Mid 90’s Kenworth w900L??

Good for noticing something out of the norm, but you should um not have done any of what you did, coolant is under pressure, thats normal, in fact its part of how it cools properly. (Excessive pressure is indicative of an issue, but do you even know wjat normal pressure should be?)

Running a hot truck no cap is a guarantee that itll pour out like that.

Knowing when to worry is part of the battle on a good driver, another part is the driver knowing when they dont know enough to tinker as well, the idiot notices nothing and causes damage through neglect mostly over time.

But what youve done could have you 3 gallons low on coolant and cavitation bubbles in the engine. (Likely, no, but possible)

 

New or old you need to carry certain things. If a radiator hose blows there is a reason either it’s old and separating, wrong material for application or pressure. No excuse for old or wrong application. Even if you put the wrong composition of hose on to get out of a bind changing ASAP as in shutting it down to do so is the thing to do. A glance is better than nothing but a good hard look for hose and belt conditions, making sure nothing is chaffing or rubbing hoses keeps you off the side of the road changing one. Use new spring type clamps every time. Look at the inside of the metal tubes replace as needed. An old truck doesn’t have a better chance than new certain breakdowns unless it’s not properly maintained. In the same breath a ton of money can be wasted replacing parts unnecessarily.

 

I don't know if you are a mechanic or if you are mechanical or not but if you're going to buy several trucks that are that old, it does not matter how nice they look it does not matter how shiny they look it does not matter how clean they look or how much chrome is on it or how many chicken lights or stupid nonsense you'll see. That truck can be on the side of the road just as easily as anything else.

What you want is the owner operator truck that has been worked over every which way and is the most reliable dependable thing you'll ever find in your entire life. If you can't buy a truck that you can see all of the recent mechanical repairs that have been done to it, you are just rolling the dice.

Honestly I would consider selling you my truck. I didn't get to where I could paint it and make everything look nice but that is positively the most Dependable truck you will ever find in your entire life and the massive list of repairs and receipts that I have for that truck will stagger you and blow your mind. Most of the build has been documented right here on the site.

Honestly I'll probably just keep it but if you're interested you can contact me private message please.

 

So what are you saying?
That you can’t just put lipstick on a pig and it’ll be problem free?

To your post
I’m guessing I’m a lot like you in that I change out items probably well before it’s actually needed and I get those iffy repairs done when I’m home
Usually drop my truck at Peterbilt and go on a vacation or ?
but I’m also the kind of guy who a) doesn’t want to be on a hook and b) I can usually make more per day running than what a shop bill is so I normally just take it in
By that I mean if my bill is $5000 and it would have taken me more than a couple days to do it myself . Probably more like a week?
Then I’m way ahead by being back out in a day or two and working those extra days