Antifreeze squirting all over

[crazyplowboy]

I checked my coolant level yesterday and it was down about an inch, but I said good enough and did not fill it up. Today I drove it for about 30 minutes and when I got home noticed antifreeze on the drivers side fender. The fluid was coming from the cap. I let the truck sit for about an hour and then checked the fluid level, as soon as I cracked the cap it started spraying fluid all over. I probibly lost about a quart of fluid when I took the cap off. The truck never got hot while driving it, and when I took the cap off the truck was cooled down. Could this be as simple as a bad cap? Why did it spray all over when the motor was completely cool?

 

[wehring]

Same drama

I am experiencing the exact same thing. Good temp, local driving, no big load. The hole on the side of the front driver's skirt has wet marks around it and the fender was wet.

I changed caps with another deuce and the same thing happened. I decided that it may have been overfilled and have driven it several more times. No further issues but this does NOT mean that it is fixed.

I am curious to hear if anyone else has had this problem.

Justin

 

[OD_Coyote]

My experience with (3) deuces with good radiator caps is... If you can see the coolant in the filler neck, the level is too high and it will come out the overflow tube until it reaches the correct level.

 

[Jake0147]

If it is too full and overflows out the overflow, it's not that messy.
If it's too full and overflows but the overflow is plugged, it's all over that side of the engine bay and all over the driver's side fender.

Mine has found it's own "happy level", it's in the filler neck but just enough to see that it's there.

 

[spentshell]

As long as it doesnt look like this your good. Ditto on the level and check the overflow for blockage

 

[crazyplowboy]

Thanks guys. I'll check the overflow tube later this evening.

 

[crazyplowboy]

Well I packed some paper towels into the fill opening so nothing would end up in the radiator. I then straitened a coat hanger and shoved it into the bottom of the overflow tube until it wouldn't go any further due to the bends in the tube. I wiggled it around a little bit and when I pulled it back out all kinds of rust and mud and darkly tinted antifreeze poured out. I put my blowgun on the top of the tube inside the filler cap and blew everything out. It's amazing how much stuff collected in there.
Maccus I think that I'm going to put a hose on the end of it and run it down where you said, it will keep the coolant off the crossmember. Also the next time it cloggs up maybe I could simply take off the hose and the clog will be in there.
Thank you all for the help and ideas.

 

[Jake0147]

I had another post on the subject, but my searching skills are not quite honed enough to find it...
Anyhow, first I used a coat hangar to pack all the rust and crust into my overflow tube so tightly that there was no hope of ever getting it open. Then I stuck a cheezy china-mart oil pressure gauge re-inatallation kit tube on the end of my blow gun... That roto-rootered it's way through the mess nicely.

 

[crazyplowboy]

I think that a good cleaning was all that was needed. I took it out for about 3 hours today and I can see where some fluid came out of the overflow, but there is none all over the hood/ fender area.

 

[bsteinborn]

Can you guys help me out, where is the overflow tube? I've checked various TM's but find no mention of an overflow tube.

 

[gimpyrobb]

If you look at your radiator cap, there should be a tube off to the right of it. That is the overflow tube.

 

[Flyingvan911]

The overflow tube come out just below the radiator cap on the filler neck.

My radiator has a leak where the top cover is welded to the top tank. It is in the corner by the filler neck. It leaks a tiny bit when the thermostat opens. With the winter cover on, the drops of coolant actually fly forward and run up the hood and hit the driver's side windshield right smack in the middle. I am going to pull it out soon to have it fixed.

 

[daddy2]

I had the same problem with my M36a2. It was the overflow tube that was clogged. It was so bad that I had to cut it off just after the elbow. I ran tubing down next to the old overflow. I filled the radiator again and went for a long ride. When I got back I noticed that antifrieeze had run out the now overflow tube and it found its level. I'll post a picture later this morning.

 

[Srjeeper]

Adding enough rubber hose to the end to clear the crossmember, does save a mess if it overflows.

The other thing I do is put a golf tee in the end of the hose when I park it for any length of time to keep the Mud Wasps & Spiders from building nests in the line. Or sometimes just fold it over to close off the end.

 

[zout]

This might sound too obvious for almost everyone BUT - there are some folks who just do not know - so.

If you look at the radiator cap on whatever vehicle and it will have how many #'s of pressure the system needs to hold. If you FILL the system all the way to the top of the neck and buckle down the cap and fire it up - system gets hot to open the T stats and the system needs and requires the GAP of air for that pressure to build - if the system is FULL to the top it is going to push as much antifreeze out of your system through the nearest port it can find till it gets the air pressure needed to build.

The closest port is the overflow tube.

Once it has built pressure and the needed space for that pressure it will stop pushing antifreeze out of the system.

Just in case you did not know - and the rest of you are saying to yourself - WELL no kidding.

 

[bsteinborn]

Wow, now I am really curious to take another look at my truck. I have flushed the system, replaced the radiator cap, etc. At the moment I swear that the only thing I have is the filler neck without the overflow tube. At least I know where to look. Thanks all.