Weird. Car ran hot. Not anymore. Ran hot. Not anymore. No coolant leaking.
#1
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Weird. Car ran hot. Not anymore. Ran hot. Not anymore. No coolant leaking.
This happened last night. I'm at two-times house and his driveway has an incline. I've parked there many times before and the car was running.
I go inside and we come back out. He says "dude, there is smoke coming from your engine"
I pop the hood and the car is smoking, I turn off the car and you can hear the "phhhsshshh phhshssssh" like liquid hitting something hot.
He then says "dude you car is leaking" and basically car car spilled coolant all over.
The weirdest thing. I went to autozone and put in some coolant. The car ran hotter than normal (half -3/4- redline) and would go up and down to half. I drove slow and fast.
Today, I think the car is fine, I look under and can't find anything odd. The car is not leaking coolant anywhere. I cannot find a leak?
Today the car runs fine then wham, I'm driving around the city and it runs very very hot. I had the coolant on me and go to a friends house and park.
I just drove around again and the needle was fine, no higher than 1/2, the normal temperature.
Any idea??? Again, its not leaking coolant anywhere...
I go inside and we come back out. He says "dude, there is smoke coming from your engine"
I pop the hood and the car is smoking, I turn off the car and you can hear the "phhhsshshh phhshssssh" like liquid hitting something hot.
He then says "dude you car is leaking" and basically car car spilled coolant all over.
The weirdest thing. I went to autozone and put in some coolant. The car ran hotter than normal (half -3/4- redline) and would go up and down to half. I drove slow and fast.
Today, I think the car is fine, I look under and can't find anything odd. The car is not leaking coolant anywhere. I cannot find a leak?
Today the car runs fine then wham, I'm driving around the city and it runs very very hot. I had the coolant on me and go to a friends house and park.
I just drove around again and the needle was fine, no higher than 1/2, the normal temperature.
Any idea??? Again, its not leaking coolant anywhere...
#3
Moderator
There are only couple of reasons to overheat.
1. Low coolant [you have eliminated that] .... Rememeber NOT to add cold colant to a HOT radiator.
2. Chocked air flow over the radiator. [bad fan relay or actual leaves in front of the readiator]
3. Bad thermostat. [my guess is this is the culprit]
Also if your vehicle has steamed already, you have lost some coolant. The cap has a pressure release safety valve.
Salim
1. Low coolant [you have eliminated that] .... Rememeber NOT to add cold colant to a HOT radiator.
2. Chocked air flow over the radiator. [bad fan relay or actual leaves in front of the readiator]
3. Bad thermostat. [my guess is this is the culprit]
Also if your vehicle has steamed already, you have lost some coolant. The cap has a pressure release safety valve.
Salim
#6
yo, so i have experienced this almost to the word. probably causes already mentioned is bad thermostat. i would also check your radiator cap to see if its leaking/cracked/etc. i would just replace both since they are fairly inexpensive. you might have also noticed a really bad fish food smell. make sure your coolant reservoir is closed (the sound is from the boiling of coolant). remember, #1 killer of engines is heat so take care of this even though the car may be fine now =D.
#7
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yo, so i have experienced this almost to the word. probably causes already mentioned is bad thermostat. i would also check your radiator cap to see if its leaking/cracked/etc. i would just replace both since they are fairly inexpensive. you might have also noticed a really bad fish food smell. make sure your coolant reservoir is closed (the sound is from the boiling of coolant). remember, #1 killer of engines is heat so take care of this even though the car may be fine now =D.
So can I drive the car to the dealership? Is she fine since I added the coolant?
Wow, thank you all so much
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#13
Lexus Fanatic
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Sounds like a thermostat, as was mentioned numerous times, or a bubble in the system. But, if you haven't recently replaced any parts directly related to the cooling system, chances are unlikely that you have a bubble. BUT, if you have an air leak in your cooling system, it may allow a bubble to form... unlikely, but possible.
And I agree... if you are going to continue with AutoXing... you might want to upgrade those bits, as well as look into upgrading to a tranny/oil cooler and some other things to avoid heat.
And I agree... if you are going to continue with AutoXing... you might want to upgrade those bits, as well as look into upgrading to a tranny/oil cooler and some other things to avoid heat.
#14
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Join Date: Feb 2001
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whoa.. almost the same thing happened to my LS a month ago... I was just taking a leisurely drive and all of a sudden the red caution triangle goes off with a beep and i see that the temp guage was at 3/4 rather than the regular 1/2. the car really smelled like dead fish afterwards... no smoke though. it hasnt happened since.. but now that i think of it.. i should have the therm changed.