coldradio1 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 So I was out tonight and I noticed that my car was running hot. I stopped and opened the hood. I immediately smelled coolant. The overflow tank was empty. There is coolant all over the plastic undertray, the bottom of the radiator and it looks like some sprayed on part of the header and timing belt cover. The coolant doesn't look like there is any oil in it, so I'm hoping that you guys don't say that its a head gasket. The upper and lower radiator hoses look dry and I felt around the edges of them for leaks and they were dry there too. I looked with a light to see if I could see any big holes or cuts in the radiator but I didn't see anything. It looks like most of the coolant is on the back side of the radiator. I'm gonna run some water thru it a little later to see if I can see coolant coming out. My guess is a busted radiator, but IDK. Would a blown head gasket have clean coolant coming out? Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaMax Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I've had a car with a blown headgasket and all it did was smell of coolant. Never did I see any. Make sure the hose going to the turbo is good. I know when I did my turbo swap for some reason when the tightening ring slipped off a hair it would leak fluid. Best way to see where it's coming from is buy a UV dye. Harmless to the car but that coupled with a simple black light shall help you find the problem right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldradio1 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Good call. I'm about 99% positive its a hole in the radiator. Driveability and idle are perfect, no smoke, and no exhaust smell in the coolant res, so I doubt its a head gasket problem. Last night I filled it up with coolant and I didn't see any pooring out of a hole in the rad, so I'm thinking its a smaller hole. Good thinking on the uv dye. I doubt its the hose running to the snail because all of the coolant is pooling up at the bottom of the radiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontGT Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 FWIW you can also do a coolant system pressure test if you know someone who works at a shop (or are willing to pay a shop to do it for you). Takes ~10 minutes tops to do and will chase your leak for you no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.