Coolant smell and belt squealing
#1
After seeing the temperature gauge go to the red zone, I checked the coolant level and the radiator was nearly empty. I had smelled what I thought was coolant three days previous to this episode. I added a bottle of coolant and the smell is still there, but the level is perfect. Also, whenever the truck is started, a belt or pulley or something squeals VERY loudly for about 15 seconds. When the engine is warm and restarted after being off for 10 or so minutes, the squeal comes back for about 3 seconds and then goes. Whenever I make a hard turn or a u-turn, I hear the same squeal and it goes on for about 10 seconds. What are your expert opinions as to the nature of my Trooper's issues?
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Edited by: angelorumart
#4
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The squealing you describe sounds like a loose Power steering belt issue, that can be addressed by tightening or if necessary, replacing the belt. Just loosen the adjusting bolt, insert a square drive socket in the bracket and adjust accordingly.
As to the cooling issue, I am a little more concerned. If you are not seeing coolant escaping somewhere by inspecting the engine compartment and ground while the engine is hot and running, and the heater core is not leaking into the pass. compartment, then the place to inspect would be the valley of the engine. Do this by using a strong flashlight to look down through the intake runners and beneath the intake plenum to the cooling tubes and see if coolant is laying there in the valley. There are a couple of O rings that could leak fluid if they are going bad. If you do see antifreeze (not a good thing) then you will have your work cut out for you, as to repair it is quite a job.
Also, your cooling fan thermostat could not be working properly, so another test if you find nothing else wrong would be to get the engine up to operating temp and then let the engine idle long enought to require extra cooling, at which time the fan should engage and get louder as it forces more air flow.
Just take it a step at a time, and hope that maybe the problem was an underfilled radiator to start with.
good luck
#5
Thanks for the invaluable info as always. I did try something the other day that made me wonder. I sprayed the pulleys and belts down with WD40 and it totally eliminated the squealing. That is, until I turned on the air conditioning. Now it does exactly what it used to on start up and every other time.
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Edited by: angelorumart
#6
UPDATE: Coolant smell is gone and the level is exactly the same as when I poured the new coolant in.
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