GCEE Posted May 1, 2004 Report Share Posted May 1, 2004 Hi Everyone. Yesterday while I was driving I experianced something very strange. I was a block away from my home, with the air-conditioning on, when all of a sudden a MASSIVE amount of steam started coming out of the vents. I proceded to drive in my drive way and turn the car off. The steam continued to come through the vents for an additional ten minutes in smaller amounts. I opened the hood and didnt notice anything strange visually, exept the outside tempature meter inside the dash read 30degrees when it was ateast 85 degreees. I was runing late for a dinner so after the steam stopped , my wife and I attempted to eave. I figure something in the air-conditioning went out , and I'd deal with it later. As soon as I pulled out of the driveway the overheating gage came on and the car started to feel weak. I immediatley stopped the car. I got a ride to the dinner and have touched the car since. Does anyone have any idea what could have happened??? What the heck happened??? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 2, 2004 Report Share Posted May 2, 2004 Sounds like your heater core sprung a leak. I would think that steam smelled like coolant. If the car overheated then it was a pretty large leak and there should have been a puddle of coolant under the car where your A/C condensation drains, under the firewall on the right side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCEE Posted May 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 Sounds like your heater core sprung a leak. I would think that steam smelled like coolant. If the car overheated then it was a pretty large leak and there should have been a puddle of coolant under the car where your A/C condensation drains, under the firewall on the right side. Let me first start of by saying thanks. Now, I had the heater core replaced. Now I am having problems with the car overheating. The "coolant level low" reading pops up when there is sufficent coolant and the car gets hot very fast. What going on now? I NEVER had any overheating problems prior to the Heater Core going out. Any ideas whats going on??? Heads went bad because of initial problem? Sensors went bad because of initial problem? This is frustating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoo Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 Is it actually overheating, or just giving you warning messages? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Almost sounds like air trapped in the cooling system but I don't think that is possible from my understanding of the system. Who changed the heater core? If it wasn't you, then I'd drop it back in their lap. Didn't have this problem before they worked on it, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCEE Posted May 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Is it actually overheating, or just giving you warning messages? Its geting hot in the 250+ range Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCEE Posted May 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Almost sounds like air trapped in the cooling system but I don't think that is possible from my understanding of the system. Who changed the heater core? If it wasn't you, then I'd drop it back in their lap. Didn't have this problem before they worked on it, right? Well the thing that Im worried about is that the heads/gaskets went bad after the intial overheating. I can point the finger at the guy who changed the heater core but that wont get me very far He plans to check out the radiator in the morning but I cant see how that can be related. I NEVER had any problems before the heater core busted. He thinks the radiatormight me clogged casing the heater core to go out plus the other problems now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 The Northstar is designed to run without coolant for 50 miles (limp home mode). If I recall Bbobynski correctly I think (not sure) 260 degrees was mentioned as a run dry temp without any problems. I doubt you hurt the head gaskets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCEE Posted May 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 The Northstar is designed to run without coolant for 50 miles (limp home mode). If I recall Bbobynski correctly I think (not sure) 260 degrees was mentioned as a run dry temp without any problems. I doubt you hurt the head gaskets. So where do I go from here? Radiator, Water Pump, Scensor, Fan??? Could the heater core going out cause any of these to malfunction? Thanks Again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Well, fans should be comming on at about 225 deg. How about the water pump drive belt and tensioner? Belt tight and driving the pump ok? Any codes stored? A bad sensor may have stored a code. I suppose a clogged radiator is a possibillity but how'd it get clogged? Worth a check if all else fails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCEE Posted May 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Weelllll.....The initial mechanic who did the heater core job sent the car his friend who owns a radiator shop. His advice was to have the radiotor cleaned and make sure the problem wasnt coming from there. I just spoke to the guy from the shop and he claims that due the excess pressure from the engine the radiator plactic reserve busted??? WTF??? He claims it might be due to a head gasket leak. Does this make any sense whatsoever. I figure it wasnt broke before I took it there therfore they are responsible. Someone else told me that the overheating problem might me due to air being trapped in the system. Could this have caused the plastic reserve to bust??? NOW WHAT??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stickytourbus Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Yes it is true. Compression from the cylinders can leak into the cooling system and cause the plastic radiator resovoirs to crack. Head gaskets can fail in several ways. If you ever see bubbles in the coolant it may be an indication of a bad head gasket. Oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, same thing. A trick I use to determine if there is coolant in the oil is to let a drop of oil from the dipstick onto a hot exaust manifold. Watch it closely. If it just smokes away, it's oil. If it bubbles and boils, that's the coolant in the oil boiling on the hot manifold! But as I sad, Head Gaskets can fail in several ways. They can leak Air, Oil or Water, into several places they shouldn't!!! I had a 95 Deville that(not a north*)developed a compression leak from the head gasket into the coolant system. The resulting pressure cracked the plastic radiator tank. Sticky 97 Seville SLS (you call this a Cadillac?) "The Swivel" 82 Eldorado Biarittz (sorta like a real Caddy) "The Kitty" 66 Eldorado Conv. w/429cu (My 100% REAL Cadillac!) "The Eldosaur" "I'm not afraid of the dark...I'm afraid of the evil it conceals." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Yes it is true. Compression from the cylinders can leak into the cooling system and cause the plastic radiator resovoirs to crack. Head gaskets can fail in several ways. If you ever see bubbles in the coolant it may be an indication of a bad head gasket. Oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, same thing. A trick I use to determine if there is coolant in the oil is to let a drop of oil from the dipstick onto a hot exaust manifold. Watch it closely. If it just smokes away, it's oil. If it bubbles and boils, that's the coolant in the oil boiling on the hot manifold! But as I sad, Head Gaskets can fail in several ways. They can leak Air, Oil or Water, into several places they shouldn't!!! I had a 95 Deville that(not a north*)developed a compression leak from the head gasket into the coolant system. The resulting pressure cracked the plastic radiator tank. Sticky 97 Seville SLS (you call this a Cadillac?) "The Swivel" 82 Eldorado Biarittz (sorta like a real Caddy) "The Kitty" 66 Eldorado Conv. w/429cu (My 100% REAL Cadillac!) "The Eldosaur" "I'm not afraid of the dark...I'm afraid of the evil it conceals." There are many places in the cooling system such as rubber parts, connections, radiator cap to accomodate excessive pressure besides plastic end tanks. End tanks crack because of age IMHO and have nothing to do with pressure. Thousands of plastic end tanks (not only GM) develop cracks after some ten years of service with perfectly working head gaskets and cooling systems. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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