This happened to me earlier to day. I was backinbg in to a parking place. When I got out Coolant was running out from under the pass side bumpercover. pretty good amount. I checked inside and damned if there wasn't coolant all over the dipstick and in that space between the battery and the fender well. It did not appear to have spewed or sprayed, rather just overflowed. What the hell causes that?



Bad Andy

 

Hello ! Need a little help here!!

 

did u recently ad fluid??
change thermostat?
anything related to that


what was your temp at?
did it overheat?
thermostat might be getting stuck.....

 

If it was overflowing than it had to be overheating. First, I would check if your fans come on. second, I would check the t-stat. But if your car has more than 50k miles I would just replace it for the hell of it. It sounds to me your fans are not coming on..

 

It could just be a radiator cap not holding pressure too.

 

It did not run hot before the incident, but it ran a little hot after. never over 210, but a big enough difference for me to tell. But I can attribute it running hotter after because it was low on coolant. Keep in mind it overlowed out the dipstick tube, and not the radiator cap. I changed the Tstat to a 170* about a month ago, no problems, ran great, could actually see a drop in temp on the dummy water gauge. If the Tstat stuck open, why would it overheat? Or maybe closed.... Can I massage a thermostat to get it back in shape. Here is another weird thing. I checked the coolant level at operating tempreture and it was at the cold level. EEK! I waited and then tried to add more through the radiator cap when it had completely cooled off. I could only add about 3 ounces of coolant! Why wasn't the radiator level low? I have driven it since Sunday ,w/ slightly low coolant and it has been just a hair closer to 210 than normal. I hate this kind of inconsistent CRAP!!


Bad Andy

 

im guessing your thermostat is stuck close.....your cooling fans work right?

 

yep cooling fans work. Why would it be erratic like that?

 

I *think* if the hose going from the radiator to the t-sat is cold when car is fully warmed up means your t-sat is stuck closed. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

The feed and return hoses are not cool. I just let it heat up to normal operating temp, with the radiator cap off. I don't believe I ever saw the coolant level drop. Shouldn't that happen when the tstat opens? If my Tstat is stuck shut, then why the hell does my car operate pretty noramly? The low amount of coolant on the dipstick is what bothers me. Maybe it runs fine, but what can that do to the water pump? I opened the radator cap when it was stone cold and there was absolutely no room for more coolant. WTF?????

 

the t stat might have some junk in it and it coud be restricting the flow....


check the t stat

 

I have had very similar prob with my 94 Z, I went with a Hyperstuck thermostat and it would stick sometimes, I could let it cool down and it would usually "click" and then it would work again. Sometimes it would work ok but I went on a longer than normal trip almost a 100 miles one way I I noticed the temp rising quick and steam coming out of side of hood, that was the last straw. I finally through the POS out and bought a new one from GM. I also have had problems with Air in the lines but if you haven't drained it you may not have that problem.

 

yup thats gotta be the problem

 

I did drain it, but I bled the air out as I filled it

 

For the record, I think it's the Tstat too. But check the seals on the cap. Any cap I've ever seen had 2 seals. If you loosen up the cap one click, the lower seal(spring loaded to release all that extra pressure when your Tstat goes out... hint hint) opens up and allows the pressurized coolant to "overflow" into the "reservoir". Your dipstick only measures the amount of coolant sitting in the reservoir waiting to be used if needed. If the rest of the system is air tight it will draw in coolant from the reservoir as needed (when cold) and overflow it back out when hot. That's why there is a difference in hot and cold fluid levels in the reservoir. Your car has not been running low on coolant. Forget about that being the problem.

Check the seals on the cap. Then replace the Tstat. The only other thing it is likely to be is the water pump. And you'ds change the Tstat when doing a waterpump anyway.