Last night as i was driving to the store, i noticed that my temperature was getting kinda high (cruising at about 40 mph). Then as i watched the guage it went from 220 to about 250 in less than a minute. So i pulled into a gas station just as the needle hit the bottom of the red, and popped the hood.

There was coolant bubbling from between the intake and head by cylinder #1, from between the water pump and engine block (right side), from the thermostat housing, and from the radiator. There was also a nice splatter effect on the front of my crossmember. The resevoir was completly empty, but when i pulled the pressure release on my radiator cap it filled up right to the top.

After it cooled off some (alot), i started it back up, added some more coolant, and let it idle for a few minutes, and the temp needle just sat at 10 oColck (between the 110 and 220 marks), and couldnt see coolant coming from anywhere anymore. So I drove it home, the whole way the needle not moving and no coolant leaking when i got back. I got to class fine this morning, on the way back it got up to about 220 and had coolant dripping from the radiator, but i let it sit and idle for a few minutes and it just dropped back down to 10 oclock. I also have a nice little puddle of coolant on my intake above #1.

So my question is why could it have just suddenly boiled over? I drive all the time every day, with no problems before hand. Isnt the radiator cap supposted to release the pressure before all the gaskets blow?

Well it looks like i'm going to have to replace my intake gaskets, thermostat gasket, water pump gaskets, and radiator (thing is only 6 months old). Can this all be done in a weekend? Is there anything else I should look for? My oil looks clean (from the dipstick) and exhaust is clear, so i hope my head gaskets are fine.

Thanks,

Mike

 

It is possible that a news paper or something similar blew up and blocked your air circulation to the radiator. The same air circulation could hold the paper in place until you stopped to see why the car was overheating, at which point it would fall off. Of course, this is purely conjecture. A thorough investigation is in order.

A competent enough person could do these jobs in a weeked without rushing. Once completed, a compression/leakdown test will reveal a damaged head gasket.

My car overheated once, due to a snapped fan belt and a faulty choke lamp. The only place the water was boiling from was the lid of the overflow bottle, which is what should happen.

 

It sounds like you're thermostat is stuck in the 'closed' position, therefore building up pressure within the engine block (pressure from the water pump), and causing it to 'seep' out of certain areas.

I doubt it's a head gasket, because if it were.... you'd have noticed a drop in power (especially with a load).

Get a new thermostat (a fail-safe one), and when you fill the radiator back up with anti-freeze.... let the engine run with the radiator cap off, to make sure all of the air is flushed out of the system....

 

When you are working on it pull the plugs out and check to see if any are a lot cleaner than the others this is a quick but not total way to check for coolant getting in the cyl. ie head gasket leak

 

fail safe therm? you mean drill a little hole?

 

I know O'reilly carries them. They are thermostats then when they fail, they fail in the open posistion vs. the closed posistion 99% of the time. So you won't overheat when it fails....they also carry a lifetime warranty and run anywhere from $6-$9 depending on app. I purchase them for all of my vehichles...not a problem yet.

 

O'Rielys a local parts shop? Ill check autozone, discount ect tonite. cars bein a ho right now

Drew

 

Yeah those thermostats are great

Stuck open the first time we warmed up my brothers car after installation.. Great product (read: CRAP)... Buy a stant.

 

i'd take out your old thermostat and toss it in a pot of boiling water. it should open, obviously. If your car is equipped with an alloy manifold, (which i'm sure it is) they get very corroded, and almost rot out around the water jacket ports. the alloy gets very pitted and the gasket can eventually blow out. it may or not be the cause, but make sure you check that out.

 

hmmm guess its a gamble no matter waht. 180 oem if i can find.

 

At Orielly, the fail safes are made by stant...murray owns them(stant). Don't know what other brands other chains carry.