Hi, Im new here so excuse me if I am posting in the wrong section.
I just bought a truck for my husband as a work truck. Have had it for 2 months and now something is leaking. He has no idea what it is and neither do I for that matter but Im not in the position at this time to just bring it to a dealer and basically get raped when it is something his father can do. But his father told me to figure out what it is first so Im not buying parts we dont need

The problem...
The antifreeze is leaking

First of all, its a 2000 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport

The first problem it had was when I was driving it. I kept loosing heat in the truck, but the truck wasnt overheating, I told my husband something was wrong and to look at it, but of course he never did.
So this went on for a few days, then finally the truck basically redlined as hot as it could. I parked it at advanced auto, made him dig my mustang out of the snow and come and get the truck, he filled it with antifreeze at the parts store, drove it home, was fine, didnt overheat, had heat in the truck, everything seemed fine, but there was liquid on the passenger side fender.
A few days went by, I was still driving it to work, had heat on the inside of the truck, didnt over heat then slowly started loosing heat and started overheating again.
Filled it again, everything was fine again.
Drove for a day or two because he said it might of been because he didnt burp it, but like I said he really doesnt know anything.
A few days later I drove a mile from the house to the gas station and back because I thought I was in labor when I got back to the house the truck was smoking a little but at that point in the snow storm I didnt care, I needed to get to the hospital and my car was buried so we just took the truck, it didnt over heat but it was steaming a little bit. and we still had heat in the truck at that point.

Next day got sent home from hospital ( it was nothing)
Truck kept loosing heat, would overheat when we would try to turn the heat on because it was -10 out so we just dealt with it, got the truck home, its been parked ever since.

He started it a week or two ago to try to figure out where it is coming from and he seems to think it is water pump/gasket.
All I seen was it leaking on the ground, dripping, not spraying like directly under where the bottom of the windshield was. So the back of the motor.
But somehow there is spray on the passenger side fender.

Any ideas where to start?
I have been told anything from t-stat housing to water pump to ???????

Also when he checked it, he checked the oil, there was no oil in this truck showing on the dipstick at all, but its not leaking. There is nothing in my driveway, there is no smoke from the tailpipes, nothing.
I knew I was going to have problems because the dealer ship I got it from is a real shady scum, but I took my chances and still got screwed.

Any clue what I should start with getting first?
I know its impossible to go by my description since I have no idea what I am talking about but is there something that goes on these more than other parts?

Truck has 123000 on it, and like I said, I got it used, I dont know what kind of maintenance record it has before us, but we havent even had it long enough to do the first oil change on it.

 

oh also, while this was happening, there was a sound of bubbling/rushing liquid from behind the dash

and also the truck pings under heavy accel

 

sounds like you need a new heater core.its in the spot that you are describing and it makes the sounds you said when you get air in the system.


and the pinging is probably the plenum gasket. it is a common problem on these trucks.


there are alot of good mechanics on this site that are way better than me. i am sure there will be a few chime in.and that was a pretty good description compared to most people that have problems and post up here.

 

This is what I would start with on my truck. I have the 5.9L. You didn't specify your engine, but it should be pretty similar.

As far as your heat problem goes, it could be a number of things. If it is spraying out at the back of the engine, I would guess that it is either a hose or that the heater core is bad. The water pump and tstat are in the front of the truck and wouldn't spray into the back.

As far as the oil problem, I have the same issue, I just haven't fixed it yet. What it typically is caused by is that the intake plenum and plate are made up of two different metals (I think aluminum and steel) and after time they wear out the gasket between them and oil begins to seep into your intake. Then you burn it out through your engine. My truck only burns about a quart a month so I have just been keeping it at the right level until I can fix it. If your truck is like mine, then it is barely leaking and that is why you don't notice any black smoke.

Well, good luck.

 

Also, to check if the plenum gasket is bad, just take off the plastic part of the intake from the engine and shine a flash light down into the intake, if you see any evidence of oil then you have a bad gasket.

 

First thing I would check would be the heater hoses that run along both sides of your engine. Sounds like you have a pin hole in the hose that runs between the intake manifold and heater core on the passenger side. The other hose runs behind the engine and along the driver's side of the engine forward to the water pump.

+1 on the bad plenum gasket as well.

 

K sorry, guess I was wrong, I thought he said it was coming from the back.
I guess it is leaking from the front but its running around to the backside.

It is a 5.9L as well

Sorry but I thought it was from the backside....

 

If it is coming from the front then it is most likely either the water pump or the tstat. They are both in the direct front of the engine (in case you were unsure, the fan bolts to the water pump). I would check these to see if they were leaking. If it is spraying out then I would bet my money on a water pump. While your under the hood I would double check all of the hoses and the radiator for leaks too. It is probably spraying due to it leaking out and hitting the serpentine belt. Let us know what ya find.

 

yay another Mustang owner. What year? GT? auto or 5 speed? mods?



Ot but I'm a Mustang freak so I had to ask.

Good Luck with the truck

 

Thanks for the replys.
Yes the truck is still sitting in my driveway untouched at this point. 6 weeks total........

If it were the water pump, wouldnt it overheat immediately instead of running normal after adding antifreeze, driving for a day or so, and then overheating once it blew out all the antifreeze or no?

And the stang is a 6. I HATE IT. I went from a GT 5 speed to this piece of junk because it was the only decent one the dealer had and I cant stand it, may be trading it in this spring as well as getting another truck or suv because I just had the baby and I can not make the car seat fit in it what so ever lol... It will only fit in the backseat if no one is sitting in the passenger front lol.

But anyways, just wanted to ask that question about the water pump because it seems like everything is working fine when we added the antifreeze, drove it a day or two until it got low and then it started overheating again.

Right now the truck has NO battery power what so ever. I tried starting it the other day because I was just going to drop it off at a dealer because I am sick of looking at it, and at this point would rather spend an arm and a leg getting it fixed than having it sit in the driveway for another 6 weeks....

Others have said anything from tstat housing to water pump gasket to water pump