"Stop Leak" Coolant Additive. Which one?

[98FordLove]

usually a stuck coolant level has somethin to do with the rad cap... i think? not allowing it to flow back anf forth. but interesting that it still mixed, without it rising or lowering.

Does the coolant on your explorer in the res drop when running the truck and back up when off? My other car does that Everytime. Thought this was normal behaviour for all cars. Weird how mine doesn't do it but the fluids from the res does eventually get mixed with the rad.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

ill be honest, i havent paid much attention to it... i just fill it up to the cold, and over the next few days check when its cold. probably not a great habit htough intuition tells me it should however

 

[98FordLove]

ill be honest, i havent paid much attention to it... i just fill it up to the cold, and over the next few days check when its cold. probably not a great habit htough intuition tells me it should however

I'm shocked that the cold fill line is actually quite low on these res. if these trucks don't need much in the res, not sure why they put in such big res. Like not even half way up the res. If I could I would have it at least half full. And taking it that a rad has some coolant emptied and air, I'm taking it that the rad just pulls coolant from the res when needed?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

not sure why such a big res either, if i put a smaller res and washer container, i could do dual batteries! i assume its gotta do with accounting for the expansion of coolant in the system, and also the air within the res, cause as all that heats its gonna expand, so havign a larger vol makes the impact less.and it makes it less liekly to boil over like some other vehicles, cause it has to fill more to boil over.... or thats my assumption and yes, the rad only pulls/dispenses into the res as needed, but it should do that every heat cycle as it expands and contracts, unless the pressurization is exactly enough to counteract the expansion

 

[98FordLove]

not sure why such a big res either, if i put a smaller res and washer container, i could do dual batteries! i assume its gotta do with accounting for the expansion of coolant in the system, and also the air within the res, cause as all that heats its gonna expand, so havign a larger vol makes the impact less.and it makes it less liekly to boil over like some other vehicles, cause it has to fill more to boil over.... or thats my assumption and yes, the rad only pulls/dispenses into the res as needed, but it should do that every heat cycle as it expands and contracts, unless the pressurization is exactly enough to counteract the expansion

Thanks. I got the new rad cap today, the same as you. Oh this is not what I was expecting lol. I thought the latch flips it open, therefore not needing to unscrew the cap each time. But it was cheap and will give it a try to see if it makes any difference. So far I haven’t lost any coolant in 3 days after lots of driving each day.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

thats a good sign!!!!! yours aint like that? huh, thought they had that pressure release thing, not to fill it or nothin, but to vent pressure before removin it. and luckily you shouldnt need to remove it as much if you havent lost coolant yet!

 

[98FordLove]

thats a good sign!!!!! yours aint like that? huh, thought they had that pressure release thing, not to fill it or nothin, but to vent pressure before removin it. and luckily you shouldnt need to remove it as much if you havent lost coolant yet!

No no, I just put the new cap on yesterday, it only has one drive on it since putting it on. The previous two days of not losing any coolant was with the old cap. Who knows maybe that half bottle of k seal I put in a week ago is working for good.

Oh I get it, so lifting the latch releases the pressure from inside. So I’m guessing the design behind this is allowing you to remove the cap without leaving to let the truck sit to cool off first?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Oh I get it, so lifting the latch releases the pressure from inside. So I’m guessing the design behind this is allowing you to remove the cap without leaving to let the truck sit to cool off first?

yep! though i still wouldnt remove it when hot, just because but yes it does make it safer when its hot

 

[98FordLove]

yep! though i still wouldnt remove it when hot, just because but yes it does make it safer when its hot

It seems well made. Checked it again today with it cold and coolant level in the rad is still the same. Good news. I think my kseal is working now. But will remain to keep checking daily for the next week and if it's good then I'll check once every few days.

 

[98FordLove]

Anyone know how to get the headlight housing to stay put? My driver's side popped out and I guess I may have drove on it today with it popped out like an eyeball out of the socket. It just won't stay when I punch it in. How are these usually held up? The upper plastic headlight housing (the one that includes signals lights)

 

[98FordLove]

Lol it looks like the headlight plastic housing cracked at the top near the screw mount. I'll just crazy glue it haha, it should fix it.

 

[C420sailor]

Those headlights are notorious for breaking. I always grab a couple good ones from the JY.

As for the rad. The overflow reservoir is a buffer for the system. As the level fluctuates during heat cycles, coolant will move to/from the reservoir.

If the system gets too low, it’ll pull all the coolant from the reservoir.

It has been my experience that if the reservoir is dry, it’s a coin toss on whether adding coolant to the reservoir will result in the system filling—I guess it depends on how low the system is. I’ve found that once you’re faced with a dry reservoir, it’s best to remove the radiator cap, fill to the top of the neck, cap it, and fill the reservoir to the cold fill line. This ensures that the system is filled reasonably close to capacity.

If the res is just low? No need to fill the rad directly, just top off the res.

 

[98FordLove]

Those headlights are notorious for breaking. I always grab a couple good ones from the JY.

As for the rad. The overflow reservoir is a buffer for the system. As the level fluctuates during heat cycles, coolant will move to/from the reservoir.

If the system gets too low, it’ll pull all the coolant from the reservoir.

It has been my experience that if the reservoir is dry, it’s a coin toss on whether adding coolant to the reservoir will result in the system filling—I guess it depends on how low the system is. I’ve found that once you’re faced with a dry reservoir, it’s best to remove the radiator cap, fill to the top of the neck, cap it, and fill the reservoir to the cold fill line. This ensures that the system is filled reasonably close to capacity.

