Need help ASAP

[RawToast]

So I've had my car for little under a week, and I commuted to work today. A few seconds after I got out the car fluid started leaking out of my car. (Check light came on the other day for coolant real quick then went off, as well as the brake light check. What could this be / how much is a repair?

[Kershaw]

were you overheating?

because that repair could be as simple as replacing a busted hose to as expensive as a new headgasket + decked head.

[603Racing]

First, stop driving it if you haven't already. Second, find where it's coming from. A leak like that should be easy to find. I'm assuming it's coolant, but you'll want to verify that as well.

[RawToast]

were you overheating?

because that repair could be as simple as replacing a busted hose to as expensive as a new headgasket + decked head.

It wasn't overheating at all...

[RawToast]

First, stop driving it if you haven't already. Second, find where it's coming from. A leak like that should be easy to find. I'm assuming it's coolant, but you'll want to verify that as well.

Think it'd be safe to drive home or no? (10 miles)

[dnguyen1963]

Think it'd be safe to drive home or no? (10 miles)

That looks like a lot of fluid. Take a quick look to see if you can find the source. Check your coolant reservoir to see how much fluid is left. If you were to drive home (big risk!), you should monitor the temp very closely and stop to fill up the coolant every few miles. Good luck. Check with a towing company to see how much it would cost to tow the car. Do a cost-benefit calculation.

[RawToast]

That looks like a lot of fluid. Take a quick look to see if you can find the source. Check your coolant reservoir to see how much fluid is left. If you were to drive home (big risk!), you should monitor the temp very closely and stop to fill up the coolant every few miles. Good luck. Check with a towing company to see how much it would cost to tow the car. Do a cost-benefit calculation.

Thanks.. hopefully I'll be able to spot the leak

[Jaxx_]

pop the hood and post up pictures when you at least find the general area.

if you drive it you do risk doing a lot more damage, and could amount into 4 digits.

Did it steam at all? How long did you drive before you parked it?

[E30_fiend]

Where that coolant is coming from tells me its your overflow from your expansion tank. It runs down the fender and between the door and fender.

One of two things happened here. You either had too much coolant and the system purged out the excess coolant it didn't need. OR your cooling system has a problem that is not allowing the coolant to circulation in the system and is pushing it all back to the expansion tank, causing it to overflow and go out of the hose in the fender.

Have you added coolant recently?

[RawToast]

pop the hood and post up pictures when you at least find the general area.

if you drive it you do risk doing a lot more damage, and could amount into 4 digits.

Did it steam at all? How long did you drive before you parked it?

I drove it for about an hour, then parked and about a minute after getting out my car it started to leak.

Where that coolant is coming from tells me its your overflow from your expansion tank. It runs down the fender and between the door and fender.

One of two things happened here. You either had too much coolant and the system purged out the excess coolant it didn't need. OR your cooling system has a problem that is not allowing the coolant to circulation in the system and is pushing it all back to the expansion tank, causing it to overflow and go out of the hose in the fender.

Have you added coolant recently?

I haven't added coolant recently, how ever the previous owner may have topped it off before selling it. Thing is the car hasn't even been near over heating...

[Jafxod]

My guess is your fan went bad and your car secretly overheated on you and the pressure was let off from the tank.

[cheapthrills]

Agree that it's most likely from the overflow tank. If you really need to drive it home, bring at least a 1 gallon jug of water, and stop off every few minutes, but I'd recommend figuring out the problem before driving.

[E30_fiend]

another thing you dont want to rely on is the temp gauge. Being as old as the car is, the sender or the gauge could very well be bad. You may have not thought you were overheating but you really were.

Fill that expansion tank back up to the cold fill line, and on your way home, stop every couple minutes and check the level.

When you get home, let it cool down for 10 minutes or so and then pull the cap off the tank. If its steaming, your sender is bad and needs to be replaced

[RawToast]

another thing you dont want to rely on is the temp gauge. Being as old as the car is, the sender or the gauge could very well be bad. You may have not thought you were overheating but you really were.

Fill that expansion tank back up to the cold fill line, and on your way home, stop every couple minutes and check the level.

When you get home, let it cool down for 10 minutes or so and then pull the cap off the tank. If its steaming, your sender is bad and needs to be replaced

Weird, I just drove it about 5 miles no problem. The temp. gauge went from cold to the mid line and stayed there. When I parked it, the level was still the same and no leaking... Guess it was just over filled.

[E30_fiend]

Don't sit back and rely on that, dude. Something else could be wrong. My guess is over filling but it still wouldnt hurt to check out some other possibilities. Make sure your fan clutch is good as well as your AC fan. It acts as a emergency cooling fan when the temps hit a certain level.

What was the outside temp difference from when you got to work to when you went home? It may have just been the right temp outside to keep the motor somewhat cool.

My guess is over filling. But a close 2nd and 3rd is fan clutch and auxiliary fan. If either are not functioning properly, replace them with new units or known good units.


Taylor