Hey all. New issue this morning so I thought I'd throw a post to see some thoughts...

Started the truck this morning, it started first try, but immediately died. Repeated. Repeated.

Finally started and kept my foot on the gas until it would stay running at idle. I noticed during this process that I was blowing a bit more white exhaust than normal.

Got to work, popped the hood and noticed I have no coolant in the overflow, and the radiator appears to be mostly empty as well. No visible leaks that I can see.

This struck me as odd because I'm quite good with checking my fluids on a very regular basis.

I think I know the response to this one, but any thoughts???

1997 w/ 5.9L V8, BTW

 

Head gasket. You are burning coolant.

Refill the radiator, and see how long it takes to burn thru it again.

 

Didn't you get a temp alarm? If not head gasket, then it would be odd to have it happen at same time as loss of coolant. If the issues are unrelated, pull and clean the throttle body and that should help with the idle problems. On the loss of coolant (if not head gasket) fill and check the hoses.

 

That's more or less what I thought. The part that caught me very off guard was the stalling out issue. After I got the truck warmed up it stopped.

I'll re-fill and see what happens. Any danger to the motor burning coolant? I suspect it's been happening for a while...

And... I suppose this all relates back to the infamous plenum gasket issue?

 

Have a mechanic next door who immediately found a leak near the water pump.

 

If your white smoke goes away after you drive for a bit, and your coolant level stays good after fixing the leak, don't worry about it.

Plenum is a separate issue. Causes excessive oil consumption. (blue/grey smoke)