88 vert. Idles perfectly fine at 750~

The overflow was bubbling. Major puddle but couldnt pin point.

Stopped immediately and put in a bottle of water from the gas station hose. (Coolant bottle the big one)

Temperature rose to around a little more than half.

No coolant smell from exhaust. Slight drips on edge of rad but not a lot. No indication of major leak as in a puddle.

Managed to limp it home and it stayed at regular operating temp

Drive home was like 4 km.

Ideas?

 

sounds like the coolant seal has been breached.. if so,it's time for a rebuild... make sure you drain the coolant so the rotor and housings don't rust

 

Really coolant seal? Even though it starts up fine. Idles. Doesnt smell like coolant in exhaust. And still has plenty of ***** lol


Just walked outside and there is a huge puddle of coolant after it has been sitting for 4 hours.
Its still dripping. Rad maybe? Ill look better in the morning

 

Did a quick inspection of it running with full coolant and there are no bubbles in the neck. No bubbling nothing. Even started up first try.

 

Start the car and let it warm up. Shut it down and listen for any hissing noises near your hose connections. I had a tiny leak at the heater core exit hose that I was able to find only because I heard a hissing noise. You should also put a big piece of cardboard or something under the car and wait for it to leak a little. You can pinpoint where the leak is once a few drops appear.

 

If it's just going somewhere without indication of why, inspect/replace the radiator cap.

 

Heater hoses like to get soggy and leak, although they much prefer to just explode and drain your coolant system in seconds.

Check the WP weep hole, if its going a significant amount of coolant can be lost through there.

If the thermo wax is still functioning its possible that hose (as well as the one to the BAC has been compromised, although I'm not sure where that hose is routed on an n/a.

 

many times a bad seal will only start leaking when the cooling system is under full pressure or when the engine is at or above operating temps.

note that the cooling system operates under pressure (typically 14-16 psi) if you had an external leak at 16psi, coolant would just **** out the hole... IE a hole in the radiator, leaking thermostat gasket or a cracked hose....etc

but the compression of the engine (95+psi) would offset the 16psi of the cooling system ...so if you have a breach between the combustion chamber and the coolant passages, you would get bubbles coming thru your cooling system

your first step in diagnosing the bubbles is to do a cooling system pressure test... pump the system up to 16psi and see how quickly the pressure drops

if its real bad, you could probably hear it with the naked ear... otherwise you could stick a stethoscope down the intake or in a spark plug hole and try to listen for it

your local Autozone, Oreillys , kragens would probably loan you the tool to do the test
never remove a radiator cap while the engine is warm or hot unless you want to burn your face off

one other thing it could be... many times when performing work on the cooling system you introduce air, which can get trapped somewhere in the system..

when the engine runs it will push that air bubble thru the engine.. you could have coincidentally been watching as that bubble made its way to the radiator ... trapped air would look like big bubbles that would last a short time.... a bad seal would look more like a pot of boiling water on the stove, the bubbles would be constant

 

Noticed it overflows and sometimes double the full mark on the overflow but doesnt come back to the engine.

It sometimes smokes after shutting down. Around the back of the motor.

No smoke at all from exhaust like coolant or condensation

 

Ok, so you potentially have a coolant leak at the back of the engine. Pressure test it cold first. If you see no leaks, leave it pressurized and start it up. Let it warm up, then shut it off. If there's a little leak, you'll need to keep pressing as pressure drops to locate it.




You can rent one from a parts store.

 

Bastard is right. Go to your local parts store and get a loaner pressure test kit. It will be around $90 but they'll refund it when you return the kit.

I'd put the car up on 4 jackstands and remove the under tray so any leaks will drip straight down. Remove the lower spark plugs.

Then pressurize the system and look for water under the car. We had a leak in the upper plastic radiator endcap and it shot out in a stream.

Take a 1/4" or so ID hose and listen to the two open spark plug holes. If you hear air passing by you can start to cry.

Dont forget to pull the carpets and look for coolant on the floor. If the heater core leaks (and eventually it will, ours did) the coolant will get soaked up by the sound deadening material and you may not notice it for a long time.

Good luck

 

I found a crack in my coolant fill neck when replacing the o-ring.