mullenium

Sorry for the long post, i want to be as detailed as possible because this is our only car.

FYI: The car has 136k and radiator has never been replaced, neither has the radiator cap.

Last weekend we drove from Phoenix to San Diego with AC on 2, no temp issues at all.

However on the way back it was night so we had AC off and about an hour out of the 5 or so hour drive i looked down and noticed the temp gauge pegged on H, I immediately pulled over and opened the radiator cap (which to my surprise did not hiss or spew out hot water all over the place)

after a short "wtf" moment i tried to pour in some water I had stored in the trunk which then started to boil inside and tons of steam started to blow out.

after letting it cool off with the radiator cap off i poured some more water with some antifreeze i also had in the trunk, fired up the engine and the temp gauge looked normal so I drove it to the nearest gas station (about an hour away) re-fueled and tried to turn the car back on but the temp guage started rising so i turned it back off sat there for awhile and put more water in (it seemed lower then when i re filled it on the road). after awhile it seemed okay so i drove home monitoring the guage which seemed normal.

after doing research i checked both hoses coming from the rad. and they both are hot so the thermostat seems like its working, and both fans kick on when the AC is turned on.

UPDATE: everything seemed fine until today after we got home and I turned off the car i noticed a hissing noise after investigating it sounds like its coming from the radiator on the passenger side. (there is also some wet spots down underneath and around the fan blades but i think that might be from my shaky hand while pouring the coolant into it the other day)

any ideas?


Modified by mullenium at 3:03 PM 9/5/2008

mullenium

anyone?