Archived Coolant Leaking

[jamnram]

I drove my truck to get something to eat a lunch, pulled in to the parking lot and noticed drips in front of the the truck. Looked underneath and there was coolant forming a puddle on the ground towards the rear of the engine. It appears that the coolant is coming from the back of the head on the passenagers side. When the truck is running it is a pretty drip, but not a stream. There doesn't appear to be any coolant bubbles on the dipstick.



Any ideas on what this could be?



Worried about driving it home (about 10 miles stop and go) even after refilling.



Thanks,

Bob

 

[JFaughn]

Get to a place that you can leave it at if it gets worse , do a presure test [ the the pressure tester ] and it will push the coolant out so you can find it , one of the uggly things it could be back there is a freeze plug , back of head or back of block in bell housing and could blow out under pressure , but hopfully maybe a heater hose ,

 

[paulb]

Try this thread: Freeze Plug



Could be a head gasket, but my money is on the freeze plug.



Paul

 

[BigPapa]

How does your coolant level look? Look at the reserve tank and in the radiator. If the freeze plug blew out you won't have much in either place. If it didn't blow completely out and it's just leaking consider yourself lucky and get it fixed. Most just blow completely out.



Scott

 

[jamnram]

Thanks, for the replies. The overflow tank was empty, I filled it about 3/4's full, drove it home about 12 miles. Watched the temp gauge, it would get to 180 and cool to 140 about 4 times on the way home. No drips when I got home and the overflow bottle was still 1/2 full. I know it leaked more then that. Not sure why it stopped, maybe a free plug and once it warmed up maybe it stopped leaking?



Great suggestion for a pressure test, I don't have a tester wil have to find one. Also thanks for the link to the thread, great info there. I did make an appointment with the Dodge dealer on Friday. After talking to the service guy and asking lots of questions, I'm not real confident with his knowledge of the problem. I can leave it parked until Friday and the dealer is only about a 10 mile drive.



I just hope it isn't the head gasket.



Thanks,

Bob