I was driving to school from NY for about 3 hours and everything is fine until I pull over for some gas. I noticed a little smoke comming out from the hood. I popped the hood and coolant was oozing from the thermostat housing. The engine temp never went over 160. I never got a low coolant light iether. The coolant got the opti crap and now the car doens't start. The coolant stopped leaking once the pressure died down and the car cooled off.

What can cause the coolant to leak like that? I also noticed that I run too cool on the highway, my engine temps are 140 sometimes even lower. I might have a stuck t-stat but that shouldn't really by causing this should it? Is it possible that the bolts from the t-stat housing became a little loose and coolant can ooze through? Any help would be appreciated. I did a search on this and it seems most coolant leaks are from the weep hole or somewhere else from the WP. Anyone have suggestions or similar expierences. I just a bought a new cap and rotor kit and I'm broke as hell and can't afford to go through another opti install if coolant leaks on the new one again.

 

Is it possible you have no t'stat installed, or the wrong t'stat? The "reverse flow" thermostat has a rubber ring around it, which serves as the housing gasket. If you are missing the t'stat, or you have one without the rubber ring, it will leak.

 

It's the 160 t-stat from hypertech. Maybe the rubber seal on this one just wore down a or shifted a little bit? Do you think this problem can be serious like the water pump or another issue. I have a new WP since last spring so it should be fine. Hopefully it is just the t-stat and nothing more serious.

 

Open it up and take a look at it. Make sure there is no debris on the mounting flange. You should be able to tell if the bolts were tight when you remove the water neck. When you reassemble, make sure you don't overtighten the bolts. 89 lb. in. is all it takes to torque the bolts. That = "snug". Try to tighten them too much to compensate for the leak and you will snap the bolts.