Busted hose under the engine?

• Jun 24, 2009

• #1

Arrow3

Senior Member

I stopped to get gas this morning on the way to shoot skeet and saw water pouring out under my truck....I looked and both my upper and lower hose is fine...The water seems to be coming out right under the engine...I assume there are some secondary hoses under there? This is a Chevy 350.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #2

W

WTM45

Senior Member

The water is coolant?
It very well could be a heater hose.
Hope that is all it is.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #3

Arrow3

Senior Member

WTM45 said:

The water is coolant?
It very well could be a heater hose.
Hope that is all it is.

Click to expand...

What else could it be? Motor is running fine....

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #4

secondseason

Retired Administrator

It could be the water pump. What year model truck is it?

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #5

W

WTM45

Senior Member

Water pump, head gaskets, blown block, cracked head, cracked intake, a plethora of possibilities.

But I'd have to see it to know for sure.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #6

contender*

Senior Member

I agree with SS, gotta be the water pump if not the upper or lower hoses. Heater hoses come off the top of the engine.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #7

W

WTM45

Senior Member

It could be the water pump, but the engine will soon run warm.


Since you said "pouring" I doubt it is condensation from the AC, so I deleted the earlier post.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #8

Arrow3

Senior Member

WTM45 said:

Are you sure it is coolant? It's not clear clean water coming off the AC condenser, is it?

Click to expand...

Its coolant.....This truck has been rough on water pumps in the past....Ive had to put several on it.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #9

Arrow3

Senior Member

I will let y'all know what it was this afternoon when I can get under it and look...Im gonna wait till late in the day when it cools off a little.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #10

W

WTM45

Senior Member

Bummer.
I hope it is something fairly simple and not too expensive!

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #11

rjcruiser

Senior Member

Probably water pump....either that or your radiator. Sometimes, when you fix one, you'll cause the other to go out. Good luck and at least it is a 350....parts are cheap and mechanics are plentiful.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #12

Arrow3

Senior Member

rjcruiser said:

Probably water pump....either that or your radiator. Sometimes, when you fix one, you'll cause the other to go out. Good luck and at least it is a 350....parts are cheap and mechanics are plentiful.

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I wouldn't think that it was the radiator since the water is coming out back up under the engine...Im hoping its a hose but its more then likely the water pump.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #13

tony2001577

Senior Member

yep i would say waterpump to , just watch that temp gange if you drive it !

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #14

rjcruiser

Senior Member

Arrow3 said:

I wouldn't think that it was the radiator since the water is coming out back up under the engine...Im hoping its a hose but its more then likely the water pump.

Click to expand...

Gotcha....I recently had the radiator start leaking on my toyota...replaced it only to have the system pressure improve and blow the water pump. Besides the time of pulling the radiator twice in 3 days, it wasn't too dificult to change. The coolant was leaking from the front of the engine block.

I'm sure it isn't too dificult to do on a 350...just a bit time consuming because you've got to take out the radiator to free up some room. If you do choose to do it yourself, just make sure you don't tighten down the water-pump bolts more than the recommended torque. If it is an aluminum head, you don't have to over-tighten too much to strip the threads. Also, don't use any rtv gasket sealer, just use the stock seal that they give you along with the water pump. The rtv sealer can cause an uneven surface and premature failure. I used a few drops of super glue to get the seal to stick to the back side of the water pump while I was putting it on the engine.

Good luck.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #15

Milkman

Deer Farmer Moderator

Staff member

Since it is farther back it could possibly be a freeze plug leaking....... ????

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #16

big_bird

Senior Member

my guess is a busted freeze plug. rusted out maybe.

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #17

Arrow3

Senior Member

big_bird said:

my guess is a busted freeze plug. rusted out maybe.

Click to expand...

How hard/easy would it be to fix?

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #18

Milkman

Deer Farmer Moderator

Staff member

digging out the old plug and tapping in a new one are simple enough but those things are difficult to access in some locations.
Depends on whether other components are in the way. Things like exhaust manifolds, etc can be mounted over them

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #19

boneboy96

Senior Member

Freeze plug on my old American Motors Rambler was in such a bad spot, they had to literally pull the engine out to get to it. Guess that's why U don't see too many Ramblers out there today!

 

• Jun 24, 2009

• #20

thomasr

Senior Member

My advice would be to KISS at first. Keep it simple. A pin hole in a heater hose can spew coolant into weird places and make you think you have bigger problems. There's usually so much "stuff" under the hood now a days they can be hard to see. Good luck.