Big time coolent leak here

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

I had to take the rig a few towns over to fill the propane tank and dump the waste tank and it went down to 17 last night so my pipes were froze up this morning, there fine now but the big problem was that about half way there the hot engine light and alarm went off so I pulled over and took a look but I didn't see any water or coolant under the bus. Well I didn't have any antifreeze on board so I put 6 gallons of water in to get me to a place where I could get antifreeze. So the first thing I did was put 6 gallons of strait antifreeze to go along with the 6 gallons of water I put in a few miles back. I believe it was pretty close to full cuz it dribbled out the top of the fill spout. Ok now, I went to the propane place and I did see some coolant running slowly from under the engine compartment but it seemed to be ok for now so off to the dump station I went. I watched the temp gauge and again it seemed ok. Well when I got to the dump place there was some steam at the back end and it was statrting to get dark so I put 2 gallons of antifreeze and 2 gallons of water in, dumped the waste tank and headed back so I was at least back in my parking lot. I will have to take a good look on sunday to see whats up. Now, outside of losing a sh*t load of coolant the bus ran fine as always. I had no trouble at all up until now. I'm hoping that it's a hose or something or even a radiator ( at a grand ) If the engine was made of wood I'd be a little more in my eliment Im a little worried about a big repair but I'll have time to look closer at it on sunday. If anybody has any DD thoughts to throw my way that would be great. It's hard to say anything without a good look at it I guess.

[graydawg]

Dennis try replacing the THERMOSTAT it probably stuck closed if the water pump is fine and not leaking if the seal in the water pump is bad water will come out the little hole usually on the bottom side, if it is just a hose they are 2 1/2 inch if my memory serves me right and are a bitch to replace on the bottom hose you have to go through both doors and just work with it. The only place I could find a hose to fit was at a truck and equipment parts place and it was like $47 bucks for it I think it was 18 inches long but not 100% sure

[ezrablu]

Perhaps it was just cold and froze up when you added the water. I've had that happen with my pickup truck. Topped it off with water and everything was so cold the water froze pretty fast then couldn't circulate. It quickly started to overheat but eventually, once that water thawed and mixed with the antifreeze agan it was all ok. I was gonna say the same thing graydawg suggested...check the thermostat but I sure don't know nothing about diesel, buses or trucks.

[longjohn]

Dennis,
See what yiu can find out in the daylight,then ask here
http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php#1
some of the best two -stroke guys around