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The end is near......

S2Knott

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
1,020
Location
Sandwich, Massachusetts
well a few days ago i started my car after working for 8 hours and the temp needle shot right up, so i figure it got messed up when i had a new starting put in....

anyways, the next day the coolant light comes on.... but its at the max line. so whatever, ill get it fixed this weekend.

then i popped the hood with the engine running and it look like my coolant resivour was a pot of boiling water....... bubbling up and spitting everywhere with small leaks out the hoses.....

well my first thought is headgasket.....

any other suggestions? right now i cant tell if its overheating but i plan on getting the gauge fixed tommorow i took the weekend off of work to figure this out.
 
Sounds like your coolant isn't being cycled through the engine. This leads us to a likely water pump failure. If your head gasket was failing, you'd be losing coolant, and you'd have coolant in the oil. Check your oil. But it sounds like the water pump because your car was nearly overheating EVEN WITH coolant. Take it easy on that gas pedal man, the engine is having a hard time keeping cool.
 
squeeze all the hoses, there may be an air bubble thats not allowing flow. Otherwise waterpump, and maybe thermostat.
 
Waterpump needed, don't heat up engine again..

Waterpump needed, don't heat up engine again..

Your coolant temp gauge probably needs a new sending unit if it reads hot all the time. Just install a new waterpump and thermostat and antifreeze with that, as long as the engine oil is not contaminated (may smell burned). I bought my Mystique with an overheat problem due to waterpump and it needed an new sender (gauge was stuck on HOT). Yet the engine survived and I have driven it a few years now. I used a Delco metal pump. Make sure you remove the pieces of the old pump impeller (black plastic.)
DCP_0434.jpg
 
greg put a new thermostat in when he did my 3L swap.

now my question is, im on cape cod, 1hr from my apartment..... is there any kind of time frame on this? could i make it home? i noticed this while coming down last night so i just cruised at about 60mph the whole way and it was ok but i dont know for how long.....
 
if you even thing the engine is over heating you need to immediately stop and let the engine cool ... don't drive the car, have AAA or some one else tow it ... or drive it if you don't care about the engine ....
 
I dont think you need a gauge to tell you what boiling coolant already its. Gotta side with Brapple here. Either tow it, fix it there, or run serious risk of permanent damage.
 
should i expect a check engine light if something serious happens?

i started the car today for about 10 minutes and its running fine but the coolant is still bubbling. going to get my gauge fixed monday or tues.
 
it the coolant is boiling check the water pump and thermostat, f the tmep guage for now! don't drive that car.

oh and when it does die completely I'll give $200 for the car ...
 
after some more thought and more opinions i think its the thermostat, and im going to bring it to a shop monday because i dont feel confident doing one on this car. if it were the water pump, wouldnt there be some dripping water, and or a noise from it? and if it was a headgasket i wouldnt e able to keep coolant in the resivior and the oil would be milky. so i think that rules them out.
 
no the waterpump doesn't have to leak or make noise. if for some reason you have a black waterpump it could break apart and not make any noise or leaks ... but then again searching would have told you that ...
 
well started the car for a breif second today and it ran fine but shut it off when i popped the hood and saw the coolant level 2 inches below max, and it was at max yesterday..... so it doesnt look good.

anyone want a 3L project car?
 
You might have blown some coolant overboard, which my car had done. Coolant in oil (milky)? If not, try the new waterpump. The waterpump (see rockauto) looks like the same "fine" equipment found in my 98...
 
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anyone want a 3L project car?

Yes, I'll give you my perfectly fine running vehicle for yours. Even swap.

















:nonono: Check your oil. Smell it. Check your water pump. :rolleyes:














But seriously, if you're willing to give up your car this easily, I will put it in better hands, a.k.a. mine.
 
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after some more thought and more opinions i think its the thermostat, and im going to bring it to a shop monday because i dont feel confident doing one on this car. if it were the water pump, wouldnt there be some dripping water, and or a noise from it? and if it was a headgasket i wouldnt e able to keep coolant in the resivior and the oil would be milky. so i think that rules them out.
Water pump impeller could have failed and you wouldn't see anything dripping yet it wouldn't pump any water. THe water in the block would boil and you'd have bubbling issues.
The head gasket could have blown and you could be pumping combustion gasses into your coolant jacket and they are coming out the tank.

The thermostat could be bad but the other two are more likely..
 
this all sucks because the car is at my home on cape, and ive gotta go back today... so im taking my sisters car and i think my dads gunna bring it to a shop and have them check it out.

id just bring it into uti and work on it there, but it would probably cost a **** load to have the car towed, and plus i already took the weekend off to work attend a funeral, so i cant take any time off this week to work on it..... im just in a horrible situation.
 
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