It Asploded

The radiator in my truck has been leaking for a while, and John’s been keeping an eye on it. It started out as a pretty slow leak, so we weren’t too stressed about replacing the radiator immediately, and we’d been doing okay with just topping off the coolant. Saturday, the truck overheated on my way back from Sanford (my fault, because I didn’t realize that the coolant I saw was just residue and not an actual indicator of the volume). I pulled off the road, gave it a few minutes to cool off, and then got home with no trouble. John came over to check it (and brought a new radiator and thermostat with him), and we put in over a gallon of coolant. We talked a bit about the leak, thinking it might still be relatively slow, and decided we’d definitely have to replace the radiator before I headed west before Christmas. Since I was headed back to Sanford on Sunday, we also decided it would be a good idea for me to take some coolant and check the level before I left the farm, just in case. It’s a good thing, too, because I put in almost another half gallon before heading home. I called John on the way, and we decided the radiator would need to be replaced sooner rather than later. John came over yesterday evening to work on the truck, and pointed out that the radiator had basically exploded – the hood was covered with coolant and was actually still dripping late in the evening, when I’d gotten home before noon. So, now the truck has a shiny new radiator, a new thermostat, and a couple of new hoses. John has to make a trip over again today, because the thermostat housing has a hairline crack and was leaking last night. Once that’s replaced, though, we should be good to go. Its so great to have a friend who knows how to fix these sorts of problems (and who has a wife who lets him!).