cooling issues
Hello all,
I’m having some cooling system issues and was hoping to get some advice.
i have a 2.3 5spd manual
A few days ago, I let my truck idle while I was loading a bike. My temperature gauge climbed up to the “A” in NORMAL, but it usually stays around the “N.” I shut it off, and somehow my coolant reservoir was completely bone dry. I went and grabbed some water, filled it up, drove it home, and flushed the radiator.
I noticed the inside of my radiator hoses are covered in rust, and the reservoir is too. I’m not sure how it got this bad because I’ve been using coolant/antifreeze. When I first got the truck, the coolant looked fine, but there was already some rust present. I flushed it and hoped for the best, but by the next day it looked like the photo above again.
Now, while I’m driving, the temperature stays cold, but if I let it idle, it starts heating up again.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I’m expecting I’ll probably end up replacing a lot of the cooling system components.
My oil looks good, and I don’t have any white smoke from the exhaust, so I don’t think it’s a blown head gasket. Thanks in advance!