mhanksii

holy crap... I'm not sure how I forgot that. Thank man... now the hunt continues. The weak heat thing has to change quick

ocps9823

I would keep checking the coolant level.

I know that if the coolant was real low, it will take a while for the air to purge out of the system.

You will find that the coolant level keeps dropping and you will need to keep adding until it is finally where it should be.

When I had this issue with my Explorer, it took some time to find the leak and it was a very small leak at a hose clamp. Easy fix, but a pain to find.

Good luck

mhanksii

My coolant wasn't low at all. It was right where it should have been. This issue just doesn't make any sense to me. It doesn't heat up until something like 20 minutes of driving, even after 12-15 minutes of running in the driveway in the morning. the fact that the temp gauge will go down if I coast for any amount of time freaks me out. I have never had an engine do that before. Could the new t-stat be bad.... that's the idea I keep coming back to

Mod (Ret.)

If it's a slow head gasket type leak, toss a bottle of "BARS LEAK" into the radiator (remove the upper hose to radiator; pour in bottle). This stuff will seal a head gasket leak and WILL NOT CLOG the radiator or heater core. It works!

John.F150

If it's a head gasket, won't you have fluid leaking out of your tail pipe? Seems like I've heard that before.

mhanksii

you can smell antifreeze in the exhaust. While it's never a good idea to huff your exhaust, a little antifreeze in there and there will be a VERY sweet smell. I think I will just have to perform a leak down test or pressure test on the cooling system and see what that tells me.... oh trouble shooting, why can't you be easier like your brother job, fixing.

'08f150stx

If it is a really small leak, there won't be anything noticeable. Just a standard condensation drip from the engine, converter, exhaust. You would really need a big leak to be able to smell it from the tailpipe.
If you can localize the problem, which bank, pulling the plugs and comparing them would tell you which cylinder you had the leak, the plug that is totally clean, yellow/white and degraded more than other is where it is.
Pay a mechanic to trouble shoot and go from there. Don't guess.

As far as little heat with the temp gauge dropping a little when you take your foot off the gas, probably a bad thermostat. Check the temperature of your heater hoses when you first start you truck, both cool or cold, and as the truck engine warms up, before the thermostat opens up, one hose should heat up warmer than the other. And when the thermostat opens, the hoses should become approximately the same temp as the 'stat opens. If they remain the same temp from startup your thermostat is stuck open.
Did you purge the air out of your cooling system before you "buttoned her up"?

John.F150

Did you ever have any more trouble or find a leak?

JerseyDevil5

You could see if your heater core needs to be flushed out. Just follow your 2 heater hoses back to the firewall and while at operating temperature, both hoses should be hot. If only one is hot, then you probably need to flush it. Just take both hoses off where they attach to the heater core (at firewall) and take a water hose and spray water through the inlet and outlet of the heater core until you see clean clear water coming out each way. Then, reattach everything and refill with coolant. Finally, run the truck with the radiator cap off to get rid of any air in the system. Hopefully, you will start getting good heat again. I hope this may help.

jgrathoff

hey guys the problem i have is some days the heat will roast you right out of the cab.other days it takes a while to warm up comfortably. the temp gauge does bobble around and takes to the letter L in normal for the thermostate to open up. any ideas would be great. i do have to once in a while put antifreeze in the over flow bottle to the cold full level. any help would be great. its a 94 f150 with the 5.0. thanks in advance