I was driving the other day back home from work...when i started to hear a popping noise under the hood and my temp jumped right over the redline. So i pulled over to find that my overflow tube had popped out of the overflow container and was spitting the coolant all over the engine bay. I reinserted the tube into the container and it stopped spitting out coolant. I check all over the radiator for any spills or leaks and i saw nothing. I drove the couple of blocks to get home and it popped out again.

After i got home and let the car cool down, i removed the radiator cap and noticed that i was low on coolant. I went to Autozone and bought some coolant and i filled the radiator back up. I let it sit so that it would fill correctly and then i ran the engine for a little while so that the coolant could settle into the radiator.

The next day i took the car to work again and it started to overheat on the way there. Once i got to work i just let it sit and i opened the radiator cap again and noticed that once again the radiator was low on coolant. Is this a sign of a broken radiator, or do i have a broken seal and the coolant is pouring into my engine? If thats the case should i purchase a new radiator and then purchase my new 13bt ii engine for my engine swap. Right now im carless and need any assistance that can be given. thanks

 

Thermostat.

 

how fast were you driving when the overheating occured? was there white smoke coming out of the exhaust?

 

if white smoke exhaust the motor is eating coolant. only a rebuild can fix that

radiator or coolant lines could be leaking. fill it up with coolant, drive it a few minutes to circulate. then park. if in a few hours you see puddles under car track the leak.

 

well for starters i was only driving about 60 mph....and then thats when i noticed it...also i was driving at night....when it came off the second time i was driving maybe 45 mph. and no i didnt see any white smoke coming out of the exhaust....i dont think the engine was burning the coolant but i could smell it.......and i did put in new coolant and i drove it to work and back and i dont see any puddles under the car right now and its been sitting in its parking spot for 3 days now......

this is really started to get me frustrated i really need my car.....some have told me that it could be the water pump, thermostat, coolant leak, bad coolant seals, bad radiator, or even a bad engine.....

right now im getting ready to buy a new radiator and a new oil cooler so that i have all new parts up front.....do u think that the new radiator will help me stop the radiator from overheating...thanks again

 

I'd check the thermostat first. Just take it out and run it with no thermostat, if it fixes the problem, go get a new one. A new radiator won't do anything if it isn't the problem, so I would check the other things before I started spending money.

 

Yeah do the no tstat test, but let me tell you, last year I was having overheating problems. Removed the tstat and that "handled" it for a little while. Then it came back and eventually I changed the radiator for a brand new one. Still without a tstat, water temp was so low I was having troube reaching operating temp, in Southern California! so then put the tstat back and it was all good. Perfect temp.

 

well i bought a new tstat today with a new gasket and silicone sealant.....hoping that this is the problem.....i believe it is b/c when i started the car and drove it a little today and then i popped the hood to open the rad cap i could hear a popping noise from where the tstat is located.....i believe that it was stuck or its covered in trash to wear it's sticking.....hopefully 2morrow when i install the new tstat the overheating will disappear....thanks a lot guys