She sits in the garage most of her time, this morning she is loaded with brush and going to the dump for her first spring run......at least that was the plan. When I got about 2 miles from home at the high school to drop off my son, I could smell coolant which I thought was funny because the temp gage was still not showing anything.......until I tapped the glass and then it was pegged. I tried banging on the thermostat housing with a screwdriver handle but I don't think water is circulating because the lower hose seems "puffy" and no where near as hot as the upper hose. New thermostat will be installed this evening. Question.........what is it I can feel inside the lower main radiator hose, when I squeeze it, it feels like a spring or something in there just before it gets to the water pump?
No, not mushy, I had the whole system gone over by a buddy of mine in the radiator buisness. He gave me a discount if I would let him leave the truck parked in front of his shop for a week....seems a nice old truck brings in customers some how, who knew.
OK, new tstat in and it opens/works fine but the same problem still persists.....the gage on the dash when tapped goes straight up to pegged! Is this the symptoms of a bad temprature sending unit?
If your smelling coolant theres likely something going on. Check your oil for water and look at the exhaust to see if your getting smoke. Could be a head gasket.
I burned out either the temp gauge or sending unit in my '63 Chevy C10 by overheating it once. It read hot all the time after that, I installed a new mechanical gauge and all was fine. I never smelled coolant.
I thought that too, oil is like honey and there is no smoke. The coolant smell is coming from the heater core. I just want to know how to check if the temp sensor is functioning properly.
If you smell coolant from the heater core you may have a bad core especially if its the original one. If there's a leak just big enough so the system doesn't pressurize then the coolant will boil and create air pockets in the system. Likely an air pocket will form around the temp sensor leaving it exposed and give a false reading.
Done, no leaks on dry garage floor and cab is dry. Heater works first then tstat opens. coolant level under tstat full, no air. Checked resistance of sensor, no reading. This assumes I am using my new multimeter correctly.
Resistance of sensor should be very high or infinite when cold. Resistance will go down the hotter it gets. Check by using your ohm meter, connect one probe to the center threaded contact, the other to ground, either the body of the sensor or intake manifold. Make sure to disconnect the wire from the threaded contact first to avoid any false readings.
You can also swing the gauge through it's full range by momentarily removing the sending unit wire and touching it to a good ground. The gauge should swing from one extreme to the other.
Well it's not overheating. Just came from the dump to get rid of brush and then off to the repair shop for an inspection. I'm thinking I'll need to replace the wiring (both of them) that run along the valve cover, one for ignition and the other to the temp sensor.....both are oil baked with cracked insulation. Any tips on this wiring? Is there resistor wire here or can I just go get some green and red wire?
+1 on checking the heater core. Every time I've smelled coolant in the cab has has been a leaky core. PS. Great old truck, we had one in the family for more than 10 years. Other vehicle came and went but the old 63 was a constant until it was stolen and chopped for parts.