engine and drivetrain Coolant Sprayed Out, Found On Engine Bay

[Andrew Havens]

I recently removed my radiator because it had a leak, had it repaired, then drove it quite a bit (25 miles each way, then a few more short distances, grand total of around 60-70 miles) with no issues. Temperature gauge stayed low.

 

Today, I drove my car to work (about 9 miles) and watched my temperature gauge gradually increase to the point where it was almost in the red by the time I got to work. When I checked under the hood, I found coolant on the right side of the engine bay. I took the cap off the radiator and saw that coolant was missing, but there were no drips under the car. It was obvious that some had sprayed out while I was driving, but I'm not sure from where or what this means.

 

Is it possible that one of my hoses is not completely attached? Or is it spraying out of my engine? I'm confused why it was working fine for about a week, then today it is having issues.

 

I took some pictures. Not sure if you can tell anything from the pictures. Any help would be appreciated.

[jimk]

Did you leave expansion room in the top tank when filling or did you fill it plumb full?  It needs expansion space.

[Andrew Havens]

Filled it to 1" from top like the book says. Now I can't even see coolant in the radiator because so much has sprayed out.

[Stevenc22]

Based on what is dry and what is not.

 

1) I would look at the bottom of the radiator where the radiator hose attaches. This is angled upwards towards where your wetness is.

2) The only other thing i can think is do you have a water choke on your carb? If so check those hoses which may have popped off and are pointing in the direction of where it is wet.

[TobyB]

...or the water pump seal- if it goes, it can make a royal mess...

 

t

[Andrew Havens]

Okay, I've been wondering, but now I'm going to ask…what is the piece that I've circled in this picture?

 

 

I had to loosen the hose at the bottom of this piece in order to take out the radiator. I'm very confident that the hose near the bottom of the radiator is on good and tight, but I'm not confident in the hose connecting to this piece. It felt strange when I was tightening it and I was afraid of breaking something, so I didn't tighten it too much.

…and where would I look to find the water pump seal?

[jimk]

Filled it to 1" from top like the book says. Now I can't even see coolant in the radiator because so much has sprayed out.

That's correct.  The piece circled is the thermostat.

Before you take stuff apart, top off the coolant again and see if it happens again.  If so then go to work on it.

[DavidLMM]

Go to your friendly local auto parts big chain store (Auto Zone, Advance, etc.) and plop down a deposit to rent their free cooling system pressure testing kit. Make sure you get the correct adapter for your radiator neck. Fill the radiator with plain ol' water, and use the tester to find the problem. Don't go too crazy with pressure, just a few psi will do the job. More than that and you could blow the tanks off the radiator!

Easy peasy - you can do it cold, standing there and looking, instead of risking scalds or worse to do it hot.

 

Oh, and the water pump seal is integral to the pump - you're not going to see it unless you remove the pump and press out the hub. You may, however, find that there is a leak at the weep hole, which is near the shaft - depending on orientation, you may need an inspection mirror to look at it - if there's a crusty green trail, it's bad.

 

GLWR.

 

David in Nashville

 

[Buckeye]

From what I can see in your pictures, hose clamps are old/original and look rusty. replace them all with good quality ones.

[M3M3]

Check/replace hose clamps.

Refill radiator.

Start car.

Let warm up.

Look for leaks.

Edited April 7, 2014 by mlytle

[Andrew Havens]

Walked to a nearby mini-mart. Bought a jug of 50-50 coolant. Dumped all of it in the radiator. Still needed some more, but I could at least see some in the top of the radiator. Started up the car, waited about 5 minutes. Turned it off…found a puddle of coolant on the ground! It looks like it's leaking from the top thermostat hose.

 

 

[M3M3]

Did you open the hood when it was running to actually see where it was coming out?

From your pic it looks like the house clamp is not even on the tstat.

[Andrew Havens]

The hood was open, but I was still sitting in the driver seat. (My e-brake is broken, so I've got to keep my foot on the brake, but I was on flat ground, so I probably could have gotten out). Didn't see any spraying, but it continued to drip after I turned off the car. Is it true that when the engine warms up, the thermostat will direct the flow of coolant to that hose? I'm wondering if last weeks cold weather was enough for me to not notice, or if the leak was slow enough that it didn't affect my short drives.

[jimk]

That hose has flow in it all the time and the flow is towards the pump from the Tstat.  When the engine is colder than the tstat setting, coolant enters the tstat at it's top and when the tstat just opens flow will be mixed from the the top and bottom and when fully open, from the bottom (i.e. the radiator) only.  The tstat is really, a 3-way mixing valve.

Edited April 7, 2014 by jimk

[MatthewCervi]

Marshall's right. The short hose isn't fully seated on the thermostat. Look at picture 2 on the first post...you can see the lip on the thermostat flange. It was probably on there loosely at first, but eventually the pressure in the system caused it to back off.