Overheated --Best way to add coolant?
 

This seems like a simple thing --But I had an overheat situation today, got the car back home after stopping several times to let it cool down. There is coolant obvious on the driver's side of the engine bay. I'm hoping that I had a loose cap because I had them loosened earlier and may not have tightened them both back. We'll see after I get it going.

Question is : When you've lost considerable coolant, should you fill it through the AST or the other coolant cap or just add it to the overflow reservoir. Seems like you should get it into the system right away rather than trust in the reservoir.

First time we've had the buzzer go off and now want to get the coolant level right before looking for the leak.

i myself would thoroughly inspect the engine for warpage. Overheating is a serious problem in automotive industry.

You probably have a blown coolant seal. I kept driving my FD I just had to keep putting coolant in it. I never had any overheating problems but my leak was small. Just somthing to fix this winter. I would check the motor out from that overheating.

Fill system to cap, fill reservoir to max.

When I added coolant, the leak became evident. A hose just below the oil filter area.
Does the black plastic looking piece look like part of an old hose, or is that something that is supposed to be there?
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...antleak003.jpg

Any reason for this particular hose to be forced loose or is it normally just a clamp issue?

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...antleak001.jpg

use screw tight claps.

The black thing is a quick disconnect and is supposed to be there.
Like Bryant says, use a jubilee clamp. These have better preload and circular tension than the one now fitted.

It looks to me like the metal part of the connector corroded completely off. You will have to get in there and replace it. It's not just a hose-clamp problem.

And, while you're at it, you'd better check everything else (all exposed hard pipes and coolant hoses) in the cooling system for corrosion and leaks. If this piece was that bad, other stuff is ready to go, and overheating can be disastrous in an FD - tends to warp things and cause coolant seal failures.

You would be well advised to replace all the hoses and replaceable hard pipes, even if they look OK from the outside.

Thats all plastic that broke, the metal ends well before that break

yea and its a pain in the ass to get it out of the block.

I don't see how you drove it without causing major damage as with that kind of leak there's no way the coolant wasn't pumped out instead of circulating.

This is all plastic. Just get in there and carefully cut/break it apart. Order a new one and its a "snap" to replace it. The only real problem is the tight spaces you have to work in (so what's new!).

A. You should have gotten the car towed!!! There are grandmothers that have more car sense than you!
B. Order a new plastic quick connect fitting including new o-rings and pray that you didn't fuck up too bad.

The best way to add coolant is the tight fitting funnel method. It burps out all the air.