1989 bronco ii using water

[dragster557]

It pulls water from recovery tank overnight like it should.But it never pushes water in it when hot so i have to add water.Have pressure checked cap and put same pressure on radiator.leaving the pressure tester on radiator for 15 mins. the pressure only dropped about the width of the needle.While pressure was on radiator ther were no external leaks.Is the water burning out the exhaust or what.Thanks for any help.

[Ranger Dave]

is the oil over full?

[bronco_lou]

It pulls water from recovery tank overnight like it should.But it never pushes water in it when hot so i have to add water.Have pressure checked cap and put same pressure on radiator.leaving the pressure tester on radiator for 15 mins. the pressure only dropped about the width of the needle.While pressure was on radiator ther were no external leaks.Is the water burning out the exhaust or what.Thanks for any help.

If you have no leaks and are loosing water it sounds like a cracked head and is getting burned through the exhaust. Have you pulled the plugs and looked at them?

[Ranger Dave]

is the carpet wet on the pass side?

[dragster557]

Thanks for the replys.The oil is not over full and does not look like water in it.I have the cover off the heater core and it is not wet.

[KRE]

It pulls water from recovery tank overnight like it should.But it never pushes water in it when hot so i have to add water.Have pressure checked cap and put same pressure on radiator.leaving the pressure tester on radiator for 15 mins. the pressure only dropped about the width of the needle.While pressure was on radiator ther were no external leaks.Is the water burning out the exhaust or what.Thanks for any help.

The width of a needle is only equal to about 1/4 cup of water. I'd suggest retighting all hoses and looking at the front side of the radiator while under pressure before doing anything else. Also you can have leaks that only show up cold, or hot only. If your not having engine high temp issues, I doubt theres a combustion leak. I've only seen one 2.9 have an cylinder head intake runner coolant leak. That said, I've seen many lower intakes gaskets leak a small amount that was not seen in the lube oil as coolant, because the engine crankcase vent system was working properly.

[dragster557]

Thaks KRE.If it is the intake gasket what can be done besides pulling the intake.

[KRE]

You can try an retighten the lower intake bolts, but if your suspect its the intake gasket, nothing other than replacing it, will correctly solve the problem. If your going to replace it, be very carefull when removing it, so your able to read the gasket an sealing metal, for a correct read as to if it was, infact leaking or not.

I'd double check all hose conections, and the relief hole in the water pump, and it's sealing gasket area, drain cock's, radiator ect, before I ever pulled the lower intake. In fact I'd replace all the hoses if they are old, (if water pump checks out), before I'd remove the lower intake.

If you plan on keeping the truck along time, I'd suggest silicone hose's everywhere you can. It's not cheap and requires special clamps, but it's a one time change. I changed the 86 B-2 we bought new, to silicone in 88 and those hoses are still as good today, as the day I installed them.

Keep us posted

Kenneth