Help Asap!

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 12:05 PM

ok i went to school today. i take the freeway there, but part of it is stop and go because it's rush hour. i noticed that my car started to get very hot according to the gauge. so i turn on the heat full blast and it goes down a bit, but not much at all. when i get going again like 40mph or faster it'll be a little ways past the middle toward the hot side. my fans were running, but i saw steam coming up (mostly due to rain) but it seemed like more steam than normal, i dunno. but i don't want to go into work if my car is going to overheat. the same thing happened on my way home from school. got any suggestions? thanks a lot!

**SiR** · 03-07-2003, 12:11 PM

Ahhh, sounds like the classic case of a coolant hose having a leak. It now seems that the crack is now big enough, and your running out of coolant really fast. Check under the hood for the crack. Its easier to see which hose its coming from when its steaming since that steam is probably coming from that hose. Dont drive it until you at least stop that leak.

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 12:25 PM

ok thanks. the car has been stopped for a little while, but i will try to take a look

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 12:31 PM

i looked, but i honestly can't tell....ok i'm not that great with cars and knowing the names of everything, but the area where the headers would go (if i had headers) is all red looking, like it was red hot and it cooling down. i dunno, i'm kind of panicking right now, because chris is at school and i told him how high my needle got and he said that it was too high and to post on here while he was at school. i don't see any fluid anywhere when i look under the hood, but i dunno, maybe i'm looking in the wrong spot? i'm not sure honestly......sorry i can't be of more help

**2old_honda** · 03-07-2003, 12:37 PM

if your car is cool, check the radiator to see if the fluid is low. there should be coolant right under the cap.

**2old_honda** · 03-07-2003, 12:39 PM

oh, FIY you do have a header. all cars have a header.

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 12:39 PM

it's not quite cool yet, but i will definitely do that when it is.

**2old_honda** · 03-07-2003, 12:41 PM

yeah, dont open it if it is hot. take a towel with you and use that to open the cap, just incase there is still pressure in the radiator.

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 12:43 PM

ok, so let's assume that i've done this and there's no fluid under the cap....what would i need to do then? (i'm hypothesising *sp* right now)

**2old_honda** · 03-07-2003, 12:46 PM

that would mean that you probably have a blown coolant hose.

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 12:48 PM

is it easy to replace? or will i have to take it to a shop that's going to charge me a lot of money? i don't have the facilities to work on my car here at my apartment complex, otherwise i'd try fixing it myself (with a bit of help of course)

**2old_honda** · 03-07-2003, 12:52 PM

They are really easy to replace. you could easily replace a hose in a parking lot.

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 12:53 PM

oh yayayay! that is good news! usually when i have car problems, they are major and cost me a lot of money, so this is very good news. Well I guess now i just have to wait and see if i have fluid in my radiator or not.

**bobafett** · 03-07-2003, 01:19 PM

ok so youre saying that the exhaust manifold was red hot??? or am i misreading your post? cause your manifold should have a heat sheild over it, and it really shouldnt get red hot.. its aluminum and would cool down really quick, like after 5 min....
does anyone know what that would mean?

anyway i hope its as simple as a coolant hose... that would be nice!

but amber if your not sure if the rad had fluid in it or not, so dont get too excited, although it would be nice if thats the case.

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 01:21 PM

i'm not, and yes the exhaust manifold was red hot looking. it might not have been, but when i looked, what i could see that stuck out from the heat shield was red. like i said i don't know much about this and it's hard to diagnose when i don't know anything....

**bobafett** · 03-07-2003, 01:24 PM

eek. well if the manifold underneath the heat shield was hot then i guess you were right.

maybe since you ran out of coolant the engine got hot enough to get the manifold that warm, i dont know if thats how it works or not.

what time do you need to leave for work amber?

EDIT, well of course its possible, i have seen plenty of pics of turbo cars with red hot turbos and manifolds...

**2old_honda** · 03-07-2003, 01:27 PM

thats just the cast iron exhaust manifold, it looks red from surface rust. its normal

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 01:31 PM

yeah i just went and looked at it again and it looks like it's red rust so i think i'm fine there. just a moment of panic when i first saw it.

Chris i have to leave for work at 2:30pm. i tried calling my mom, but for some reason her answering service on her cell phone isn't working so it's gonna be a while before i can get ahold of her to let her know.....do you think 87hybrid is home? i dunno what time he gets homfr om work, but maybe he could help me.....not sure...

**bobafett** · 03-07-2003, 01:31 PM

lol, god bless the simple solutions lol... i bet your right... seeing my ceramic headers have warped my fragile mind!

how many hoses are possible culprits for a leak? and could we pour water in and try to find the leak? or would it be better to simply replace the hoses first?

and i think david gets off work at 330ish

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 01:34 PM

ok well i guess i can't call him anytime soon then.....thanks anyway....and today's not a terribly critical day for me to go into work since it's company practice...my mom can handle that on her own....days where she's gone i handle it all on my own so it's no biggie, but i just can't get ahold of her....

**2old_honda** · 03-07-2003, 01:37 PM

a good way to find the leak is to fill up the radiator with water and start the car. the water will spray out of the damaged hose

**LX-i Girl** · 03-07-2003, 01:39 PM

now that is one thing that i can definitely do! haha i'd probably want someone there with me, but i know for a fact that i can start my car and watch for spraying fluid! lol

**anchovies** · 03-07-2003, 02:06 PM

Is your coolant reservoir empty?
Do like the others said, fill up the radiator with water to the top then start the car and let it run (you might want to put a cardboard under the car, just incase it's dripping instead of spraying).
Check the hoses on top and bottom of the radiator, pinch it and see if water comes out. Also check the driver's side where the belts are and see if the water pump is leaking. Look behind the engine at the smaller coolant/heater hoses.
Check the cardboard for water/coolant stains and where it's coming from.
hth

**bobafett** · 03-07-2003, 02:19 PM

she hasnt checked yet. its been about 2hrs though, is that long enough that she can go open up the radiator cap? (isnt that the coolant resevoir, or is there another place?

**Y3G** · 03-07-2003, 03:04 PM

check all your hoses and your water pump!!!!!having gone thew lots off overheating problems myself i know to first check you hoses the move to the thrmostat it could be stuck closed or the water pump could be seased