Post by lanceslambos on Oct 20, 2017 11:46:52 GMT -6
This is unbelievable. A .25C hose clamp killed my Jeep over the weekend. I was driving to Arkansas. On the way down she was running a little hot but no biggie (200 degrees) However, I used half a tank of gas just to drive 100 miles! Everything was fine, then as I was leaving to come back home, it overheated in UNDER one mile. It started blowing smoke onto the windshield. I looked down and the gauge was pegged past 260. I found a loose coolant tank hose clamp. Apparently, the coolant had steamed out around the fitting. I found a penny beside the road which I used as a screwdriver. I also picked up some trash/ foam cup, and filled the tank back up with creek water. I had a gallon of coolant under the back seat but it had a crack and it had all spilled out onto the carpet.
When I did this it cooled off enough to start it and see that both the electric and hydro-static fans were working. It acted like it had an air bubble stuck in the system somewhere. I was able to squeeze the hoses, so I'm pretty sure the thermostat wasn't stuck closed. On the way back (same trip) I actually doubled the fuel mileage - only using 1/4 tank. It also ran 50 degrees cooler. Today I took it to the shop for a flush and we discovered that the head gasket is blown pretty bad, bad enough to have a vacuum leak. The block might even be cracked! So that's 3 blown head gaskets in a row this year. First, the Ciera just frogging the gas up a hill to keep a maniac from running me over, then my Aurora just driving home after passing inspection, now this. I guess the timing could have been worse, at least the Aurora will be running soon. I'm dropping her off at Randy's this weekend. The build is still underway. All I have right now are these pictures.
