Can we talk about what happens when you ignore a small coolant leak on the trail?

Last Tuesday on the Dusy Ershim trail, my temp gauge started climbing after I brushed a rock and heard a tiny hiss. I figured it was just steam from a puddle and kept going for another hour until the engine started knocking and I had to get towed out. How do you guys check for small leaks before they turn into a big problem on a long trip?

3 comments

3 Comments

miajenkins22d ago

Oh man, that exact thing happened to me on the White Rim trail. Heard a little hiss, saw a tiny bit of steam, and wrote it off as nothing. By the time I smelled sweet coolant, it was too late. I ended up cracking the head. Now I carry a cheap coolant pressure tester in my kit. You pump it up on a cold engine and it shows you if there's a tiny leak before you even start driving. It saved me from another disaster last month.

leo_murphy22d agoMost Upvoted

That classic "it's probably just a puddle" logic... works every time until it doesn't. An hour of driving with a climbing temp gauge is a real bold move. Mia's got the right idea with the pressure tester, honestly. After seeing what a cooked engine looks like, a little paranoia starts to feel pretty smart.

joseph_roberts7d ago

Yikes, that's a tough lesson to learn the hard way. Following what @leo_murphy said about paranoia, how do you actually make that a habit on the trail? Like, do you stop and visually check every single time you hear a weird noise, even if you're pretty sure it's nothing? I always worry about holding up the group, but obviously an hour of driving with a problem is way worse.