Sixmorereps

Hello forum,

New to the site.
1995 f150 302 5.0 4x4 dog
165,000 miles

I have recently noticed that my windows stream and a bit of fog in the front passenger side of windshield. Also I have been losing what seems to be around 2 gallons of fluids (mainly water now) every week or so.

The other day I noticed my truck showing a bit hot..when I popped the hood, the coolant reservoir was steaming with sound. I looked inside and there was built up brown sludge..looked like an inch..top of the radiator had the same sludge on the cap and in the radiator spout.

I fill with water (2 gallons) and drive home approximately 40 miles , no over heating..

Today I figured I'd flush the system / radiator and as fresh antifreeze and water.. maybe there is blockage from the goop.

Following direction on the blue devil flush bottle, I empty radiator, then fill it with water, turn on the heat high, and start running or for ten minutes.

I walk around to the passenger side and notice drops of water and what looks like rust from radiator on the passenger axle right where the heater core is located. Also there was a leak coming from under my glove box (rust water). Add to that my upper hose was still cool and so was the air.

3hrs later..... (heading to AutoZone so I can bypass the heater core for now) 5 minutes away

Truck ran at normal temp....fluctuated a few times on the way home...

While idling at home, I decided to run her with HIGH HEAT once again..This time I have full heat and still no overheating for the 13 minutes I ran it..

I was by going to bypass in the mourning because I need to work and I use my truck for work..i don't habe the money or time to mess with replacing a heater core that may not even need replacement.

Any suggestions are welcome . Thank you for taking the time to read..
LevRa

raski

Sounds like a failing heater core but I think you also have another leak somewhere. If you lost that much coolant, you would have it all over the place on the floor. Make sure you are not getting ATF in the system from a leaky cooler if equiped. Check the weep hole on the water pump too. You shouldn't have a thick sludge in there unless someone used stop leak before. I am not sure about your 95 but the heater core was not a big deal to change out on my 87.

Sixmorereps

Thanks for the quick response..should I go ahead and bypass until I have time to work with the heater core? Or should i pour in the Blue Devil flush and roll a few days to clean out th3 system and see if that helps?.
Thanks again
LevRa

raski

If it's leaking, bypass it and the flush. The flush will likely make it worse, spilling coolant all over the floorboard.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

Heater core is pretty simple to change on your truck. One of the easiest vehicles out there for that job.