Goodbye car :(
 

Hey guys, it looks like my car will be grounded soon with overheating problem. Here is how everything started.

Today was the hottest day in CT history, it was about 80-90 degreee. Well like most morning, I would drive 52 miles to work. Today no exception except that I left at 11:30. I warmed the car up properly and got on the highway, I cranked the A/C on as soon as I got to cruising speed. I used the A/C for the next 45 miles (I stopped for like 5 min once). After I was done with the highway section, I got on these local roads. I drove for another 10 min (normal driving, all below 3K) before the inevitable happened. I was turning out of an intersection. I sort of gunned it. As soon as I hit 5K in 1st, the add coolant buzzer came on. The buzzer came on and off for the next 5-10 min. I stopped at a parking lot and opened my hood to see what happened. It turns out that my motor had rejected all the coolant that was in the radiator. It was shooting them out to the overflow bottle. Which in turn just got filled up and leaked everything out. I filled it up with water a little bit then countinue to drive slowly to my work. About 5 miles from my work, the buzzer came on again and would not stop. This time I pulled over and I found that my radiator had pretty much gone try. All I saw was steam coming out of the overflow bottle. To make a long story short, I had to pour in 1.5 gallon of water/anti freeze to fill everything back up. Now it seems to be running okay. But I am at work now, i wouldnt know what kind of damage or hwat hte problem is until I can get to work on it tomorrow. Right now i am afraid that I overheated the motor, but as far as I can tell. The car does not smoke when i drive normally. I gunned it to 6K, still no smoke, but power wise it is really down. I think it could be the heat. I have to try it again tonight to see whats going on. Anyway do you guys know why my car was ejecting all the coolant that was in hte radiator? Was it running too hot? Or do I have a leak in my system?

And no, I dont know what the temperature gauge was doing because mine is unplugged. I put in an aftermarket gauge last week, but the freaking autometer shit to bed. Now it is at their shop getting fixed. So I am running around with no water temp gauge, just great...

Tom

Do not drive that car home 51 miles. If you have to; sleep in it. I have no idea why your car is puking water but it doesn't sound good. Usually when a water seal goes, the compression of the motor forces the water out off the motor (I think this is how it works). So if my theory is correct your motor is working kinda like a big water pump. All this info may be totally wrong so don't go quoting me or anything. My main point is to not drive it untill you get some real answers.

put coolant in and start it w/ the cap off (make sure coolant isnt hot) if you see it shoot out the coolant during start up, your water seals are dead and the pressure created during combustion is (as samps says) acting as a pump on the coolant system. since it was coming out of your resevoir, that might be the only place the coolant could go w/out leaks in the system.
If the seals are dead...yup...thats right...
rebuild...:(

If my seals are just beginning to go, would i only get that if i ran my car at higher rpm's?

It doesnt shoot water out when I start it without the cap. It only shoot water out in 2 occasion that I can think of

#1 When I was pulling 4th gear at the dyno
#2 Today

So I think it only squart out water when the car is running hot

I have a new cap at home, I think I might swap this one

Have you checked the thermostat lately?

is it just me or did u @#$#$ drive the car for over 30 mins from where it happend, u are f#$$ing lucky if your triangles are not squares right now...

Id have to agree with kahren, poor apexs, there prolly suffering as was speak, and now he is driving to shcool then home!!!

Overheating check list:
1) Replace the thermostat. Make sure it fits. The spring loaded disc on the stat must close the bypass port, or guess what?
2) Replace the radiator cap. Low pressure = steam bubbles = spit out coolant.
3) Look for leaks. (same symptoms as #2) Some can be very hard to find. You may have to pressure test it. A common failure spot is the 3/8” coolant line that runs from the top of the rear housing (under the intake runners) to the throttle body, to the BAC, to the water pump.
4) The fan clutch will slowly start slipping as it ages. On your series 5 the fan should pull really hard up to about 4K when the motor is hot. It should maintain about 4K as the motor revs higher. Sometimes you can get more life from it by bending outward the bi-metal strip on the front of the fan clutch.

hmmm
 

sounds to me like a malfunctioning thermostat....but I didn't think it would do somthing like that....UNless it boiled over due to water pump failure...

Pretty much. If you keep the RPMs low, then you won't lose much coolant. It will pretty much stabilize (you will only blow out so much) until you come to a stop. Then with less RPMs comes less pressure which will make your level go down and the buzzer go off. Once you take off again, assuming you shift at the same points and keep the RPMs low, then it will pretty much equalize again. Should be able to get around a little if you keep a bottle of water with you.

Of course, if the seals are going and you are looking at a rebuild anyway, K & W block seal works. Not sure if that will cause any problems with anything so you might want to ask around first. My situation didn't matter...I just wanted to keep the motor going.

Dan

The strange thing about the whole deal is that it overheated when I am not even on the car. I was driving slow for like an hour below 3500 rpm. I barely hit 5K rpm when teh buzzer went on. I am about to go home now, let's hope i make it okay. I am going to stop by a speedshop to buy a water temp gauge and hook it up to see whats going on. Hopefulyl my motor is still okay. If not, I guess I will be in a Miata soon :(

How do I test for bad thermostat?

Why a miata?

I have like a few cars in mind

#1 Volvo 850 Turbo
#2 Saab 9000 Aero
#3 MR2 Turbo or NA
#4 Miata

The other cars I can barely stand driving it. #1 and #2 and #3 is over my budget. I think miata is my last choice until i graduate from college. Anyway time to limp home later

I made it home, here is the verdict
 

After letting my car sit for 3 hours, I finally drove it home. Before I started the highway section of my trip, i stopped by a local speedshop on a autometer gauge. As soon as I had it installed, I could tell sometihng is wrong. Car was running about 210-230, that's right. And that's on the hioghway. That explains why my coolant was getting shot out, probably because the car was overheating. To make a long story short, i think my motor is still okay. But it is definitely not okay to drive at that temperature.I am suspecting 3 things

1. Bad water pump
2. Bad thermostat
3. Bad fan

What do you guys think? I run 210-230 on the highway. When i do 70mph on flat road, i stay at 210, any incline iwll put me at 230. Before today, it was running 190-195 on my old gauge at that same speed. Do you guys agree that one of the 3 thing shit to bed?