Alright so yesterday I was temping with my car fixing some things up, changed all my belts and such cause the guy who owned the car before me had the wrong sized belts on it so they were wearing down and couldn't tighten them properly.

After installing a bunch of new parts I decided to go take my car for a spin, was gone for just over an hour, i noticed my temp gauge was really getting up there so Im thinking wow I should go home let it cool down.Now, here is what I don't get. Why was my car running so hot? As far as I could tell before the incident my fans were running and everything. Maybe my thermostat? I could really use your input before I end up in another accident.

Here is a picture of my hose the next day after everything settled.



Also i had a new belt on and in the picture you can see it also flipped sideways, but thats cause it was brand new, got hot and stetched.

 

it looks like you got some major pressure in your system, i had this happen to me, the cause was blown headgasket. do a compression test to see where you are sitting

 

id probably start with a thermostat, then compression test it as sleeper mention.

 

the OP mentions "belts" but is it a serpentine aka one belt system?

perhaps the waterpump was not spinning ..........

it could be coincidence however the car did not exhibit that behavior prior to the OP workoing on it but did after he worked on it.

 

it is an 87 which means it IS v belts. you can see it in the pic as well. and its not likely the water pump as there is 2 belts on the water pump.

it was a great idea to check the thermostat like said above, that never crossed my mind

 

perhaps that wacked out rotated improperly installed a/c compressor belt sliced through the hose...

 

yea, id say the belt or thermostat. hope you feel better,... burns are painfull.

 

t-stat, just had the EXACT same thing happen to me, overheated and upper rad hose blew

 

Whats up with you compressor belt?

 

i believe the tpi has a serp. belt and 2 v belts, least mine does, with ac.

 

The belt was installed properly, but it flipped due to how hot everything got. It happened same time it blew. The car was not running when it blew, i had it shut off for 5-10 seconds and then the hose burst.

And you all missed the fact I wrote this in my original post under the picture

 

I was thinking the same thing.... I know this was awhile ago, but you get it figured out? A stuck thermostat or a clogged radiator could be the cause. I know here in FL people tend to think antifreeze isn't required, forgetting about it's rust prohibiting. I've seen some pretty nasty cooling systems just slap full of rust/gunk and when that gets in the radiator tubes they don't tend to work all that well.

 

also a good way to test your thermostat is to take it out and put it in a pot on the stove, boil the water, you should hear the thermostat opening, let it cool and you should hear it close, if not its probably bad. failsafe makes a good thermostat but i've heard form some people that it didn't work, i trust them

 

It's NOT your thermostat. The pressure in the system exceeded the ability of the upper radiator hose to contain it. This was caused by only one of two possibles: the hose failed or the radiator cap failed.

The radiator cap is designed to vent overpressure within the system into the coolant reservoir. It serves as a safety valve to prevent failure of other pieces/parts - like your coolant hoses. This isn't likely your issue though.

With 99.99% certainty it appears that your belt cut into the radiator hose causing it to fail.

Belts don't jump and flip due to getting hot. They don't flip sideways, because they're brand new, got hot and stretched. - not when they are the proper part, installed correctly - they just don't.

Your belt was either the wrong part or it was installed incorrectly. It bounced around and slapped against the radiator hose causing a weak spot. The damage allowed the hose to burst when the pressure increased, which happened as the vehicle was parked and heat soaking.

Examine the bottom of your hose and you'll probably still see the marks the belt left on it.

 

i think he means look at the hose, and you know it really does sound like naf has it figured, he went all csi on the situation. i'd get a new radiator cap, obviously a new hose, clamps and hell a new thermostat for good measure and that should do it, glad you're okay and hope you get it running again soon

 

Glad you're ok & back on the board!!
Just an observation, not hacking ya, did you put the belt on with the triangles facing up?