[Imran]

This is the second time this has happened in the last few months.

I'm sitting in traffic, or at a McDonalds drive through in todays case, and I look at my temp gauge and it's near the read line, but not on it exactly.

I shut off the car and wait for it to cool off, then drive home. Last time this happened, I checked the coolant and it was low, almost empty, so I filled it up. I haven't gone out to check yet whether it's low again or not, because the car is still cooling.

So what could it be? I'm going to do the test where I fill it up with fluid and start the car, wait, and see if the water level goes down or starts pouring out. I believe that if it pours out, it is my water pump.

However, if I open that cap and see no water in it (before I do the test), than I will assume I have a leak of some sort.

What do y'all think?

Also, if it is the T-stat, how will I know? And what temp T-stat should I replace it with?



It was a bit higher than this. Took this pic a few seconds after shutting the car off. It ran fine after I got home, I let it idle for a minute or two in my driveway and it stayed cool.

[justAbullitt]

Sounds like a fan not coming on to me... Start your car and put the A/C on and see if the fan comes on.

[Imran]

The engine cooling fan is definitely coming on. I can hear it from inside the car and outside, especially when I leave it idling while delivering pizza's. The A/C also blows cold.

So the pump is working fine. I filled the tank, started the car and the coolant level went down instead of regurgitating on me.

Not the water pump. - YouTube

Not the water pump. - YouTube

Is it safe to say that I have a coolant leak that is taking my coolant away over time? Should my coolant level come back up after the car cools down over a few hours or will it stay down like it did in the video? Is it safe to say that the coolant from last time I filled it a few months ago has leaked, or is it in the hoses somewhere instead of the tank? If that were the case, wouldn't it fill up faster this time since It would have two bottles of coolant in it this time?

How many bottles of coolant can/should the cooling system hold??

[termi_GT]

The fan isn't pulling enough air in at idle. If it stays cool while moving then that shows you are getting suffeciant airflow at that point.


Could also be the gauge reading wrong. I would go pick up a cheap mechanical gauge and just hook it up and see what it reads. Just to double check that.

[STANG34]

this will sound funny. but run your car and stand back by it and slightly inhale. if you can taste antifreeze then you have a head gasket problem. this just happened to me while doing my cobra swap. car ran good until it warmed up. then it started to overheat and we could taste antifreeze in the air by the exhaust.

[Damaso]

Well if your fan is clicking on then that should be fine. Could it be a false reading from a ect sensor or thermostat.

[Imran]

I did get my valve cover gaskets done a few months ago, and a new timing cover a few years ago...

As for antifreeze taste, I don't know how it tastes, but everytime I walk past my running cars exhaust, it smells normal, like a non catted car's exhaust should lol.

Lets hope it's a gauge reading wrong.

As for the coolant level dropping over time, that's what makes me think it's a leak. Will the fluid in the tank lower down to almost nothing after the car has been running for a while?

[MyGT]

Here's a list of things you can do:

Do a pressure test to see if it's a leak.

Take a peek at your spark plugs to see if it's a head gasket.

Change your oil and look for signs there.

[Imran]

My oil was changed recently between the last time I filled it up and this time. The people who changed my oil didn't say anything about any irregularities in the oil. But then again they may have not been looking for anything and could have been doing something else while the old oil was draining.

[esonu]

i had this exact same problem and it es the coolant overflow tank it had like a tiny leak n would get hot. also the coolant shouldnt just disappear. what year n color is ur car? looks the same as mine lol

[Imran]

I have an 01. As of now, the plan is to carry coolant with me, amd check the level every day and refill. Though I doubt much has leaked since yesterday.