Murphy's law is no joke...

Yesterday I was 450 miles from home, having driven to VA to help my daughter who just graduated from university. We were moving her stuff back to ATL. The Dak was loaded to the hilt, front end high and rear end squatting. We had a few hours of daylight left, so I really wanted to get on the road. Before leaving, I checked fluids and all was good.

We decided to air up her car's tires at a nearby gas station on the way out... probably five miles away from her Apt. On the way there, I hear the belt chirping a few times, but I thought it might be a car near me. Wouldn't you know, we pull into the gas station and there is steam shooting from the hood. I pop it open and find that I hadn't fully locked the radiator cap. You know, when you turn the cap till it stops, but don't push down and fully lock? Coolant everywhere and the unmistakable sound of boiling liquid.

So there I was, sh*tting bricks, 450 miles from home with a fully loaded truck! You know VA is full of hills and the truck was squatting, so this wasn't no normal 5 mile drive. Had a full gallon of coolant, so I waited around 20 mins for it to cool down (so it wouldn't crack the block), then poured slowly. Not only did it take the whole gallon, It took almost a whole nother gallon we had to go buy. The damn thing was empty!

This is the second time I've done this stupid crap with the cap... being in a rush. After filling, I tried bleeding it with font end up on a curb. Got on the road and it was slightly overheating for a long time. I though... "damage done." (And I'm probably right) Hundreds of miles later, the needle seemed to move back to normal center position, if a tad above. Guess it worked out the air into the overflow. I wasn't easy on it either... running between 80-90 mph when I could.

Made it home, but I learned a few things....

1. I was a lucky SOB, stopping for air.
2. The 4.7L is tougher than people think. This happened with 310K on it and it still pulled like a champ.
3. Slow the f down and check things properly

 

Wow...that's a lot of boil-off. I think it's only a 3 gallon system total, so I bet you hardly had the pump even wet.

 

It's the worse kind of overheat. The temp sensor doesn't even give you a good reading of how hot it gets without fluid going past it. And remember I had a semi blown head gasket in the past.

 

The temp sensor is at the bottom of the engine too if im not mistaken? so if there is no fluid in the upper part of the engine ............. it can be much much hotter. I think that's where my problem is

 

Actually, the temp sensor is up top, so even less chance of coolant reaching it when levels drop. It's the oil pressure switch that sits underneath.

 

Had another overheat episode.

Left work and kept getting a slight whiff of coolant. Thought it was a car near me. About 5 miles later I'm still smelling it and I see the needle climbing. Pulled into a gas station and found that a heater hose slipped off this heater valve. Had to buy two jugs of gas station coolant (shoulda just filled it with water till I got home) at almost $20 each. It took a jug and a half. Well, at least they loaned me a srewdriver to get the hose back on.

I swear I'm going to kill this engine with these mishaps, one of these days.... it's a good thing I'm pretty in tune with things.

 

My guess is way too many people just neglect their 4.7 very poor maintenance long oil changes and cheap Dino oil.


Want a laugh watch a few of these https://www.youtube.com/c/IDoCarsalldaylong/videos

BAD ENGINE TEARDOWNS burned up engines most are due to lack of oil.

 

325k is damn impressive, maybe with its age a basic tool kit stored in the truck might be in order. The Rams got 2, 1 a 1/4" drive socket set and the other is a 3/8" drive set. No wrenches in there yet, keep meaning to solve that but have not done it yet. Last time I got stuck, lost a connection on the cross-over cable between the batteries 50 miles from any store. As luck would have it, none of the sockets would work from the 3/8" kit...another wheeler rolled by and had a wrench on hand to let me fix it and be on my way. That was 50k miles or so back, really need to get a wrench set in the truck.

Better to have & not need then need and not have.

 

Yeah....this engine requires basic maintenance... as in keep it full of reasonably clean oil and coolant. I actually run 7.5K oil changes, but I use full syn and I keep it at a slight overfill. The oil barely gets to a dark honey by the time I change it. I watched one of those engine teardowns... they are brutal. Guy flips the engine over while it's on the stand and says "sounds like a cash register in there." LOL

Man, I was saying the same thing yesterday. I coulda kicked myself. I've got drawers full of duplicate hand tools and nothing in the damn truck but it's been so reliable that it was an afterthought. This is like the 4th time I've overheated it doing dumb sht. That heater valve came off a Lexus. LOL. Heater valve install I think when you overheat due to coolant loss, the temp gauge can't really register correctly because the temp sensor needs coolant flowing over it. The gauge was at 3/4, but the little coolant left was boiling when I opened the hood.

 

I got a couple of tool bags, both the same size in a 2 qty package from Lowes. They have enough room for probably a basic set of wrenches and the most common 3/8" drive ratchets (not in either truck atm). I think that should fit under the seat. I currently have the center section that lifts up for additional storage on the Ram, it holds a lot of stuff. The 1/4" drive kit in there is in a document pouch I picked up from Home Depot, it holds a deep 1/4 socket rack plus multiple extensions and ratchet. Still plenty of room for other stuff on the other side of the divider for screwdrivers, pliers etc... Another pouch like that could be used for 3/8" drive if the bag is too big, and it might be. Its about the size of a 6 pack of cans, with handles.