Coolant system question

[PUNKYOU007]

So the other day I drained my coolant system...so you can possibly help heres what I did....

Jacked the truck up a little
Removed lower radiator hose from radiator
Removed cap from fill tank
After the majority of fluid came out I turned the truck on and ran the front and rear air full blast for about 2-3 minutes.
I let the truck sit for like 30 min because the lower hose would kind of fill up with fluid and i just pointed it at the ground every so often to let more fluid come out.

After about 30 mins of draining I put the lower hose back on and filled the fill tank with about a 2.5gallons of 50/50



Dont laugh but is the lower hose not supposed to get warm at all? After driving the truck about 5 miles and letting it idle for a good 15mins after the drive I noticed the lower hose did not get warm. I mean maybe just a little from the engine heat. The upper hose was blazing.

Also I thought my truck was supposed to take like 4 gallons of coolant...this was the first time i had put any in my truck. Only reason i changed it was because I had a heater hose bust on me and the engine was full of water, I just wanted to get some coolant in there before winter. Did I do something wrong?


A second question is now after I changed the coolant I noticed that my truck is leaking coolant...Got under it today and it appears to be coming from the bottom of the water pump. I know for a fact that I never had a coolant leak...why all of a sudden would it leak? Again, did I do something wrong? Could it be some side affect from running only water for like 2 months then switching to the 50/50?

Thanks for any and all help in advance!

 

[Freedom Motorsports]

Did you run the truck after draining it without adding anything else to the system? If so then you may have messed the pump up.

 

[performance1985]

My two-cents;

The leak under the water pump would lead me to believe that the new heater hose is not properly locked on, and the coolant is running down the hose to that area - assuming you have the double y-hose in that location that comes from the heater core area and meets the overflow tank hose, attaching to the water pump.

Coolant 4.7 gallons for your system - if you have the 4.8 or 5.3.

 

[PUNKYOU007]

Did you run the truck after draining it without adding anything else to the system? If so then you may have messed the pump up.

Guilty. After draining most of the fluid I did run the truck for a couple minutes with the heat on full. I never thought that would mess it up.

My two-cents;

The leak under the water pump would lead me to believe that the new heater hose is not properly locked on, and the coolant is running down the hose to that area - assuming you have the double y-hose in that location that comes from the heater core area and meets the overflow tank hose, attaching to the water pump.

Coolant 4.7 gallons for your system - if you have the 4.8 or 5.3.

I did not replace any hoses. I simply disconnected the lower coolant hose from where it connects on the radiator. Unless its leaking up the hose I dont think thats the issue.
\





And BTW I have a 01 Suburban with a 5.3L

 

[performance1985]

I have to assume a motor is a motor here and know that in marine repair, when you run a motor without any coolant - if burns up the pumps quick.

Hopefully, that's not the case here.

 

[afpj]

If the engine was run dry (without coolant) I'd worry about the head too. Hopefully it's a hose and not really the pump, but water pumps aren't really meant to run while dry. You'll need to check the weep hole in the pump.

 

[PUNKYOU007]

Do you think that running it for 2 mins really did some damage? Also how do you check this weep hole and what am I checking it for?

 

[performance1985]

I think you're probably alright on the heads, since they are oil lubricated (which helps dissipates the heat a little) as well and you only ran it for a short time.

You are going to have to either pull the water pump to open it up and look at it, or run it again with fluid in the system to make sure it is leaking from the bottom passenger side of the pump.

Most likely, it is shot if it's leaking - unless you got lucky and only burned up the gasket. Rebuilds are cheaper than new ones.

 

[WildBill]

its a little late now, but if you have to fill up with water only you can fix it by doing following. drain the radiator. dont run the engin dry. fill the radiator up with non diluted antifreeze. Now run the engine to mix it all together. Check the overflow tank with a hydrometer(?) and verify the mix is good enough.

I think the dexcool is good for 100k miles?

In your case, I would check the hoses. Maybe switch to a worm gear clamp to be sure they arent leaking. Otherwise, just replace the pump. It will go out sooner or later anyway. Good luck!

 

[PUNKYOU007]

The weep hole that was mentioned...what do i need to check it for? What does it do? I would like to get this fixed today if possible. Thanks for everyone's feedback!