I recently put a remanufactured engine in my 2004 Ram 1500 4x4 with the 5.7L engine. Everything went fine with the engine swap and the truck got a new water pump, thermostat and rad cap when the engine went in. About a week after, I was in traffic and the engine got hot and when I pulled over, the "plug" at the top of the water pump was out and when I pulled the water pump, the impeller was broken from the shaft. I replaced the water pump, t-stat and rad cap again, filled it will coolant and off I went without any issues. About a week later I replaced the fan clutch which was apparently bad as well. The original engine never had a cooling issue.

Now, it's a couple weeks later and I'm having cooling problems. It appears to be pushing coolant out thru the overflow bottle and I can't figure out why. In the driveway, the engine idles fine, warms up and once the t-stat opens it maintains right around 200 degrees at the thermostat housing which on the dash is the middle of the gage.

Yesterday, after flushing the system and filling with fresh coolant, I drove about 40 miles with the gage right in the middle and no issues at all. This morning, when I got on the highway, it was fine for a while but eventually moved up to the end of the black on the gage and the "CHECK GAGES" light came on but then it quickly went back down to about 3/4 and bounced back and forth the whole time I was moving on the highway. I had thought that the bouncing was the thermostat opening and closing, but with a 203* stat, it should have already been open.

Once I got into traffic, it stayed closer to the end of the black and any time the light would come on, I'd just give it a little gas to spin the fan and it would come right down. When moving 10-15mph in traffic, it would stay hot tho.

Before I flushed it yesterday, I was having some heat issues and noticed that the upper hose would always be very hard even when the coolant temp is high enough that the stat is open. If I shut it off and loosened the cap, I'd get lots of air out of the system before any coolant.

So my question is, does anyone have any ideas on what I can try? I've replaced everything but the radiator and hoses and I reverse flushed the radiator with the garden hose and verified that both upper and lower hoses are clear and in good condition. I'm considering removing the stat and adding an electric fan that's always on but that's not fixing the problem, just masking the symptoms.

I plugged in the code scanner but honestly haven't cleared the codes since the engine went in so I don't know if any of these are recent, but here's my code list:

p0300 - Random cylinder misfires
p0304 - Cyl 4 misfire
p0117 - ECT Malfunction
P2181 - Can't find a meaning other than cooling system related
P0300 - Random cylinder misfires
p0304 - Cyl 4 misfire
p0137 - o2 sensor low voltage

Now, looking at the p0117 and p0137, it's very possible that I have a pinched wire or wires somewhere from the engine swap and I'll chase those but the p0117 could also be from overheating which I did the day that the plug popped from the water pump.

My next step is taking it to a shop and I'm trying to avoid that if at all possible since I don't have another vehicle to use while this one is being fixed.

Thanks.

 

I forgot to mention that I checked the oil and there's no signs of water in the oil or oil in the water, there was a little white coming from the exhaust but that's gone now, probably condensation in the exhaust from sitting and the torential rains we had yesterday while the truck sat.

I've been searching and reading and unless someone has another idea, tonight I'll be refilling and following the bleeding procedures that I've been reading about. I don't remember seeing a bleeder screw on any of the 3 water pumps I've had on this truck, but I'll look. If not, I'll follow the let it run for 10 minutes after the stat opens with the cap off and keep it full method.

Still looking for other possible things to look at. I know the head gasket is a possibility since I have the cylinder misfires and the puff of white this morning, and I'll probably do a compression test to verify, but I'll clear the codes before I leave work today and see if they come back.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Here's an update on my overheating woes....

I cleared the codes before leaving work and when I got home I had codes for misfires on cyl4 and cyl6. I went thru the process of trying to get the air out of the system and after 20 minutes of watching bubbles burp out and keeping it full (while watching a gallon or so of coolant get burped onto the driveway) there were still bubbles coming out which tells me that there's air getting in somewhere.

After this process, the truck cooled down (although the temp never went above 205) and when I left the house later, there was steam in the exhaust. I'm thinking the combination of the misfires and steam is telling me that the head gasket is blown but would this explain the air in the cooling system? Is coolant getting into the combustion chamber AND exhaust getting into the coolant?

Someone please help!!!!

 

sounds like air is getting into the cooling system while running, and coolant getting into the cylinders while sitting.... head gasket time

 

sounds like classic head gasket blown to me. One way to check would be to pull a spark plug and see if it has signs of dried up coolant on it, if so then you've almost definitely got a blown gasket. It's a little strange that you don't see any signs in the oil, did you look for a ring around the oil cap? Evaporated water/coolant will leave a ring on there usually. You could also note the oil level cold, let it run for 20 min or so then check the level again to see if it rose an abnormal amount.

If you really don't think its the gasket you could get your heads checked by a machine shop and get the rad pressure tested. Seems like you've done a pretty complete coolant system diagnostic but I would be doubly sure if you replace the head gasket as obviously a bad coolant system will just lead to more a blown gasket.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you find out.

 

To the OP.
Get one of those coolant emissions kits. They are cheap enough and will pay dividends, before you start to rip into the engine.
This will chemically check, to see if there's any emissions in your coolant. This will tell you 100% if you have a cracked head and/or bad head gasket.
Al.

 

I didn't check around the oil cap, but I'll check that today. I'll pull the dipstick again this afternoon as well and check but when I pulled it yesterday, it was clean.

Since cyls 4 and 6 are right next to each other, it's looking even more certain that it's the head gasket. Since I can't fix it for 4-6 weeks due to a broken collarbone, I'm gonna try that crap you put in the coolant to seal head gasket leaks and pray it holds out until the collarbone is healed or I can get some help.

 

I didn't know such a thing existed. Is it something I should be able to get at a standard parts store? If so, I'll try that tonight too.

 

Yes.
You will be able to find one of these emissions coolant test kits in any good Autoparts store.
They test for these gasses and the chemicals left in the coolant and are very acurate I bellieve. they are not too expensive either. Over here in the UK they are like $20-30. But that, compared to an engine tear down is peanuts.
Good luck and post up please what you find. We can possibly help you further.

Here's a link to a UK web site explaining how to do this. Please note that it refers to "other problems" in causing your head gasket/head failures and points to a clogged radiator possibly causing the issue.
http://www.ehow.com/how_7885485_test...s-coolant.html

Do a google for your USA source for a kit.



Al.

 

Good advice on the kit, I didn't know about those either, sounds like that's the ticket.