nm

 

have you filled the radiator? instead of the overflow bottle that is.

 

P

 

I haven't. Am I supposed to put stuff in the radiator? I thought the water bump does that automatically? I noticed, however, that the coolant reservoir is filled way above maximum. Is that what's causing it?

 

I'm not sure I understand correctly. If there is a leak in the coolant system, wouldn't that mean I'm leaking coolant and therefore the coolant level should be going down? Right now it is filled almost all the way.

So, I should drain the coolant and then put water in it instead?

Also, I've had my water pump replaced. It is still under warranty. Is there any chance they messed it up? Did they have to drain the coolant in order to replace it? Maybe they forgot to refill the radiator with coolant? They did a major tune up (timing belt change, water pump etc.) and they already had to replace the valve cover gasket because they didn't do it right the first time. So, I don't trust that repair shop...

 

Coolant level is ALWAYS measured in the radiator. The overflow (Recovery) bottle is NOT a reliable indicator of coolant level.

Refer my last post.

It works this way:
Engine cold, radiator filled to the very top.
Engine starts, coolant heats up to operating tempurature.
Coolant expands as it heats
Radiator cap regulates pressure in the system, allowing excess coolant to flow to overflow (Recovery) tank while maintaining pressure.
Engine turns off, coolant cools
Coolant contracts as it cools, forming a vacuum.
Radiator cap allows coolant to be drawn from the coolant recovery tank back into the radiator to maintain it's full status.

The water pump circulates the coolant, it fills nothing.

P

 

car sounds fine. sounds like operator error.

 

is this guy serious, are you ****in kidding?

 

I need some advice.

I took the car to a mechanic today and he said that there is a problem with the engine head gasket and that the temperature gauge inside the engine is blown (that's why I didn't notice any heat increase while driving).

There was some oil inside the coolant reservoir and that's why the hose that reaches into reservoir tank had expanded and fallen off. Therefore, the coolant couldn't flow back into the radiator.

The mechanic attached a bigger hose and secured it very tightly, but said that I have like 6 months before I need to get it fixed. It's like $1300.

My question is, how can the engine head gasket go bad without me noticing it? And, do I really need to get it fixed? The radiator is now working again and the car drives fine. Even when there was no coolant in the radiator the car was fine (except for the fact that the fan would stay on for a little while after shutting the engine off).

Any thoughts or suggestion are very much appreciated.

Thank You

 

do a coolant flush and then put coolant in

 

One serious overheating session can cause not only the head gasket to fail, but warp the head as well. The problem is that it may take several days for the symptoms to appear.

The head gasket will fail in one of four ways.
1) Compression loss between cylinders (runs rough)
2) Compression loss from cylinder to coolant passage (blows bubbles into radiator)
3) Fluid loss from engine interior to outside (obvious leak)
4) Fluid cross contamination; Oil ends up in radiator or coolant ends up in crankcase. (oily coolant or oil which looks like a milkshake)

If you're seeing any of these it may to to late.

P

 

since that engine is all aluminum ( or even if it was all cast iron) it took a good long overheat to kill the head gasket as both the head and the block pretty much have the same expansion rate.

like P said,

check ur oil for coolant.

There may be another reason it is bubbling out though (I had this happen to me) the rad cap gave out and will no longer hold pressure.

 

Oil color looks fine. Oil level was slightly below minimum.
Coolant bottle has some black spots inside, so there is oil inside the coolant.

So, is it too late to fix it? Should I just sell it for parts?

I haven't experienced any rough ride and there has been no noticeable drop in gas mileage (I have a spreadsheet that calculates mpg for me and I enter the data every time I get gas). I still get 37mpg on the freeway.

that's what puzzles me. I'm driving super slow. I'm the only driver, so how could I not have noticed it? Coolant never sprayed out, it just stayed inside reservoir (hose inside reservoir had fallen off).


Someone please explain this to me. My mechanic said that because there was oil inside the coolant bottle the hose expanded and fell off. Therefore, the coolant couldn't get back inside the radiator, which caused the temperature gauge to break (that's why I didn't see it overheating) and the head gasket blew.

But how did oil get inside the coolant reservoir in the first place?
Also, the temperature gauge inside my car does move. It just doesn't seem to show the right temperature???

I don't get it. Either way, I should have noticed an increase in temperature even before the temperature gauge popped.

Please correct me, but it seems like that 2 things must have happened independently. First, the temperature gauge inside the engine must have gone bad (for whatever reason). That's why I never noticed the temperature increase. Second, either the head gasket blew up due to age or bad design, or the coolant hose came off for no reason.

The car has 95,000 miles on it.

I need to know what most likely happened, so I can make a decision whether it makes sense to fix it. I don't want to spend $1300 and then find out that the engine needs to be rebuild.

Thank You.

 

Before you let this destroy your week, take a few moments and have the coolant system pressure tested. If it will hold 18psi for 15 minutes, you most likely do not have an internal problem.

There could be a logical (thank you Mr Spock) explanation for both your hose and soiled recovery bottle.
Some technicians (because they're either cheap or just don't care) will use the same catch basin for both engine oil changes and radiator drains and refills. If you had some recent work on the cooling system (I believe you mentioned water pump), I'd suspect that guy. The real problem with having this happen is that the oil contaminate attacks the coolant system hoses from the inside; making them soft, weak and swell. Perhaps that's why your hose was oversized.......

P

 

Thank You for everyone who helped me on this one.
I learned a lot.

The engine passed the pressure test, but the mechanic said that the pressure could be coming out somewhetere else (I don't remember where, but he showed me on some car he was currently working on).

He ran another test with putting some liquid bottle into my radiator while having the car run and the bottle slowly turned from blue into yellow.

Well, I'm getting this fixed. Let's hope the cylinder head isn't cracked.

 

+1

 

i think your mechanic is taking you for a ride


the temp gauge wont break from there not being coolant in there
if he actually said it was on the inside of the engine find another mechanic....the sensor is on the outside and is easily replaceable by you

if he did the pressure test and it passed it cant be coming out anywhere as the system has proven to be sealed and holding pressure

 

Kidding about what? Obviously he has a serious issue and is looking for help. Why post here if you've got nothing to add in order to help him? To rack up number of posts? Don't be a douche.

He said the oil in the coolant was the reason it blew off? I would imagine that's a pressure issue. I've never heard of oil in coolant expanding hoses, but hey i'm here to learn so if that's possible, someone correct me.