No smoke, degas cap leaking, heater blows cold

[cRaZy8]

Just came back from a week at Yamaha school. I expected to the truck to puff a little after sitting for a while, and she did. Only yesterday in the morning when cold. Today was normal.

Facts:

Warmed up for 10 min.
Heater blowing cold air, Edge reading 129* EOT.
Snapped the throttle twice, instant heat.
Highway drive for 40min, and then return after a 10 min appointment.
Stopped to fill up after getting off the highway.
Very small amount of white crap around the degas cap.
Wiped clean, checked oil, went to Ford dealer around the corner.
Bought new degas cap.
Never blows white smoke.


Now, I check my oil every fill up, and always look at my coolant. I filled up one week before I went away (2.5 weeks ago). And my cap was clean. Heater blew cold at me one other time few weeks back. Same remedy as today, snap the throttle, drive down the street, instant heat.

Heres my plan, change the degas cap. Recheck daily for a week.
If problem persists, buy new degas bottle.
This week it should be warmer than the last few, I planned to flush my coolant soon and the ELC (sig says it, havent done it yet, sitting in garage with flush and distilled water).
Change T-stat at same time of flush.

Not really looking for ideas here, just would like to get on the site. I am noticing a lot of poorly titled threads lately. Helps a lot when searching if the title describes the topic of the thread. I will update when I proceed.

See sig for mods.

[cRaZy8]

Forgot to add:

EOT never above 190*, ECT never above 192* on the Edge.
After warming up, I never see more than a 4-5* difference.
Will also change coolant filter after flushing.

[cRaZy8]

Update:

Flushed coolant today with VC-9 Equivalent, distilled water, and Restore.
Refilled system with Zerex EC1 coolant (concentrate), topped off with distilled.
Changed thermostat.
Changed coolant filter.

TONS of crap came out during the flushing process. Nasty.
Degas bottle even came clean. Had all that sludge at the bottom of it.

Heater blows hot air now when the Edge reads 100* or so. I also found a gray hard plastic hose, that plugged into the small (vacuum?) canister next to the oil fill cap- it fell off. I think this has something to do with my lack of heat.

Also, now that I have a new t-stat (thats not clogged with crud), the truck runs around 190-195* ECT, and 190-196* EOT. I believe that is more correct than the 180-185* I was seeing before.

[juzatheman]

souds like headgasget issue like i have. same thing mine start to do.
here is easy and fast way to check.

http://www.ntshoptools.com/video/Bad...d%20Gasket.wmv

[juzatheman]

i mean at first just same like yours, but it got in time worst. then one cold morning i didnt get any heat to cabin any more and it blow the coolant between cap out. and tons of pressure. and that was that. now waiting parts.

[cRaZy8]

I hope it ain't head gaskets. I seem to have fixed the heat issue with that grey hose. Pretty sure that was/is a vacuum line for the heater controls.

Also if I start the truck cold, it takes a good ten minutes for the coolant bottle to build any pressure.

[Dave]

It aint headgaskets.

Your heater core was clogged

[cRaZy8]

You should have seen the crap that came out! The VC-9 flushed alot of crap, then each tap water flush flushed even more. And then, the Restore, it looked like my truck puked!

When I drained the coolant into a drain pain, I let it sit the entire time I was working on the truck (3-4hrs). When I went back to it to put it in containers to dispose of it, it left a nasty film on my drain pan. I had to wipe it out with rags.



I think someone should make a sticky post for the Motor Problems forum. It should not allow replies, and it should list everything that should be done to make these trucks bulletproof, and reliable (seperate list for EPA compliant and non-EPA). That way anyone signing up to the forum, and for our own personal reference.

[cRaZy8]

Update:

Heater now blows hot air when my Edge shows 80* or so, at a dead idle. Coolant levels are steady. No crud blowing out of degas cap.