Hey guys, looking for some opinions and help.

My water pump recently went out, got that fixed no problem. It's been about two weeks and now my 5.7 is overheating again. When I popped the hood there was steam and a sizzling sound coming from what appeared to be around the steering column. Steam was also coming inside my car from the steering wheel. Any ideas about what the problem could be? I'm guessing it's a coolant leak somewhere just don't know where to look.

Thanks for any help!

 

What kind of shape are your hoses in and when was the last time you flushed your radiator?

 

Going to check hoses now but I haven't owned the car very long so I've never flushed the radiator. However when we replaced the water pump we put in all new coolant.

 

Ok, it'd probably be a good idea to check those, as well as their connections to the new pump, etc.

If the hoses are fine and you see no coolant shooting out anywhere, you probably have a gunked up radiator(if it's original from 1986 then that's probably the case). I had similar problems on a Jeep Cherokee I used to own, after replacing the radiator it never gave me any heat issues again.

All just suggestions based on what you're saying, I'm no expert.

It's also a good idea since your have a new water pump, to replace the thermostat.

 

I don't know where I pulled 1986 from...you never said that, i'm mixing my threads together, haha.

 

We did replace the thermostat as well with the water pump. I think the radiator might be plugged because the coolant doesn't flow when the car is running.

 

Cool. Well, that would explain it. Hope you get it running back to normal soon!

 

There seems to be a leak by the firewall right in the the middle of the car. Is this a hose that runs to the heater core?

 

If it's near the middle, yes. The core itself is on the passenger side but the hoses run basically right through the center of the firewall. There should be two of them. Here is a link to a thread on how to replace the core:
https://www.thirdgen.org/heatercore

But before going through all that you prolly just need to check the hoses and connections for damage or anything.

 

You may know this but in case you have overlooked it = You will have to remove the radiator cap and warm the car up to around 190* if you have a 180* thermostat and around 205* if you have a 195* thermostat to check if it’s flowing or not because it will not flow when it’s below that.That's what thermostats are for.
A clogged radiator will have nothing to do with the steam problem. A coolant leak could act like a defective radiator cap and not allow the system to pressurize properly causing the car to overheat. You did not mention replacing the cap. It should be done.

 

I actually didn't know that! Thanks for the help! I'll look into a new cap!

 

Here's a picture of where I think the leak is coming from. Wasn't sure if that made sense or not. The hose comes from the radiator and attaches to an area right by the oil filter.

 

Did replacing that little short piece of busted hose right there at the oil warmer, where the water is coming from, take care of it?