Spent $600 on a thermal camera for my phone and it caught a coolant leak I never would have seen

I was chasing a weird overheating issue on a 2018 F-150 for three days. Pressure test was fine, thermostat was new, fans worked. I was about to throw a water pump at it. Then I remembered this cheap thermal camera attachment I bought for my phone last year. I let the truck get up to temp and scanned the engine bay. There it was, a tiny hot spot on the lower radiator hose near the clamp, way up under the intake. Coolant was weeping out and vaporizing before it could drip, so I never saw a puddle. The camera showed the exact spot glowing bright. Fixed it with a new hose and clamp for $40. Without that camera, I would have wasted hours and a customer's money on parts they didn't need. Has anyone else found a weird use for a thermal camera in the shop?

3 comments

3 Comments

janah832d agoMost Upvoted

Check the hose clamp first before buying a whole new hose.

david_jones382d ago

It's wild how often the real problem is hidden in plain sight, isn't it?

stellaperry2d ago

Sometimes it's just buried under other stuff, though.