Coolant puked/engine got hot

[Sinical]

Hi guys, I'm a noob so bare with me but I had my GN out and about yesterday cruising around and had the scanmaster set to coolant temp reading. It got to 260 before I pulled over and shut it off and had it flat bedded home. As you can see it puked up some coolant and the coolant was boiling in the overflow.

Just for some history I had a small leak last year and put some of that stuff in to seal it up (I know it's not recommended and you live and learn). What do you guys thing? Time for a new rad? Is there anything I need to look at and check out first? Is 260 so hot that I should be worried about damage above and beyond the coolant mess? Car wasn't smoking when I pulled it over and was above 230 for maybe 5 minutes...

In the first pic the coolant is puddling there b/c it ran behind the hood mat and leaked there when I popped the hood.

 

[ronbuick]

t-stat, head gasket or fan not coming on or low on coolant to begin with or ??

Ron

 

[Sinical]

Since the head gasket is what I fear most what would be the telltale sign?

 

[SuperCPA]

I had something close to that happen to me and it turned out to be just a worn out/old radiator cap. If yours is old, it may have quit holding the correct amount of pressure and allowed the coolant to exit prematurely. If you are even questioning the age of yours, it would be a good idea to replace it with a new Stant or other reputable brand.

This, of course, is assuming that there was not a mechanical failure involved as well in your situation. If this does not cure it, I would begin questioning the proper operation of your water pump and/or thermostat.

If you have a blown a headgasket, it can force air into the cooling system that can push the coolant into the tank. It is usually accompanied by the tank appearing to boil even if the coolant is not excessively hot.

 

[Pronto]

I would start by pulling the radiator since you already had a leak in it and tried a cheapie fix. You can have it pressure tested and recored, buy a new stock replacement or one of those new aluminum ones or the f-body one with of course a new cap. I bet you find the radiator shot. When I did mine it was very close to a major failure with just a tiny leak starting and my temps would climb slowly. I used the GM stock replacement. If I was to do it over again today, I would use one of the new aluminum ones. The Fbody ones with the plastic tank scares me and there are no oil coolers in them.

 

[Evans Ward]

Since the head gasket is what I fear most what would be the telltale sign?

On mine that the shop blew recently, one sign for me was the strong sweet smell of coolant being burned in the combustion chamber. Same smell as when you have a heater core go bad. I had to check the passenger side carpet under the mat but fine there. Coolant never reaching the top of the radiator with the car running and rad monitoring was another. Your high temps are another strong sign as I had the same thing there too.

 

[daily driver]

from the green of the liquid looks like you are running too much antifreeze also. Just use water until you find the main cause of your problem -that will save you some money during the trobleshooting - then go back with no more than 50% antifreeze when the main problem is solved. Water dissipates heat more efficeiently than antifreeze even if the bottle does say "coolant" on the side.

 

[Sinical]

Guys Im still going to install a new T-Stat but I'm embarassed to tell you the problem was that I didnt tighten the rad cap.

 

[ChevMCarlo84]

Guys Im still going to install a new T-Stat but I'm embarassed to tell you the problem was that I didnt tighten the rad cap.

Um, how the hell did you get coolant all the back to the firewall then?

 

[Sinical]

Um, how the hell did you get coolant all the back to the firewall then?

The rad cap was spraying the hood liner and when I opened the hood it ran down the back and dripped there.

 

[ChevMCarlo84]

Ahhhh. I missed that in the first post.

 

[Pronto]

So will you have everything together for the Buick event at NED on 21st?

 

[BlackMetal]

Don't feel too bad, I left mine loose one day too. But I pulled the car over at 200, not 250.

 

[Evans Ward]

Glad it was a simple fix there for ya'! :smile:

 

[SuperCPA]

from the green of the liquid looks like you are running too much antifreeze also. Just use water until you find the main cause of your problem -that will save you some money during the trobleshooting - then go back with no more than 50% antifreeze when the main problem is solved. Water dissipates heat more efficeiently than antifreeze even if the bottle does say "coolant" on the side.

X2 on the 50% - Although, it's not much of an issue here down south in the winter.

You just may need to add a little extra anti-freeze shortly before the next freeze depending on the climate of your area in the winter. Check the protection table on the back of the bottle to verify the 50% vs the freeze protection level needed.

Glad it turned out to be a quick fix!