My damn truck just threw up coolant all over my garage

+1

Additionally, I strongly suggest that they OP check to see whether some of that spewing coolant might have made its way into the un-covered master cylinder. Coolant contamination of the brake fluid is likely to lead to an unpleasant and expensive experience.

There is a tank on both sides of the radiator. On the driver side there is a plug but also has 2 separate engine oil cooler fittings if your truck has this option.
Any of those 3 have the potential for puking out engine coolant along with the cracked tank scenario.

There are 2 separate fittings on the passenger side tank for the transmission fluid cooler lines. Those also have the potential for being a problem although my gut feeling is that those are not an issue at this time.
I would suggest a thorough visual inspection of the tanks as a first step. Next step fill with plain water and see if anything starts leaking.

I 've run it at the most for about ten seconds. Itā€™s not going to heat up

There was no coolant on the top of the engine. Just the lower engine wheel well and mostly on my drier.

I had to look up how that could happen. The first post I was was someone friend topping off their coolant, but it was their break fluidā€¦

In that case Iā€™d say you might have a bad head gasket. Just a guess but something caused a lot of pressure to build up in a short time and I canā€™t think what else it could be.

ā€œAFAIKā€ = As Far As I Know. Standard Internet abbreviation. The reference was to the water pump being driven by the serpentine belt, nothing to do with where the coolant wound up.

I think your right about the head gasket. When I cranked the engine the number one cylinder was out and pointing right where the coolant shot out.

Actually Iā€™m pretty sure its the intake manifold

You started the engine with a spark plug removed, you could have stated that in the original post, how could anyone know how the coolant went from the radiator to the front suspension?

Pressurize the cooling system and see if that cylinder fills with coolant while the piston is on the compression stroke (both valves closed). If the intake manifold is leaking coolant it wonā€™t fill the cylinder if the valves are closed. If the head gasket is leaking, the cylinder will fill with coolant.

1 Like

I did not realize it was out. Iā€™ve been swamped with school and havenā€™t looked at it in weeks.

I just shoved a paper towel in it, cranked it for a sec, and out came coolant

Surely, you jest. In todayā€™s market, the engine could be completely shot, and this truck would still be worth $1000 or moreā€“assuming a valid title and semi-decent body. I wouldnā€™t take the pittance a junkyard would offer, when selling it on Craigslist could easily yield 4 to 5 times as much money for not much cost and effort.

Pick and pull offered me 280. I put it up on Facebook marketplace. It has a lot of new parts and I didnā€™t cheap out on than. Ithanks for the heads up.

For that matter, if the rest of the truck is in decent shape it might be a candidate for a used/rebuilt engine. It would certainly fetch more in running condition.

It was a nice truck. Transmission was super smooth. If I had more time I would swap out engines. The tires have maybe 200 miles on them.

1 Like

Those small trucks are popular so bad engine or not itā€™s worth some money and certainly not a candidate for the scrap yard.

1 Like

I would, but I donā€™t have time. Iā€™m in the middle of moving