[piranicon]

Seems like one fix is never enough.
Just recently my bronco overheated on the highway. Turns out the coolant decided it didn't want to stay in the truck anymore. Replaced the leak appeared to be coming from the bottom of one of the hoses, so I went thru and replaced all the hoses just to be safe of any future problems. Everything seemed to be working ok. Now today i see a puddle of anti freeze under my truck. Upon checking out where the leak was coming from it looks like one of the drainage holes in the water pump i'm assuming. Anyone know if this is an easy fix?

 

[adami67]

Check your heater core. If this is the place it is leaking, you are lucky it's not in the cab!
Mine was in the cab and is gets messy quick.

 

[piranicon]

new water pump is in the works

well i got the new pump and as soon as i get to it tomorrow i get to try my hand at being a mechanic. Hopefully i don't end up breaking something.

 

[adami67]

The water pump is burried under just about everything attached to your engine.
I did my water pump on my 1982 bronco and it took an entire day.
Be careful not to break down your air-conditioning system in the process.

 

[piranicon]

Damn mother nature

Well seems like i won't be getting around to fixin it today. It suppose to rain all day and the lack of a garage kinda puts a damper on my repairs. I still need to pick up a torque wrench and a huge container for the antifreeze.

 

[piranicon]

Well sunday around noon it finally stopped raining. I decided to risk it and work on my truck. Surprisingly it only took me about 4hrs to replace the water pump and put everything back together. So far the truck runs just fine. I think i'll pick up a new clutch for my fan and a replacement idler pulley. Soemone told me the fan clutch lasts about as long as the water pump, so i guess i'll replace that to just be sure. The idler pulley kinda wobbles a little, which can't be good and it might be the cause of the squealing. oh well...

 

[JuanPolk]

Water Pump Problems

I had rebuilt my coolant system completely two years ago. You are helping yourself by replacing that clutch unit, and belts on your motor. Incidentally you may also want to completely substitute the type of anti-freeze that you are using.
There are some coolant types that are a lot easier on the systems used in these trucks. These trucks have aluminum fins, plastic caps, and steel blocks, and aluminum head gaskets. I had completely converted my new system to the Prestone, Long Life Coolant. This is the "Orange" colored variety.
The system must be completely flushed, and filled. After replacement you must never use the "Green" Glycol coolant again.
It is not good to mix the coolant types.

 

[piranicon]

hey thanks for the tip about an alternative coolant. I'll have to check into that. Hopefully i'll get some free time to do more work on my truck soon. It only seems like i have lots of free time when theres nothing to do... oh well

 

[BroncoGlenn]

From what I've been told, you don't want to switch out to that red or orange coolant unless your system was designed to run on it. Basically this is some new fangled GM thing for their vehicles. I'd stay away form it and just keep to an anual flush and replacement of the regular coolant.

 

[Marqman]

I have heard the same thing about the Orange/Red stuff also. Stick with the good old Green stuff!

 

[BroncoGlenn]

Yup, and given the cost of the red stuff vs. the green stuff (the red is more) even if it was compatible with older vehicles it wouldn't be economical to use. The idea behind it is that is is good for 5 years instead of the green's 3 year lifespan. But I flush my coolant on an anual basis so the longer lifespan doesn't mean anything to me.

 

[piranicon]

5yrs?
Wow i'm not even sure mine will survive for 5yrs. At the rate things are going now, by the time the 5yr mark hits i will have replaced everything on my truck and thats only if i can afford it... hehe

 

[remat457]

water pump

Check the gasket between the water pump and the timing cover. Mine is leaking (83). I put some stop leak in it and is is temporarily sealed, but will have to fix it soon...

 

[piranicon]

yeah i already fixed the prob... turned out the water pump seal was bad so i replaced the water pump and everythings all good now. Well as far as the coolant leak is concerned

 

[JuanPolk]

Orange Coolant

Only after I conducted tests on my engine's system have I found that the "orange" coolant appears better than then the ethyl-glycol coolant. I found that even if you want to replace the coolant annually; the orange coolant produced less harmful impurities than the ethyl mix. There may not be any need to change your coolant, but the worst problem with coolant-heating systems is the deterioration of the aluminum material in the coolant path. This includes the heat exchanger in the cabin, and the tubing slots in the radiator. After one year of operation with the "orange" coolant is showed minimal deterioration.
If you are satisfied withe the ethyl-glycol mix there is no reason that you should "have-to" change over, but be aware that there is a difference in performance. I am going to stay with the orange mix in my system, and I include two bottles of pre mix in the back for emergencies.