So i was driving and my temp gauge was buried past 260 but i never paid attention to it..its said that before and my friend had a heat gun that read 175 when he checked the engine. Well anyway i started to hear loud rattling, seeing smoke..smelling coolant and crap so i pulled into a gas station and found that my overflow resvoir was filled completely and coolant was pushing its way out of the cap on it and went all over my engine...whats the deal? is there too much coolant and thats why it overheated?

 

anybody?


im thinking maybe an air pocket or something might have caused it

 

Maybe your friend didnt measure the temperature properly. When you popped the hood to check the coolant, did it feel really hot under there?


Also, dont you think a bubble in the system would, uh, not make the tank overflow?

 

Well when the gun read 175 i knew thats where it SHOULD be, so i thought nothing of it.

My thermostat is new, water pump is too. My fans are on a relay that makes both of them come on at 185 degrees and shut down around 175.

and about the air pocket...im not sure...it was just a wild guess

 

Or maybe, uh, the air didn't provide the same amount of cooling as liquid so it overheated and boiled over.

 

Well, if you doubt the accuracy of the guage then I would replace the sensor. Where did you measure the temp? Hope it was somewhere near the coolant and not like the engine bay or something. Coolant billowing out of the overflow tank is a definate sign of overheating. If the sensor was accurate (and it sounds like it was) then it could be a fan problem, a thermostat problem, or something like an air pocket. An air pocket can cause major cooling issues. This usually means there is a leak somewhere, probably a failed gasket. If coolant can leak out of a failed gasket, air can leak back into the system. Your coolant would also turn dirty really fast.

 

Ok well i just took the car around the block and within 5 mins the temp gauge was reading 260+...and i just changed that sensor out too?..hm..well the motor wasnt even hot..i could still tough the radiator and stuff and it wasnt even hot to the touch..so that is deff busted..

Well what gaskets should i look at?...my thermostat gasket i just changed because i put a mr gasket 160 degree in there. I used a mr gasket thermo gasket and used hi tack to seal it from any leaks...

what about the radiator cap?...should i look into a new one of those?

 

Get a new radiator cap, they go bad its like $10. Maybe the air pocket has always been there? Try flushing and filling the system and see if it overheats. Your gauge must be physically broken too.

 

Is it pushing water? (The pump and thermo working together )

 

I would clean the base of the intake, the water neck, and the area of the block around the fan switch. Clean it up so its easy to spot a leak. It could be a very small leak. Common leaking spots for me are the water neck and TPI intake base gasket (base to head gasket). But its also possible something in the block is leaking (any sensor/plug in the water passageways). Just keep checking for signs of a leak (dampness, coolant, etc, etc). Also does your coolant look clean or is it dirty?

 

sorry i just got home from work so ill have to check the coolant tomorrow if its clean or not. I know the waterneck isnt leaking, but it has before, multiple times and i finally just got it fixed. The fan switch is ok, and so is the sender unit for the gauge(i checked these today for leaks)..the gaskets for the intake are good too, ive never seen any coolant signs ever. I cleaned up the engine with engine bright and rode around for awhile, parked it and checked for leaks...didnt find anything. But i do believe like a couple of days ago..the coolant did look dirty in the resvoir tank. Ill change out that radiator cap tomorrow...its probably the wrong one. When i bought the car, the guy said it leaked gas from the filler neck if i filled it past 1/2 and made a sharp turn. TUrns out that the gas cap was the wrong one for the car Makes me wonder if the radiator cap is wrong too

Ill check all this stuff tomorrow and get back to you guys

thanks for all the help

 

well the radiator came pouring outta the block today as i tried to change the gauge sensor on the block...looks crystal clean. Im thinking its the radiator cap...Hence why it pumped all of my coolant into my resvoir and pretty much drained it from entirely from the raditor/block. Im gunan pick one up tomorrow and see what happens