Well... I guess my fingers weren't crossed long enough, or I basically forgot to cross my toes too.
I took the truck out last night with my son. Got him all set up with his car seat. Ready of the maiden voyage of his truck!! He was SUPER EXCITED about going for a ride in it! He was laughing and giggling and telling me which direction I needed to go. You could just hear it in his voice! It was awesome!!
We leave the house, go fill up with gas, then off to run a couple of errands. First stop was the recycle bin that our town has stationed around for people to drop off cardboard, platic, aluminum. We get there and I leave the truck running while I unload our cardboard. At this point, the truck is probably up to temp, but my temp gauge is not reading (mentioned in a previous post). I have a new sensor, just need to get it installed. Anyway, I'm seeing white smoke coming out of the exhaust. My initial thought is steam, as the outside temp was about 41F degrees. So, I don't think much about it. We leave the recycle stop and go to our next stop, then head home. Probably a total of 4 or 5 miles, but in traffic. The truck was running for probably 30-45 minutes. This is where I realize I have issues...
I back into the driveway, get out to open the garage door, and notice I'm still leaking some coolant. Also, notice I still have white smoke coming from the exhaust. Both sides.
I back the truck into the garage and get out while it's still running. Sniff the exhaust and get a slight coolant smell (I think), plus the typical gas/exhaust smell. I shut the truck off, and I have steam coming from under the hood. Open the hood up - coolant is all over the front of the radiator. I finally find a leak at the top of the radiator and hear a hissing sound. I can't fully get to it, because it's up under the mount and the makeshift top cover that's made out of diamond plate.
So, now I have 2 more problems, one potentially serious - 1) leaking radiator that will have to be patched or replaced. And 2) a motor that is bad or cracked, or bad head gaskets.
I checked the oil this morning before I left for work and it isn't milky looking. Still looks pretty good. It does have a slight "gassy" smell to it, but not a coolant smell. How can I tell if I have bad gaskets?
This truck may be the death of me once I break the news to my wife...