coolant reservoir boils and smokes...

[s13supreme]

hey guys..i was just wondering what could be wrong with my car...when i warm my car up its fine..then when i drive it about 3/4 of a mile my coolant reservoir starts to boil and i can see white smoke coming out from my hood where the reservoir is located. Also my temp meter starts going up...up to one line before the H...anyone know what could the problem be?

[sr20fan]

im no expert but you should try radiator cap and thermostat. thats what i would look at

[Shabbernigdo]

Im having the exact same problem right now. I just changed out the thermostat and while i was bleeding the air out of the seystem i noticed i have about an inch long crack in the plastc upper radiator part right next to the upper radiator hose so i cant really tell right now if the thermostat or the crack is the cause of the overheating / boilover problem.

OMG i loves me a good run on sentence.

[240life]

Im having the exact same problem right now. I just changed out the thermostat and while i was bleeding the air out of the seystem i noticed i have about an inch long crack in the plastc upper radiator part right next to the upper radiator hose so i cant really tell right now if the thermostat or the crack is the cause of the overheating / boilover problem.

OMG i loves me a good run on sentence.

if you rad is cracked most likely it is causing your issue go hunt down a new to you one that is in good condition or you could repair it if it isn't to bad.IMHO i would get the replacement

[apollas]

If you guys replaced your thermostat and your hoses are in perfect order, i would check if there is any coolant dripping around/from the block itself. If you see coolant leak and the reservior is still boiling, then your water pump is bad.

[aceof07]

get a new thermostat, check your radiator, hoses, water pump and MOST importantly makes sure to BLEED the coolant system. that last one owned my 240

[youngun21a]

or run it with out a thermostat, and see if it get hot,if it don't not they u have air in the system and your thermostat is no good.

[240life]

or run it with out a thermostat, and see if it get hot,if it don't not they u have air in the system and your thermostat is no good.

what you guys are failing to see is the fact that the crack in the radiator is allowing air into his coolant system so even if he replaces all the other pieces you are recomending he will not be able to properly bleed his system

[Vegascorbin]

what you guys are failing to see is the fact that the crack in the radiator is allowing air into his coolant system so even if he replaces all the other pieces you are recomending he will not be able to properly bleed his system

Also remember that the system operates under pressure. With a crack you will not be able to generate system pressure and the boiling point of the coolant is lowered to the same as if you were heating a pot of water on a stove.

Bad Radiator cap=overheating due to not being able to hold system pressure.

Bad thermostat=overheating due to water not being able to flow.

Air in system=overheating due to improper flow and hot air will not open the themostat. It requires hot coolant.

Bad Water Pump=overheating due to all of the above depending on exactly how it failed.

Hope this helps

[assassin7420]

Do you have any smoke from the exhaust? If so check your oil. I bet you have a milkshake maker now.

[s13supreme]

heres what i failed to mention guys...me and my crew rx7 fd and 93' integ sedan and of course my s13 coupe were running in the freeway...we were just riding going 100+ mph...and when i let go of th gas pedal...and then quickly pushed it again...i knew right there and then something gone wrong...we got to our destination and my coolant was boiling and smoking WHITE smoke. we popped the hood and checked it out...the little hole on the side of the coolant reservoir leaked some coolant because it was boiling...i took my car for a little ride yesterday and i noticed after i warmed it up it got hot faster...and i turned on my heater but it was BLOWING COLD AIR...correct me if im wrong but my thermostat is working because my fan is working...what else could it be? could it be a blown head gasket? also when i turned on my car to warm it up..the exhaust blew out..white smoke but not a lot...and theres no leaks under my car...IM REALLY CONFUZZLED! (confuzzled = confused + puzzled)

[CMG]

Yeah, you did fail to mention that...if you're rad is cracked, don't ya think that might be a problem? Check your oil dipstick and see what it looks like.

[hmart95367]

White smoke out of the tail pipe is deefinitely a blown headgasket. You have oil & coolant mixing together thus the white smoke. 'shut it down pull the head, have the head looked at by a machine shop to see if it's not warped. It if checks ok put a new gasket (Hey while it's torn down this far you may as well do the timing chain) drain your oil pan with new oil new coolant and let it go... now, after you get it running??? let it run for a while and change the oil again. hope it works. My son just ran his 240 hot and really did a number on his engine. Good Luck

[RB25-240sx]

correct me if im wrong but my thermostat is working because my fan is working

On a side note: your thermostat and your fan work completely independently of each other. The thermostat they are talking about is the one that is actually in the coolant system and is controlled mechanically, not electrically.

as far as for your heater blowing cold, your thermostat must be stuck. I pulled up the FSM for my 95 and the coolant flows through the engine first, then to the heater. So the coolant is not making it to the heater and therefore it is not getting to the engine.

[s13supreme]

thanks guys for all the response i got! you guys taught me a lot. but for now i cant do anything...pretty broke as of right now..so next week when i get my check..im gonna get it checked at the shop...hopefully it won't be too expensive..BLAH -_-. hopefully if it gets fixed...by december ill treat myself to a turbo kit, some stance pro gr coilovers and a front end conversion.

p.s.even though this is not relevant to my first topic...if anyone has a complete front end conversion..let me knoww im very interested!

[onosqv]

ROFL... too broke to fix your car, but get advice on how to do it anyway -> then decide you are going to bring it to a shop w/o trying ANY of the advice (which will most likely end up costing you AT LEAST $100 for just diagnostics & whatever the simple fix is, if it is simple)... and also, looking to buy a front end while your car is broken...

You do realize the advice most people have given (whether it's the real solution or not) wouldn't cost you more than probably $50 and a day.

- radiator cap, $10-20 depending on how baller you want to be, will take you about 15 minutes (most of the time just waiting for the coolant to cool down) to check.

- thermostat, $20-40 again depending on what kind you get - would take you half a day if you are really slow and have never done it before

- checking for cracks/leaks in the radiator - $0, spend about 10 minutes looking for leaks

- bleeding cooling system - cost of radiator fluid & water

Most likely (in my opinion), it's just your radiator cap is busted.

[s13supreme]

i checked all of that...i really cant come to a conclusion..everything is fine. no leaks..radiator is not cracked...nothing...im really convinced i blew a head gasket. =/

[onosqv]

Ok, if you are convinced you blew a headgasket.

1st thing you should have noticed when you changed your coolant is that it looks milky.Or if you changed your oil, that would look milky.

i checked all of that...

you guys taught me a lot. but for now i cant do anything...

hmmm, didn't sound like you did from your previous response.

There's also a leak-down/compression test, which you could search on how to do - this will tell you if you blew a headgasket or not (although if you blew it, what I said earlier should apply).

[inyearstocome]

I'm in the same boat you are. I knew something was up about a year ago on a hot summer day with the AC blasting, i took off from a red light to pass someone at a merge, and blew a ton of smoke out the hole in my exhaust. Oddly, smoke went away after about a week of grandpa driving.

Anyway, a year later and my water pump went. Just replaced the water pump and thermostat, and leak-down compression test revealed a tiny hole in the Head Gasket, not fully blown, but dumps compression into the coolant line when cold (before the gasket expands).

I'm also broke, so waiting for some cash to decide if its even worth replacing the HG or if I just want to sell it and get a car back home in San Diego this summer. damn timing chain making that an expensive job!