So, we made our annual pilgrimage to Regina, about 6 hours away, to see my family for Christmas. We do Christmas eve, and morning here in Winnipeg, then head to Regina.
We hop in the mighty explorer about lunch time, and off we go. About 3/4 of the way there...we notice its getting cold...oh no I think.
A scan of the gauges and the temp gauge is rising.......This isn't good.
I pull over for a peek. And, coolant all over the motor. Rad's all but empty. Fan, frieken tastic. 4:00pm on Christmas day. We passed a small town about 9km back, so we turn araound and make a slow treck hoping something will be open. I can only run the motor for a few minutes, then need to shut it off to cool down while coasting. We make it to a gas station and they are closed, but someone is still inside. I manage to talk them into letting me buy some coolant ($50.00 for 2 gallons, but I thought it was a bargain).
We make it to my parents for Christmas dinner. Excellent, I'll deal with the truck tomorrow Im thinking to myself.
Boxing day, I head out thinking I'll gas up, wand wash my motor and get a look at whats going on. The temperature has really dropped, and is getting colder. I gas up, and head in to the wand wash bay. Well, It turns out my hood won't open either. The issues keep building. Lovely.
I continue on and pick up another 6 gallons of premix coolant, then back to my parents. Tim suggested getting someone outside to bounce the hood while I pull the hood release. Perfect. It popped open. Lifes good.
Next step cut the hood cable and route it by the license plate, cutting some extra sheathing off. I could see the cable had been too close to the header and melted it at some point. Anyway, at least I could open the hood to top up the rad. I filled the rad, and didn't lock the rad cap, thinking I'll just let the pressure bleed off so coolant won't be forced out of the hole/crack in the rad.
Ok, Next day and its home day. Im a bit stressed and its really cold. My mighty Explorer starts, but squeals away telling me how unhappy it is. I ignore the crying and run back to the warmth of the house. After 10 minutes of warming up, we get in the truck to start our hopefully uneventful trip home (with just a few rad topup's). Well, I notice my boost gauge has no power. ****. That means my scavange pump has no power either. Again, frieken lovely.
I pop the hood, and see the fuse is blown. I rummage around the floor in the back seat and find another fuse. It blows also. F$^k.
Next, pull a larger amperage fuse from something else (Who cares what at this point) and try again. Success!!!! I used to low of an amperage fuse for the cold oil and frozen pump obviously. Ok, were on our way (Im thinking now I have oil in my intake and exhaust piping, and that intake piping is going to have to come apart and be cleaned, but whatever....were on the road).
We made it all the way home without loosing heat, so I didn't top the rad up.
So, now I have some work to do.
1. replace rad (I think its a plastic side tank leaking, but I don't want to risk just a fix.
2. replace hood release cable
3. replace belt (odds are its done also)
4. replace drivers header (yup, I'll be able to get rid of that one header that cracked (again) and my truck won't sound like a tractor anymore.
5. Check and clean intake piping( might wait toll spring, if it isn't causing issues)
Moral? Modifying has been a big part of my pain here. I've been driving a very noisy truck for a long time while waiting for my new headers. The header melted the hood release cable because I didn't have it routed quite properly (Again modifications). Also, oil return pump.....Modifications. I'm just happy I had my boost gauge wired to the same power source.
A modified vehicle doesn't like long trips from home in extreme cold.
Rockauto to the rescue. This coming weekend is repair time.
Merry frieken Christmas everyone!!
Were just happy to be home.
