Hey! I'm new here and I need help! I noticed yesterday that my car was idling kind of weird so I parked it for the night. When I drove it to work this morning, it seemed just fine. After driving home, I left it running for about 10 mins. When I came back out, there was antifreeze gushing from under the car, and steam coming from under the hood. I turned the car off to let it cool, but apparently didn't wait long enough, as I had a personal viewing of old faithful when I removed the radiator cap. I filled the radiator with water and could see coolant in the radiator. Seems to be running ok now, but I know it's only temporary. I'm not very meanically inclined, but have a feeling it's the thermostat or water pump. Also, the coolant overflow was boiling. Its never overheated, or shown signs of overheating before today. I need help diagnosing as I'm a single mom of three and this is our only transportation. Help please!!

 

Sounds like you have a leak......let the car completely cool and fill the rad. Get a pressure tester from a local parts store, they loan them out, and pressurize the system and find the source of the leak.

 

Does your car have a thermostat gauge? If it does you could tell you if you are overheating or if the thermostat is bad.

 

The temperature gauge will not tell you if the thermostat is bad, just if the car is getting too hot. It could get too hot for various reasons.

Yes this car has a temperature gauge.

 

Yes but if it is getting to hot it could be the thermostat. Does the engine fan turn on?