coolant leak on acert cat

Discussion in 'Trucks [ Eighteen Wheelers ]' started by gunner76, Nov 21, 2011.

  1. gunner76

    gunner76 Medium Load Member

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    when I opened the hood on my truck this morning to do the pre trip I noticed I was 1/2 gal low on coolant. I did have a leaky clamp on the upper rad hose the other day but I didn't loose enought to make a difference in the level so I started checking around and noticed some coolant residue on the passenger side of the engine around the oil filter base. There also appeared to be the reminents of some coolant residue on the housing that is below the turbo and behind the waterpump(the piece that has the engine data on it). I checked for leaks while the engine was running and couldn't find any and checked all the hoses and clamps around that area and couldn't find where any of them had been leaking. any ideas what could be the cause of this?
     
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  3. oneshot

    oneshot Medium Load Member

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    Could be a cold water leak from the o-ring in front of oil cooler,or the blue hose on top of oil cooler.
     
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  4. Superhauler

    Superhauler TEACHER OF MEN

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    get under your truck and look up behind the water pump. there is a water hose on the back of the precooler just like the one that comes off the back of it. i will bet thats where its leaking. just tighten the hose clamp. its hard to get to. if its on the other end(under the precooler you will probably have to un bolt the precooler and raise it up a little to get to that hose clamp. it can be a pain in the ### sometimes.
     
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  5. gunner76

    gunner76 Medium Load Member

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    I think it might be a cold water leak. I had the truck already plugged in before I opened the hood this morning and after cleaning up the residue I watched it while the truck warmned up and could see any leaks. I also checked it everytime I stopped today and no leaks. It's supposed to get down to 25* tonight, so I didn't plug the truck in and we'll see if there are any leaks in the morning.

    I checked all the hoses and the clamps were tight. I also couldn't see any signs that they were leaking. My mechanic seems to think by my description that it might be the o rings in the oil cooler. If that is what it is I hope it doesn't get too bad since the repair shop I use is swamped this week can't get it in the shop until tues next week.
     
  6. oneshot

    oneshot Medium Load Member

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    If it is the oring,u should b ok for a while.Just plug it up and then u can make plans on getting it fixed and maybe not miss any work.
     
  7. Superhauler

    Superhauler TEACHER OF MEN

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    if the leak residue is on top of oil cooler its the precooler or your blowing water out the exhaust,then you have a bigger issue.
     
  8. gunner76

    gunner76 Medium Load Member

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    I did notice some smoke after ideling for a 1/2 hour while loading, but it on lasted for the first couple of high speed upshifts when ther turbo spooled up. The air temp was also only around 35* and it was really damp out so I think that was the cause of the visible smoke because that was the only time I noticed any smoke today, or any time recently. The residue is on the bottom of the cooler. Right now the leak has stopped, it only got down to 34* last night so it must not have been cold enough. Tonight it's suipposed to be 25* so we'll see if anything shows up in the morning. The leak must have started sat night when it got down to 17*, so I might have to wait for colder days to isolate the problem area.
     
  9. Superhauler

    Superhauler TEACHER OF MEN

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    ok misunderstood i thought you said it was on top of cooler(kind of hard for water to run up hill) my o-ring on front of oil cooler leaked on the first cold day we had. started it up once it got warm hasnt leaked since. keeping my fingers crossed.
     
  10. derekmh83

    derekmh83 Bobtail Member

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    I just had to replace my precooler it was busted and it ran my crazy for weeks i was losing 2 gallons of water a day
     
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