c3k
Ram Guru
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- Jul 22, 2020
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Folks,
My son's 2022 Big Horn EcoDiesel has been using coolant. Slowly...but more than my 2021 Laramie. He's got ~41k miles on his truck. If we had not topped off the reservoir tank every few months, he'd be 2-3 inches below mininum.
(He's owned it since new, with 12 miles on the odometer. No abuse.)
I bought a combustion gas test kit https://www.amazon.com/Block-Tester-BT-500-Combustion-Leak/dp/B06VVBSFTF and ran the test. (It's the blue fluid that you draw air from the expansion tank through.)
First test, truck at 150F, idle, the tester stayed blue. It all looked good.
I left the tester in the tank (I was working solo), and revved the engine up to increase the coolant temp. As I got around 2500-3000 rpm, (coolant ~ 170F), I started seeing bubbles being pushed through the BT-500 tester. No squeezing on the bulb, just extra pressure in the expansion tank associated with higher rpm.
I left it to idle, walked around to the tester, and the fluid had turned green-blue, indicating exhaust gasses present.
I repeated with new fluid, while it still ran at idle, and the fluid stayed blue. It only bubbled when I squeezed the bulb to draw in air.
Next, with it still running, I rinsed and refilled it and had my wife rev the truck up. It all seemed good.
I don't want to drop it at a dealer, losing the use of it for my son for a week or more, only to have "could not duplicate". I want to narrow it down and then give it to them. (I have the aftermarket warranty.)
So, diesel engine experts, what do you think is causing this coolant consumption and would correspond to what I saw with the tester?
Thanks,
Ken
My son's 2022 Big Horn EcoDiesel has been using coolant. Slowly...but more than my 2021 Laramie. He's got ~41k miles on his truck. If we had not topped off the reservoir tank every few months, he'd be 2-3 inches below mininum.
(He's owned it since new, with 12 miles on the odometer. No abuse.)
I bought a combustion gas test kit https://www.amazon.com/Block-Tester-BT-500-Combustion-Leak/dp/B06VVBSFTF and ran the test. (It's the blue fluid that you draw air from the expansion tank through.)
First test, truck at 150F, idle, the tester stayed blue. It all looked good.
I left the tester in the tank (I was working solo), and revved the engine up to increase the coolant temp. As I got around 2500-3000 rpm, (coolant ~ 170F), I started seeing bubbles being pushed through the BT-500 tester. No squeezing on the bulb, just extra pressure in the expansion tank associated with higher rpm.
I left it to idle, walked around to the tester, and the fluid had turned green-blue, indicating exhaust gasses present.
I repeated with new fluid, while it still ran at idle, and the fluid stayed blue. It only bubbled when I squeezed the bulb to draw in air.
Next, with it still running, I rinsed and refilled it and had my wife rev the truck up. It all seemed good.
I don't want to drop it at a dealer, losing the use of it for my son for a week or more, only to have "could not duplicate". I want to narrow it down and then give it to them. (I have the aftermarket warranty.)
So, diesel engine experts, what do you think is causing this coolant consumption and would correspond to what I saw with the tester?
Thanks,
Ken
