My car and I had a fight

F

FluerVanderloo

New Member
I think it won. Ever since I got it, it leaks coolant to the point that I have to refill the overflow tank about once a month. I keep a bottle of 50/50 mix in my trunk for those occasions. Today I had to refill it, and I did before leaving to go back to school from home (my mom's divorcing my stepdad and we went house hunting). Once I got back to school I turned the car off and it made a little groaning sound before white smoke came out of the hood and all of the coolant I refilled went all over the parking lot in a steady stream.

By the time I refilled the bottle of coolant with water it was too dark to go out and refill it to figure out where it was coming from. My dad seems to think there's a crack in the bottom of the overflow tank, or a hose is just dead.

Tomorrow before work I get to go refill the overflow tank and find out if it leaks before I even start the car. If it does, looks like no work for me!

Oh joy.
 
FluerVanderloo said:
I think it won. Ever since I got it, it leaks coolant to the point that I have to refill the overflow tank about once a month. I keep a bottle of 50/50 mix in my trunk for those occasions. Today I had to refill it, and I did before leaving to go back to school from home (my mom's divorcing my stepdad and we went house hunting). Once I got back to school I turned the car off and it made a little groaning sound before white smoke came out of the hood and all of the coolant I refilled went all over the parking lot in a steady stream.

By the time I refilled the bottle of coolant with water it was too dark to go out and refill it to figure out where it was coming from. My dad seems to think there's a crack in the bottom of the overflow tank, or a hose is just dead.

Tomorrow before work I get to go refill the overflow tank and find out if it leaks before I even start the car. If it does, looks like no work for me!

Oh joy.
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Um...Fluer? You shouldn't have to fill the overflow...it's for OVERFLOW from the radiator. If you aren't putting coolant into the radiator, you're wasting your money and ruining your engine.

The white smoke...did it have an odor? And please say that you never noticed any of it drifting in from the heating vents into the driving area. If you have, I got some bad bad news for you.

Have you noticed where the fluid is leaking from? Notice any of it on the ground after it's been sitting idle for a few hours?

Take a large cardboard box, break it down flat, and place it under your engine area on the ground. Crank the car and let it idle until the temp hand gets into the normal area. Then switch it off and go away for a couple hours. When you come back, look at the box. If anything has dripped onto it, look directly above where the drip is. If you see fluid, you an trace it down from there. Also, while the engine is cold and not running, squeeze the radiator hoses with your hands. You should be able to tell if they are filled with fluid or empty.

Please tell me you know where the radiator cap is...If not, go find a guy and bat your eyes a little. Can't hurt.
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
Please tell me you know where the radiator cap is...If not, go find a guy and bat your eyes a little. Can't hurt.
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According to my stepfather I don't have a radiator cap, and the only way to put any coolant in is through the overflow tank. I've been doing it that way for two years and this was the first time it's happened.

As far as the smoke, it didn't come into the car, just seeped through out of the hood, and it didn't smell like anything except coolant.
 
She's right, SnP. Most modern cars are filled through the "reservoir." It's not really an overflow anymore. Even if your car has a radiator cap, I'll bet if you "RTFM" it says to fill the reservoir, not the radiator.

Edit: A lot of cars don't have a radiator cap at all.
 
I have no helpful words to offer, but that sucks! I am sorry to hear about your car. I know when your car is giving trouble the rest of the world gets crappy around you too. Hope you find the trouble and it is an easy fix!
 
FluerVanderloo said:
According to my stepfather I don't have a radiator cap, and the only way to put any coolant in is through the overflow tank. I've been doing it that way for two years and this was the first time it's happened.

As far as the smoke, it didn't come into the car, just seeped through out of the hood, and it didn't smell like anything except coolant.
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That was probably steam rather than smoke.

Could be a blown head gasket. What kind of car is it? Check the oil right away. If it looks at all like chocolate milk, don't even start it. Could also be a cracked head or block or it could simply be a craked hose.
 
Steady stream of coolant smells like either a hose, a radiator hole, or a water pump. Hope it's the first.
 
chcr said:
Most modern cars are filled through the "reservoir."
Edit: A lot of cars don't have a radiator cap at all.
Click to expand...

1996 Ford Taurus :retard3:
 
Well I be dipped in shit. The '99 Explorer has a cap, last time I looked at least.

Damn newfangled crap...radiators been workin fine for how many years? Now the Japs gotta go and confuse me with this new stuff? Why I oughta...
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
Well I be dipped in shit. The '99 Explorer has a cap, last time I looked at least.

Damn newfangled crap...radiators been workin fine for how many years? Now the Japs gotta go and confuse me with this new stuff? Why I oughta...
Click to expand...
I suspect it stems either from the various incidents where some yahoo removes the cap when the engine is hot or from the fact that pouring (relatively) cold fluid into a hot engine is very bad. They're trying to protect us from ourselves again. :shrug:
 
All auto parts shops sell a tracer kit, that included a dye pack, and a UV lamp (although a halloween black light or one of those counterfeit detecting penlights work just as well). You drop the pack in, run the engine for a bit, and then (in the dark) shine the light around the engine bay. If you can't find it in the engine bay, go ahead and check around the exhaust. Didn't find it there? Time for an oil change (after 100 miles or so). Any glow in the old oil?


Just FYI, I just coughed up my vacation fund dealing with a coolant leak. Over 2K. The in-laws (who just so happened to own a Taurus) a few years back got taken for 4k for a coolant leak that was in the block itself. (Yes, I know they got hosed).

If you own a gun, you might well be advised to just go ahead and put it out of it's misery.
 
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