Generally, yes. For the most part, when they are that bad though, the cooling system won't hold pressure, and you get coolant running out the spark plug holes. (assuming the spark plugs aren't there.....) Something else you might try, is when the engine is nice an warm, and before you put the cap back on, put the pressure tester on their, pump it up to about 10 pounds, and see what it does. (don't crank it up to 15 pounds, the engine is still hot, and pressure should build some if everything is as it should be.)

 

Alright I didn't have time to burp the truck today but I did notice that on the hose coming from the water pump into the firewall, there is a hose connector like thing connecting the two hoses together and directly under that on the exhaust manifold, there is a white residue. Could this be where coolant is dripping out and evaporating??

 

Entirely possible.

 

The radiator on my truck expanded like that, so much in fact my Dad put a clip across the top to keep the radiator where it should be and the damn thing just started expanded around the clip. We did replace the radiator, but I drove the truck like that for at least a year, probably longer. I would put coolant in it, and it would never be real full, never leaked, so I don't know where it was holding all of the coolant, but truck never overheated, never blew a hose or anything else, maybe I got lucky. We don't know what made the radiator expand either. Truck has 216,000 miles on it, new radiator has about 5,000 miles and we are pretty sure it was the original radiator we replaced.

 

Expansion and contraction and cheap Chinese crap is what causes the bulge.

 

This will give you an idea of how much!!! Your profile says Canada/Florida so i used Fort Lauderdale zip code for the shipping. This is at rockauto.com. You can search the forum and sometimes you can find a discount code!! Hope it helps! Good luck!!


PartPriceCoreQuantityTotalRemove1997 DODGE RAM 1500 PICKUP 5.2L 318cid V8 CNG MFI (T) OHVCooling System : RadiatorVISTA-PRO Part # 431335 {#1552, 9122}
Ready Rad; Fits w/ MAX Cooling
Ready Rad; Fits w/ HD Cooling
Ready Rad; Fits w/o AC
Ready Rad; Fits w/ AC$107.79
Subtotal$107.79
Country: United States
Postal Code: Shipping: Ground (FedEx or UPS) ($18.92)
Total$126.71