FormulaStyle

I was driving fairly hard on the way home and i got into the neighborhood and my car died on me. I started it back up and drove it home and it felt like it had no power. I got home and the SES light was on temp was at 260 and i opened the hood and over by the battery and under the car, passanger side wheel well and that area was soaked in coolant. Did i blow a headgasket? If so how hard are they to replace, i just bought this car last week, and tonights my bday party. what luck.

FormulaStyle

theres no coolant in the car, its empty... i guess i need to find the leak... hope my headgasket is fine.

2001NBMZ28

What year is your car? Were the fans running even with the ignition off? Hope you didn't drive it without coolent.

FormulaStyle

ya the fans were running for a good 10 minutes and when i checked it had no coolant

davidws6

iTrader: (36)

If your temp was @ 260, let's hope you didn't toast the engine....

I'd just fill it with water (if your in a warm place) until you can find the leak.

Hopefully just a blown hose or Water Pump ?

FormulaStyle

my car is a 1999 with 114k miles
I just got home from my bday party, and i looked under the hood(someone had bypassed the heater by just looping some hose) and i was hoping thats where it was at, but it wasnt. im going to fill it up with water and see if i cant find the leak

FormulaStyle

Alright i've come to the conclusion that the coolant came through the overflow hose on the radiator and went to the overflow tank and came out of the cap. The top hose on the radiator was hot and the bottom one was luke warm. I'm assuming its the thermostat?

FormulaStyle

I changed the thermostat today and its running like a champ, i just added water to it for now and probably tommorow ill flush and refill it with the correct coolant/water mixture. I cant find the bleeder valves, i looked near the thermostat housing and the water pump but i dont see them. My last car it was on top of the radiator, which i thought was the norm and a great place. Can i bleed the air out just by leaving the radiator cap off or no? It seemed to be cooling right and no temp spikes or anything.

FormulaStyle

Well it overheated on me again today, coolant was seeping out of the overflow/resevoir. Thankfully i was sitting in front of my house when it happened. think maybe i got a bad thermostat? I'm going to try a complete flush this weekend and maybe theres some gunk thats impeding the flow
I'd also like to mention the heater core has been bypassed, i assume it was leaking because they just have a small hose to bypass it.
Help would be greatly appreciated, i would hate to go on a vday date tommorow driving my 1991 grand am with no a/c, one window rolls down, and doesnt go into reverse......

the_bandit77

iTrader: (3)

I had a 96 firebird before my trans am, and I blew the heater core on my way to my friends house, pulled into his drive and popped my hood and coolant was everywhere. The next day when it was light out I popped the hood again and realized it was the heater core and we fixed it, whoever bypassed the heater core before may not have done that great of a job. Hope you are able to fix it man.

FormulaStyle

I wish it were as simple as them doing a shitty job on bypassing it but the hose is only 6inches or so long. the coolant is coming from the overflow tank, only thing i can think is its clogged somewhere. thanks for the help

LS1W66

Sounds like the coolant is boiling over and into the resevoir.
Have you tried a new Radiator Cap ?

FormulaStyle

could it really be something as simple as that?

davidws6

iTrader: (36)

Yes it could be the cap. A friends 96 grand am was loosing coolant. I could not find any leaks ! Upon removing the cap and taking a good look, the gasket was screwed up. When it got hot, it just spewed out coolant out of the recovery tank ...

Before it overheats, do you feel the upper hose getting hot ? If the upper hose is getting hot, that lets us know that it's circulating . If it's not getting hot, it must not be circulating .. You just put a T stat in so if it's not moving coolant through the upper hose, Possible Water Pump issue ?

This just happened all the sudden on your way home that day, correct?

With the Radiator cap off while it's running, any Air Bubbles forming in the Radiator ? Does the Coolant smell bad, like Exhaust ?

FormulaStyle

Yes the upper house was nice and hot. I've done a flush by cutting the heater core hose and putting in a tee and hooking it up to the water hose. It moving coolant through just well.
Right now theres only water in it, since ive drained it probably 8 times by now but there are bubbles in the water, i tried to get all the bubbles out through the radiator cap because i cant find the bleeder screw.
I bought a rad cap today and drove it around for about 20 minutes and didnt lose any water, i think it may have fixed the problem but only time will tell.

LS1W66

The radiator cap keeps a certain amount of pressure in the system without that pressure the water will boil above 212*.

FormulaStyle

Thanks for the help, I've never encountered cooling problems let alone knowing that a bad rad cap could cause the problem. Hopefully i'll be able to pass the simple knowledge onto someone else down the line.

LS1W66

No problem man that's what these forums are for.
BTW did the new cap fix the problem ?

FormulaStyle

So far so good. But when i changed my tstat 2 weeks ago it ran fine for a week, so we'll see if it holds out. I noticed on the old cap there were two arrows on it, but couldnt read what it said. Is it important that they face a certain way? One arrow was facing towards the overflow tube and the other towards the front of the car.

LS1W66

Arrows pointing front and back is correct. Just watch your temp guage and listen for boiling water after you shut the car off.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.