87 nissan truck overheating

[dylan730]

Early this morning i was driving and the whole time my truck kept sputtering like it was cold. It never heated up until i got to my destination and it had risen on the temp gauge to almost H. After letting it sit i had to fill the radiator and it overheated again. There was no water in the oil or oil in the water. Its not blowing white smoke and it loses fluid really quick.

[Towncivilian]

Inspect the radiator cap according to this TSB and replace with a new OEM one if necessary.

[Rev_D21]

Sounds like a head gasket taking a dump.

[dylan730]

Update

So this has happened all of the sudden. I replaced the radiator cap and that has seemed to slow it from losing fluid. I will be replacing the water pump and thermostat first. It takes about two trips of ten minutes to start noticing a large amount of fluid loss. I see no other signs of the head gasket being the problem. No white smoke, no fluid in the oil or radiator but i may be losing it so fast that i cant notice.

What next?

[Rev_D21]

Pressure test the cooling system and check again for leaks. It has to be going somewhere.

[dylan730]

Do i need to get anything for a pressure test?

[Rev_D21]

A coolant pressure tester and the right adapter. Might be able to rent one of those from a parts store. If not Harbor Freight has them cheap enough. Don't pump the system any higher than 15 psi. Pump it up to the cap psi rating and let it sit.

[dylan730]

So i replaced the water pump and the truck was running fine then i heard a loud back fire and now the truck sounds like it is having the exhaust coming right out of the engine?

[Rev_D21]

Woah! Which side of the engine is the sound coming from?

[dylan730]

So it was dark and when i got flashlight a spark plug came out while driving.

[Rev_D21]

Someone didn't properly tighten the spark plug. I'd check the other three to make sure they are tight. A friend of mine had that happen on her VR6 Jetta. It ended up with the spark plug dangling by it's cable and taking the threads with it to. I had to send a tap down the hole to get the plug to take up thread again.

[dylan730]

Yea checked the other three well other 7 actually and it seems someone just didnt tighten it.