Question about water vs. coolant

With that much loss...there should be a puddle of liquid under the engine in a very short time when parked/stopped.

Check on the location of this puddle, and check above for the location of the source of the liquid from the engine.

Don't count on the company shop to give you absolute advice on running or getting repairs....many companies are doing whatever they can to attempt to keep repair costs "in house"!

 

2 gallons Final Charge + 9 gallons of water equals 11 gallons low, depending on the size of your radiator you couldn't have had more than 4 gallons left in the system. You didn't say how hot it got, but Cats don't like heat and alot of times it'll do damage before any safety shutdown, all this being a guess on my part I would say you have a cracked head. If you can get it fixed cheaper at home I would keep it full of water and limp it home, if not then get to a good shop on the road. If I'm right about the head then the water is going out the stacks as steam as was mentioned earlier. Good luck

 

Well a steady drip adds up. Now you know where you have coolant loss, and need to find out why.

 

I had a similar problem with my detroit. Lost 7 gal in 12 hours. Was coming out the overflow tube. The head ended up being cracked, which allows compression to push the coolant out.

 

Sounds like EGR cooler to me. Keep your shop informed and follow their directions as it is their truck. Limped home before putting in 3-7 gals a 24 hour period. Just made sure I filled it up before bed.

JMO not going to lose that much to a bad radiator cap.

 

It could be you just had a air pocket in the system that finally worked it's way out as well. I changed a water pump once, topped off the coolant, and the next day engine shutdown when I started it. Topped it off again and no issues. When you top off coolant, some can come out the overflow once the engine heats up, but it should stop after a few minutes. If it doesn't stop, that means you have some back pressure entering from somewhere.

 

running straight water is not good for your system, I know this personally, what water does is rust out your system and you will need to replace your serge tank at minimum, if your a company driver, and thats what they want you to do, fine, it's there equipment, if its your responcablity, water will be ok to get you to a shop, but fix the problem and use anti-freeze, IMHO

 

I know you meant to say RAISES the boiling point and lowers the freezing point.