My hatch is a steam engine? And yes, I searched like a crazed money with rabies

[matzinm2]

So I JUST bought this car yesterday... the guy who I bought it from insisted on removing the radiator fan... dunno why. maybe he needs it to catch kittens... anyway, here's the deal... my coolant resevoir has cracks in it all over, however, I know the resevoir just HOLDS collant, it's not pressurized. So why, when I let drive more than a half a mile, does the car start steaming out of the resevoir? If it's pressurized does that mean head gasket boom? The water temp gauge in the car works and has never gone past a little over half notch ...or maybe it works til half mast then its broken? I have no idea here peeps. Should I sell this/trade for a workin s13? I can't loaf out the shells for a gasket job, this is my D beater while my SR build occurs.

Edit: I cecked the oil this morning and it didn't appear to have any water in it.

Much help would be greatly appreciated, Any help is still appreciated lol

THANKS
Modified by matzinm2 at 10:32 PM 1/6/2010

[bladetech8]

Hello,

Just throwing this out there.. Sounds like your radiator cap is busted or stuck open because it should be holding the pressure inside the radiator instead of venting it out to your coolant reservoir. Buy yourself a new radiator cap or get yours tested..

I may be wrong though..
Modified by bladetech8 at 1:56 AM 1/7/2010

[sx moneypit]

I had the same experience with an old daily driver i had. I would drive less than a mile to work and after i shut the car off it would fill the reservoir up and have steam coming from it . No coolant in the oil either,radiator cap was good.It turned out to be a seeping head gasket.

[bruinbear714]

So I JUST bought this car yesterday... the guy who I bought it from insisted on removing the radiator fan... dunno why. maybe he needs it to catch kittens... anyway, here's the deal... my coolant resevoir has cracks in it all over, however, I know the resevoir just HOLDS collant, it's not pressurized. So why, when I let drive more than a half a mile, does the car start steaming out of the resevoir? If it's pressurized does that mean head gasket boom? The water temp gauge in the car works and has never gone past a little over half notch ...or maybe it works til half mast then its broken? I have no idea here peeps. Should I sell this/trade for a workin s13? I can't loaf out the shells for a gasket job, this is my D beater while my SR build occurs.

Edit: I cecked the oil this morning and it didn't appear to have any water in it.

Much help would be greatly appreciated, Any help is still appreciated lol

THANKS

Modified by matzinm2 at 10:32 PM 1/6/2010

That's almost always a sign of head gasket on its way out.

[matzinm2]

...crap

[liquid_cool]

i posted this once before with a simmilar issue...i sugest you read up on how coolant systems work a little...but ill give ya a short vertion to make your diagnosis fast and easy..

when your engine heats up it tranzfers that heat to your coolant...your radiator then dissipates most of the heat throu the metal of the radiator fins by way of air passing throu them thats cooler than the temp inside the coolant....when your vehicle is in its coolest state..there is no pressure in the system...but as the system heats up to operating temp..heat couses pressure in the system ...now..if there is an over heating issue, the system from the factory is desighned to relieve the pressure throu the cap siphen hose and dump it to your over flow tank..and when the vehicle cools back down..the system then sucks it back into the radiator like a kid on a McDee's milkshake....

every system is desighned for a certain pressure and the caps are rated for that pressure...if there is a chepo aftermarket radiator in there..then may be the cap is not rated for the system..you might want to look up the bar rating for your oem system and compare that with your cap...allso..i suggest that you change the overflow tank at the least..so the system can function properly...good luck..hope this informed you and helped point you in the rite direction.

[blackandblue]

I wouldn't suspect a head gasket right off. If compression is leaking into the cooling system you would likely experience hydrolock at some point. There would, at least be other signs; like, a lot of sticky light brown goop on the oil filler cap or the same on the oil dip stick, or lots of white smoke out the exhaust all the time Could be something simple like a slow or "weak" thermostat. If the thermostat is slow to open, it allows the engine temp to go above normal, but within the lines on the gauge. When you shut the engine off, "heat-soak" raises the coolant temp to the point where it vents into the resevoir and out boils(steams). The radiator vents from the top at the cap to the bottom of the resevoir and fills the resevoir by pressure(expansion) and refills the rad by vacuum(contraction). The resevoir is not sealed at the top. There is a vent at the top to release pressure, hence the steam. Check your coolant mixture(50/50). Pressure test or replace the rad cap, check or replace thermostat. If you have a mechanical fan, check your belt and fan clutch. Make sure the fan clutch engages between 190 and 215. If you went to electric fans, check out the install page on 240sx.org. simple way is just to have it warmed up and idling, the fan will be turning, but every minute or two you will hear the fan noise get louder.

[xKnownShadowX]

This happened to mine when it overheated one day.It had air bubbles and steam and coolant was squirting out the reservoir though in your case yours is cracked.Maybe getting a used one or ebay welded one can help.Also replace coolant and radiator cap and get a fan on there.Maybe is just that the engine can't cool down or the hot coolant goes to the reservoir and the heat leaks out.

[sx moneypit]

You do need to do the basics before come to a conclusion that it is a head gasket problem,i agree with that. However my car did not steam out of the exhaust, there was no signs of coolant in the oil either and the car was only driven less than a mile to work.Also i had a Subaru that came from another shop that had about the same symptoms,they had replaced the thermostat and radiator and it ended up being a head gasket seeping also.I hope that all your problem is something simple for your sake. Good luck and keep us posted!