Thread: Running HOT! Possible Radiator Leak?

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Hey Guys...The T/A usually needs a little warm up time to run smooth...so I usually start her up and let her run for 5-10 min. b-4 takin her out. Today, she started up...i went inside and took a phone call came back out and she was running really high on the rpm dial...usally idles at 10-15...was up around 25...really hot...so hot that the winshield wiper fluid was leakin up through the lines...and and and UHHHHGGGG Green fluid from the front end leakin on de floor! I assumed it's anti freeze...any idears? The temp dial was higher than normal but not in the danger area... I just figured out how to check my own oil LOL...so how hard can this be? What should I look for under there besides green stuff?

What doesn't kill me...will make me Stronger! LOL!

Things to Check: Radiator over flow to see if it is higher than normal, Radiator and heater hoses, Waterpump. You will need a good light to try and trace where the water/coolant is coming from. If you have pets, keep them out of the garage until you have the coolant cleaned up. Antifreeze tastes good to them and can be very toxic if you don't have the environmentally freindly kind.

For the high idle, with our cooler fall weather the choke probably set the fast idle higher than you are used to and it picked up RPM as it warmed until you flick the throttle to set it back to normal.

Keep us posted

Pat

Dumb ? Where might I find the water pump and what does it look like?

I don't know what the radiator overflow is, but the radiator coolant resevior is just over the full mark by about an inch...

I drove it and it ran good with no more leaking or overheating this afternoon.

It appears to have leaked at one time or another from the actual radiator cap and then also from the hose on the drivers side of the radiator leaving? the radiator...that's the side that fluid was left on my garage floor this morning.

Just behind that hose is the resevior for the wiper fluid...and the wiper fluid was also leaking this morning ...not from that resevior though but from the sprayer hoses near the winshield...but the resevior isn't that full.

The radiator cap does say it's for a closed system...how do I know if that's what I have or need?

Also, you're right Pat, it's a slow starter, but the idle did pick up alot...i'll have to look into how to change that...unless it's something simple...he he he! Any more thoughts/instructions would be greatly appreciated...it gives me an excuse to tinker around in the engine without being too dangerous ha ha!

ABOUT THE ONLY WAY THAT WASHER FLUID (IF THE TANK ANT CRACKED)can get out of the tank AND THAT IS THE pump pumped it out. sure you didnt use the washer when you started up the motor this morning? the best way to check for a coolant leak is with a presser tester, but you would have to get someone to do that for you, but it might be worth it for the satisfaction of mind.

HMMMMMM.............Now there ya go...why didn't I think of that? Of course it's 5:12 on Friday afternoon...dang it...but i'll let ya know Monday what I find out...good idea...there's a tech ed building for all the public schools just down the street from me...I assumed it was just for High School...but maybe they have evening classes or something?!

And as far as using the washer fluid pump...ha ha...i've been known to do that on a car or two thinkin i was turning on a blinker LOL...but no, not this morning...an not on the T/A...i never use the washer fluid...it messes up my clean car...ha ha ...i pick the bugs of with a scraper and then hand wash the window...yeah, i'm a dork. It wasn't just shooting out this am...just dripping

...just dripping its ok to drip down hill, but when it starts to drip up hill makes me wonder.

Jerilynne,

CSF has a good idea with the class. Check your local community college. They may even have one that is oriented toward women, not that you couldn't hold your own in a mixed class. Usually these are non-credit classes that meet just a couple times and teach the basics of auto maintenance. The intent is so you will understand the basic workings and not feel overwhelmed when you take your car in for service or need to change a tire. You will learn terminology and where basic things are. After that see if they have some further course where you can start learning how things work and how to repair them. I just took an autobody course last spring and it was great, I learned a lot.

If there is eveidence of leaking around the hoses, check to see if the clamps are tight. Also feel the hoses when the motor is cool and if they feel soft, the probably need to be replaced. You water pump is at the front of the engine, it should have a cone shaped pully and your cooling fan attached to the front of it. THe large hose coming from the bottom of you radiator will connect to the underside of it. There may be another smaller hose coming from near the top, that would be a heater hose.

Hope that helps, I also suggest that you look for a shop manual for your car, it will prove invaluable if you plan to keep the car for a while.

Good luck with it!

Pat

Dumb ? Where might I find the water pump and what does it look like?

On most V8's its located on the front of the engine(Cadilac and the sideways mounted V8). It is usually driven off the belt and is usually also attached to the fan(LT1 the water pump is gear driven off the cam). Follow the lowe radiator hose and it generally connects to the water pump(in the event someone replaced the water pump with an electric)

As for the high idle:
Could be the butterfly sticking causing the engine to rev even higher than normal. 2500 is not too bad, but it seems somewhat high. I had one sticking on me, and it made acceleration REAL sluggish. The mixture ended up way too rich, and just about flooded the engine at every kick in acceleration.

Originally posted by Tommycat

As for the high idle:
Could be the butterfly sticking causing the engine to rev even higher than normal. 2500 is not too bad, but it seems somewhat high. I had one sticking on me, and it made acceleration REAL sluggish. The mixture ended up way too rich, and just about flooded the engine at every kick in acceleration.

That scenario sounds REAL familiar...Car needs a couple of primer pumps b4 I even try to turn the ignition...and it'll spit and sputter for 30 sec to a minute...then the idle kicks up...but if I try to give it a little kick to "unstick" it or slow it down...it chokes up...so i usually just let her run for 5 min or so...and then give it a kick to slow it down...same goes if I don't let her warm up long enough...give it the gas...and she just about keels over...stalls. hmmmmmmm

Originally posted by csf03716
jerri....q-jet..correct?.....go to auto-zone and get a 1 ft assortment of vacumm hose...maybe 5 bucks....replace all hose's on carb.....and to distributor....for 5 bucks, you've just eliminated one of those little things that tend to end up costing you big bucks!...cause right away someones gonna say" hey there young lady, ya need a new $500 carburator"...meanwhile it might have only been the vacumm hose to the diaphragm on the side of the carb!.......and even if this doesn't fix it...you've eliminated a "suspect" that quite often is the "culprit".......its saturday what are you waiting for?....go get on line at the parts store with the rest of us!

Pat told me earlier in the thread to check an see if the hoses were hard or soft? I did and they were soft, but the clamps seemed good...this should be fun LOL...my neighbor is a mechanic...mebbe i can talk him into lettin me play with his tools next week.

LOL...yeah...I just reread the whole post...sounds like something dirty ha ha! I'll take a look...an see if I can get some help...thanks for takin the time to try explaining it to me online...it helps when I go out there and try to find my way around to know what i'm looking for...uh, even tho I don't know what to do with it yet...but I will eventually. See ya!