that was there till this post!
For the OP: If the heater core is only seeping you may not see any wetness inside your truck...

 

[beyerodeath]

just posted my stuff too, thanks again, i would have never known about that link unless you posted it. ill check the sides of the radiator and if it isnt that and its the heater core like verno is sayin what kind of problems can i expect?

 

[Vargas]

You mentioned the coolant smell was primarily with the windows down. That points away from it being a leaking heater core.

 

[beyerodeath]

ya, just with the windows down, thanks vargas.

 

[reapereviltwin]

You mentioned the coolant smell was primarily with the windows down. That points away from it being a leaking heater core.

good point

 

[beyerodeath]

K, went through the engine bay and looked on the sides of the radiator. have not found a thing. Just topped of everyhing and will keep a eye out for everything. thanks again guys!

 

[reapereviltwin]

:biggthump

 

[Tony H]

If the plugs were dirty, That's good. A coolant leak into the cylinders would shine a plug to look like new.

The front side just to the left and the rear side just to the right as you stand in front of the car is where the Intake manifold gaskets start to weep. The water jackets are there and there is not much surface area for the Gasket to do it's job. From the bottom of the car look up at the water Pump.. see if it's wet all down the passeneger side of the pump, that's an indication that the intake is weeping. It's teh best way to spot it since the Steel Radiator hose it's in the way on the topside.