ok, i have one weird problem going on here. a little while back i had to drain my coolant system to replace the clogged thermostat. well, that went pretty smoothly. little messy but everything was good. that was almost 2 weeks ago. i open up my hood today and upon further inspection of the right side of my engine, there was coolant EVERYWHERE. here's the weird part though. it wasn't dripping or running down from anywhere. there were some small puddles next to my intake manifold. then it was completely/semi-dry all the way down until underneath the truck where everything from the right side of my front axle all the way back to my transfer case had coolant spray on it. i COULD NOT find the source of this supposed "leak" ANYWHERE. quite frankly i was getting agitated. anyway, i'm thinking maybe it was just residual fluid from when i changed it a little over a week ago. well that's wrong because me and my wife went about 2 miles down the road to pizza hut, had dinner, came back, and all the coolant that i couldnt wipe up earlier was dried up from the heat of the engine. AND, there was no more coolant fluid that i could see. i'm so confused here. someone please alleviate my pain lol.

 

anybody? lol

 

Go and get a pressure gauge that hooks on to the radiator cap. Pump it up full of air pressure, and see where you are losing coolant. Did you make sure that you had all of the old gasket removed?
This is the tool I am talking about: http://www.autozone.com/in_our_store...ure_tester.htm

 

It doesn't take very long to pull off the alternator to get a good look (believe me... I know... I've been there a lot lately).

Anyway, there are three potential points of failure there. The thermostat housing/upper radiator hose, heater hose, and the temperature sensor. My guess is either that the gasket is leaking and sprays coolant, or the clamp isn't on the hose right, and it's leaking around there.

Nothing like the smell of cooked antifreeze after dinner.

 

water pump, water pump bypass hose, upper radiator hose, t-stat housing, heater hose or heater hose pipe o-ring.

 

When my brother changed my thermostat a few months ago (figured he could handle it....guess not...hah) I had coolant leak pretty badly afterwards, discovered that the two bolts that hold the thermostat housing into place are not the same length and that one will bottom out, not clamping the housing down properly. Something worth checking at least...

 

And all that stuff too :P

 

quite honestly i feel embarrassed to say that it's fixed. i had to take it to the shop to get it pressure tested to see where it was coming from. the radiator hose clamp going into the thermostat housing wasn't on tight enough. thought i tightened good enough, guess not. :-\
thanks for all the info and help guys! i really appreciate it