Was driving home today and first the red light on for the coolant level, then the needle rose to the highest I've ever seen it, almost to the 3/4 line! As I pull into the driveway steam starts billowing out of the right side. This is so strange, the van was running fine for a while. Open up the engine hatch, look in, nothing in that area visibly leaking, must of popped on one the hoses on the right side that lead up to the radiator as that is where all the fluid came out. The main tank was almost empty, expansion dry, I opened up the main, and let the pressure off. Filled the tank up with some water, started it up, watched the coolant return flow, nothing strange looking about it, blue as can be, so no oil in there, thats a good sign. But what I want to know is what caused the rise in temp so fast! I was sitting at a stop light and the red light went on, then the needle slowly rose up, just made it home before who knows what else could of happened! The heads on the engine were recently done less than 15K miles ago so I don't think they are the problem. I did notice a leak from the thermostat housing a while back, but then it mysteriously disappeared. I just topped off the expansion tank a few times and it went away. Did the hose fail before or after the heat went up is what I want to know, how can I figure that out. It's not gushing out, more like streaming from "undetermined" area ahead of the plastic distribution block thingamajig (it was nighttime and all I had was flashlight). So did the hose fail then overheat or overheat then hose fail? I like my van, but I hate it when it breaks down like this! Joe 90 2.1L with a few modifications |
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