Steam Everywhere

[TwoFortyCoupe]

Ok guys, I'm having too much fun with all these damn problems. I'm driving the car, I thought I fixed the cluster because everything was working, then I hit a speed bump and the cluster goes out. So whatever thats another issue of its own. I keep driving it on the way home and steam starts pouring out of the hood. I pop the hood and steam everywhere. The car is peeping extremely loud too. The coolant has symptoms of overheating. The overflow bottle is filling up and dumping out onto the ground. I managed to get it home running like s***. Sorry about all the questions but I would ask these questions if I didn't have all these problems.

Thanks, any input appreciated
TwoFortyCoupe

[millerrb]

Is the radiator empty and the recovery bottle overflowing? If so that's no good. If that's the case let it cool down and remove the rad cap and recovery tank cap and smel for exhaust gas. That means head gasket or head or even block. Also how old is your rad cap. Seen them fail and cause this issue.

[TwoFortyCoupe]

Radiator cap is new...... My car reeks of gas because it's running rich but still that's not good if it's the block

[TwoFortyCoupe]

The radiator was filled there was plenty of fluid in the radiator it was In between the min and max when I was driving and when steam happened it was at the minimum level

[millerrb]

So the rad didn't empty. Coolant just pushed out of the overflow. Do u have electronic fans or a factory viscous fan. Sounds like it over heated. What motor ka?

[TwoFortyCoupe]

It did overheat i have aftermarket fans it is a ka and the coolant did push through

[millerrb]

are the fans not coming on causing the over heating. Also I think if it is running very rich that could cause the motor to over heat. What was the last mod, repair, or incident before u started having this problem

[TwoFortyCoupe]

Buying the car.....

[compactfean]

are the fans not coming on causing the over heating. Also I think if it is running very rich that could cause the motor to over heat. What was the last mod, repair, or incident before u started having this problem

This causes cooler temps. Lean causes hotter temps.

[millerrb]

You sure. I get the lean situation making the temps higher but if ur dumping tons of fuel in the egt's would be higher, making the engine hotter. I know this is totally different but my dads diesel was dumping to much fuel and caused it to over heat.

[compactfean]

Yes because with gas, a richer afr almost has the same affect a higher octane fuel and slows down the burning process. Ignition timing effects egts a lot than afr on a gas engine. This is why base tunes are rich because it keeps things cool and is less likely to detonate. Deisel fuel burns so slow that it could still be in fire leaving the combustion chamber if there is too much fuel.

[moso]

Buying the car.....

thats definitely not a good sign, steaming motor after just purchasing it. I would go to the local auto parts store and buy or rent a coolant system pressurizer. fairly simple device to pressurize your coolant system. if it holds pressure...all good, if not, maybe bad headgasket. the ka hates to overheat and its usual course of action is to blow out the headgasket when they overheat, pretty common.

[TwoFortyCoupe]

Well that sucks...the dipstick doesn't have sign of a bad head gasket nor does it smoke white

[millerrb]

Ahhh. Makes sense. Learn something new everyday. Thanks for not being a d bag about it. But I agree. Rent a pressure tester

[TwoFortyCoupe]

UPDATE!!! The car is ACTING like its overheating but its not!!!! Im throwing in the white flag. When driving down the street white steam was coming out of the car. The temperature gauge is right in the middle and is working fine because we also used an inferad thermometer and that said its about 170-210 F. Thermostat is brand new and it worked (tested it before I installed it) this is the same problem I had previously except I now have a thermostat. Coolant is brand new (prestone) The radiator cap was squealing loud, the coolant is bubbling over, yet it engine isn't overheating HELP???

[compactfean]

Sounds like your radiator cap isn't holding any pressure or your coolant ratio is off causing an early boiling point.

[TwoFortyCoupe]

Yep all signs point to radiator cap (replacing that tomorrow)

[moso]

when you filled your radiator, did you jack the front end of the car up in the air. KA's have a horrible tendancy to keep large pockets of air trapped in the rear of the block below the headgasket. Elevating the nose of the car will help the air excape, and im talking like a foot or better in the air, not just a sloped driveway.

[TwoFortyCoupe]

No I didn't, should I drain the coolant and pour it in again?

[biggie]

Don't need to drain it, just need to jack up the front and put a funnel on the rad and add more coolant and go through the burping procedures (plenty of ideas by searching on here).

[TwoFortyCoupe]

Well, I did that. Changed the radiator cap and still boils over. Temp is fine. cannot figure this out.

[compactfean]

There is a block test kit at napa that will tell you is its a head gasket problem.

[bladetech8]

How new is that radiator? Any visible cracks near the radiator cap area? Something is allowing the pressure to escape somewhere.. Make sure you're getting an OEM radiator cap and not some random off the shelf crap. A pressure tester will help diagnose the issue hopefully! Goodluck!

[TwoFortyCoupe]

Brand new Aluminum radiator no visible cracks, the cap is OEM and yeah i was going to get a pressure tester, could it be the water pump?