If the res is just low? No need to fill the rad directly, just top off the res.

I put black gorilla tape on each end of the headlight for now ha. Will get some Gorilla glue for plastic tomorrow and try to see if i can glue where it broke away from the screw. I would think it should work.

Not sure why I never see my coolant level in the res go up or down, ever. It's the weirdest thing. That's why in my case I can pretty much never rely on checking the coolant level by checking the level in the res. It's very misleading.

 

[BTR]

@98FordLove - I didn't read this entire thread, so if what I'm going to mention has already been discussed, then ignore my comment.

I had a situation in which the coolant level in my reservoir never changed. I was concerned about this because it's not normal. Upon inspection, I found that the dip hose (inside the reservoir) had come loose from the reservoir cap. Thus, no coolant could be drawn into the radiator. This particular reservoir setup had the dip hose attached to the bottom of the reservoir cap and the hose hung down into the reservoir. I reattached the dip hose and thought the problem was fixed.

However, once again, the coolant level in my reservoir never changed. Upon further inspection, I found out that the inlet/outlet end of the dip hose (which resides at the bottom of the reservoir and is submerged in coolant) was clogged. Thus, coolant couldn't move in/out of the hose. Turns out that the bottom 1/8 of the reservoir was full of leak stop and the leak stop... over many years... had clogged the inlet/outlet end of the dip hose.

After removing the reservoir, flushing it out, unclogging the dip hose, and attaching the dip hose to the reservoir cap with a hose clamp, everything returned to normal, i.e., the coolant level in the reservoir changed regularly based on engine temperature.

Takeaway of the story: Make sure the path to/from the reservoir is... in fact... clear, open, and flowing.

 

[98FordLove]

@98FordLove - I didn't read this entire thread, so if what I'm going to mention has already been discussed, then ignore my comment.

I had a situation in which the coolant level in my reservoir never changed. I was concerned about this because it's not normal. Upon inspection, I found that the dip hose (inside the reservoir) had come loose from the reservoir cap. Thus, no coolant could be drawn into the radiator. This particular reservoir setup had the dip hose attached to the bottom of the reservoir cap and the hose hung down into the reservoir. I reattached the dip hose and thought the problem was fixed.

However, once again, the coolant level in my reservoir never changed. Upon further inspection, I found out that the inlet/outlet end of the dip hose (which resides at the bottom of the reservoir and is submerged in coolant) was clogged. Thus, coolant couldn't move in/out of the hose. Turns out that the bottom 1/8 of the reservoir was full of leak stop and the leak stop... over many years... had clogged the inlet/outlet end of the dip hose.

After removing the reservoir, flushing it out, unclogging the dip hose, and attaching the dip hose to the reservoir cap with a hose clamp, everything returned to normal, i.e., the coolant level in the reservoir changed regularly based on engine temperature.

Takeaway of the story: Make sure the path to/from the reservoir is... in fact... clear, open, and flowing.

Thanks so much. Really appreciate it

 

[98FordLove]

Those headlights are notorious for breaking. I always grab a couple good ones from the JY.

As for the rad. The overflow reservoir is a buffer for the system. As the level fluctuates during heat cycles, coolant will move to/from the reservoir.

If the system gets too low, it’ll pull all the coolant from the reservoir.

It has been my experience that if the reservoir is dry, it’s a coin toss on whether adding coolant to the reservoir will result in the system filling—I guess it depends on how low the system is. I’ve found that once you’re faced with a dry reservoir, it’s best to remove the radiator cap, fill to the top of the neck, cap it, and fill the reservoir to the cold fill line. This ensures that the system is filled reasonably close to capacity.

If the res is just low? No need to fill the rad directly, just top off the res.

Thanks so much. My res never changing in level makes no sense but I know that I don't have any blockage because it was just 2 weeks ago where the mech drained the entire block and rad of coolant. Lol

 

[C420sailor]

I mean a blockage in the tube between the radiator and reservoir, or sludge in the bottom of the res. With the amount of K-Seal you use, a blockage is extremely likely

 

[Fix4Dirt]

It seems well made. Checked it again today with it cold and coolant level in the rad is still the same. Good news. I think my kseal is working now. But will remain to keep checking daily for the next week and if it's good then I'll check once every few days.

2 weeks after this post, how is it? also is the oil pan bolt still leakin on this one? (or am i thinking of someoen elsees thread...) ah shoot dunno no more

 

[98FordLove]

I mean a blockage in the tube between the radiator and reservoir, or sludge in the bottom of the res. With the amount of K-Seal you use, a blockage is extremely likely

Okay I see. Only have half a bottle in the system right now. Most of not all came out when the mech drained the rad and block 3 weeks ago.

 

[98FordLove]

2 weeks after this post, how is it? also is the oil pan bolt still leakin on this one? (or am i thinking of someoen elsees thread...) ah shoot dunno no more

Oil pan bolt still leaks yes, hasn't gotten worse though. It may be slightly better (tough to see unless i measure exactly how many drops it drops each time after it comes back from a drive. still trying to determine if the Liquid Moly Oiler saver has improved it.

I've been checking the rad neck every 3 days in the past week and no big drop from the rad. But some days the coolant will show about maybe 3 or 4 inches below from the top of the neck, while others will have the coolant so full it actually spits a bit out when I release the rad cap. Is this normal?