85 ram overheated

[nol181]

my 85 ram has overheated smoke streaming out from around engine coolant overflow boiling what caused this?

[mudseeker]

could be a number of things:
blown head gasket
faulty T-stat
bad water pump
blocked coolant passages, including the radiator
faulty radiator cap

run the truck to operating temp with the rad. cap removed and look for bubbles. this will point towards a head gasket.

[nol181]

thanx for the tip ill try it

[nol181]

could it be that the radiator is empty

[mudseeker]

radiator is most likely empty from after it overheated, although it could cause it to overheat if you ran it dry.

[nol181]

a few days ago i parked at the store, after i got out and was walking away i loud noise came out from under the hood like a grinding noise, what could this mean? it was like the truck was growling at me!

[mudseeker]

sounds like it might be your water pump..........was the engine running when you heard the noise?

[nol181]

no the engine was not running i had this problem before with an econoline van i once had but i sold it before i looked into it.

[gmctrucks]

Might be water is low and it's boiling see how full it is add anti-freeze and never open hot or pour cold water into it while the engine is hot always' have engine running when adding water or anti-freeze.