Good news: I started it up with the cap off the overflow tank, let it get good and hot, and there was NO evidence of bubbles, swirling, discoloration, or exhaust smell in the overflow tank.
Bad news: BRAND NEW upper rad hose blew out right at the temp sensor while following the wife and kids up to Maine a week ago, 40 min from home. SECOND time she's rescued me on the side of the road due to an upper hose blowing at the exact same spot, where the sensor boss is bonded to the main hose.
My wife is NOT and understanding person, and did not hear my explanations of it being a hose problem. To her, it's another indication that my beloved LWB is a POS and I need to sell it.
For the record: This is the THIRD time in the 15k miles I've owned the truck that the top hose has blown. Second time, I was able to stop the truck, let it cool, and fixed the leak at the temp sensor boss on the hose with some of that amazing rubber tape that vulcanizes to itself when wrapped and stretched. That repaired hose lasted 10k miles until last weekend, when I decided to play it safe and install a NEW hose. Now I'm back to the repaired hose.
So today I checked for visual indications that the head gasket has blown and is pressurizing the coolant, and tomorrow I'm having a shop do a "sniff" test to detect exhaust in the coolant.
If this sniff test comes out negative, could my recurring problem really be due to a bad coincidence of bad upper hoses? What are the chances of that?
Truck has never given indications of overheating, temp guage is always vertical. I can change the thermostat, maybe even boil the radiator, but if either of these were suspect, wouldn't it overheat?
Bad news: BRAND NEW upper rad hose blew out right at the temp sensor while following the wife and kids up to Maine a week ago, 40 min from home. SECOND time she's rescued me on the side of the road due to an upper hose blowing at the exact same spot, where the sensor boss is bonded to the main hose.
My wife is NOT and understanding person, and did not hear my explanations of it being a hose problem. To her, it's another indication that my beloved LWB is a POS and I need to sell it.
For the record: This is the THIRD time in the 15k miles I've owned the truck that the top hose has blown. Second time, I was able to stop the truck, let it cool, and fixed the leak at the temp sensor boss on the hose with some of that amazing rubber tape that vulcanizes to itself when wrapped and stretched. That repaired hose lasted 10k miles until last weekend, when I decided to play it safe and install a NEW hose. Now I'm back to the repaired hose.
So today I checked for visual indications that the head gasket has blown and is pressurizing the coolant, and tomorrow I'm having a shop do a "sniff" test to detect exhaust in the coolant.
If this sniff test comes out negative, could my recurring problem really be due to a bad coincidence of bad upper hoses? What are the chances of that?
Truck has never given indications of overheating, temp guage is always vertical. I can change the thermostat, maybe even boil the radiator, but if either of these were suspect, wouldn't it overheat?