false/broken temp gauge + coolant drops

[silkk]

it's a 89 with stock KAe. when i start the car to let it idle, the temp gauge goes to the middle and after 10-20 minutes of driving, it would go to hot. now when i drive around, its always on cold.

i'm thinking its a broken sender or the gauge.

a coupe of days ago i noticed my car was dripping coolant, but the weird thing is its not from the radiator but its behind the oil pan. i don't know why and how its dripping. i check the resevoir and i don't notice a difference in volume.

and i don't know if its normal or not but my car warms up really fast.. after 5-10 minutes of driving, my radiator cap is really hot.

:help

[silkk]

here are pictures

is the dust boot suppose to be like that??

[navysnail]

WOAH, your loosing alot of coolant, the resavour is not the place to check, open the radiator when its cold, not hot, youll burn your self

look ontop of the engine were the intake manifold is and by the hoses, that needs to be fixed asap

and those rack boots need to be replaced too

[silkk]

what thing on top of the manifold?

i don't see how the coolant is getting there..

and this just started recently and i haven't been driving it, maybe once every 2 days for 10 minutes

[carnal_c30]

how about check the gasket between the thermostat and thermostat housing or the water pump, if not check your hoses as well

[navysnail]

with a leak the size of that, it shouldnt be too hard to finid

your temp gauge is probobly wierd because it may be in an air bubble

the dust boot, if not replaced, will allow dirt into the seals and ruin the rack

[silkk]

oh man this sucks

if only i had a job

i'll try and find out what's wrong with it and get it fixed asap

[NISTECH]

dont drive it! When the gauge reads cold and you have an obvious leak that means coolant is not contacting the sensor. Your ecm has no idea how hot the engine is because its sensor is likely in an air pockets as well. It thinks the engine is cold as well and it will do what it needs to to heat the car up to operating temp but in accuality it will heat it up to a engine damaging overheat condition and not even know it. The reason the fluid stays in your resivor is this. When a car heats up it expands the metal and the fluid , that expansion pushes fluid into the resivor,once you shut the car off it goes into a cool down process during that time the expansion process is reversed putting the system into a vaccum which pulls the fluid back into the engine. Now that process wont work if there is a hole somewhere else in the system. It will find it easier to push the fluid through the hole rather then into a tank full of fluid. On the cool down side it will be much easier to pull air in then fluid so when the vaccum occurs it will draw in the air through the hole rather then the fluid in your bottle.

[silkk]

where do you think the leak is?

its probably gonna be some place thats hella hard to get to

[NISTECH]

start checking the heater hoses under the intake. thats the best place to start looking. you could also loan a coolant pressure tester from auto zone and pressurize the system after you fill it and see where the leak is coming from.

[180fan]

holy smokes! How about taking pics of the water pump, thermo housing, the front portion of your intake manifold, from the top and bottom, and also the heater hose area?