Newbie owner needs help, coolant leak

[stupidjeep]

I am the proud new owner of a 1975 Deuce! The engine was allegedly rebuilt by guard in '93, but I havent checked the numbers. I bought her in Northern MD and drove hard at 50-55 MPH to my parents house near Richmond VA for 4 hours. We played around on the backroads for a few more hours of use with no problems.

The next day I left for duty in Patuxent River MD, where I am currently stationed. 10 minutes into the trip I smelled a faint coolant smell. Temp was still 160. Pulling the next hill at 50MPH resulted in smoke in the cockpit and more smell. I pulled off and shut down "hot" for the first time. Temp was still at 160, though I'm sure the turbo was really hot from the hills. I let it cool down for a while, and limped it home with the smoke in my face. It ran fine besides that.

A little coolant was on the axle and passenger side of the engine. I can barely see where the coolant was leaking from the side, somewhere under the exhaust manifold. Are there water passages in the intake manifold that could fail or does this sound like a HG? There was no water in the oil or vice-versa. It never ran hot, and there isnt really a noticable drop in coolant level.

I am not able to poke around on this because she is still 3 hours away, so any tips or ideas you can pass to make our time together more productive would be appreciated. Worst case scenario is me towing it here and taking it apart as my schedule allows and getting familiar sooner than I thought. Thanks for any help!

VR
Chris Robbins

 

[Heavysteven]

Did you check all the hoses?

 

[stupidjeep]

Yes, thank you. That was my first move, before I noticed the leak under the exhaust manifold. One connection near the radiator has the smallest amount of coolant around the hose that i didn't notice before the problem. I am hoping this wasnt from pressurization of the cooling system, ie HG...

 

[stupidjeep]

The leak under the manifold is where the smoke was coming from, but I couldn't make out exactly WHERE under there. It's a hard area to see.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Yes the intake has coolant running through it. How long did you let her warm up? Some of the head gaskets are designed to "weep" and running it hard right away will do what you described. Lets see what the others have to say.

 

[stupidjeep]

I have let her warm up for 5-10 minutes every time. I also let it cool down for at least 5 minutes before I shut down. This was consistantly different though, both times the smoke and coolant really came out under load and it hadn't acted up at all any other time. Thanks

 

[gimpyrobb]

Mine has a heavy coolant smell at first take-off, but thats it. I need to check the manifold bolts and make sure they are tight.

 

[stupidjeep]

I havent had a coolant smell at any time before the trip when shtf

 

[stupidjeep]

It was the head gasket if anyone was following this thread or comes to it through a search. The coolant was leaking right where the seperate heads meet. My brother and I tore it down with no experience with big motors and had her back together in 2 days. Its a pretty straightforward job if you follow the TM and apply a little mechanical ability

 

[DieselBob]

Thanks for posting the resolution to the problem. Many times someone will post about an issue and then never posts what fixed it. Although a lot of work glad to here it was not more than a bad head gasket.