Jmai22

Yesterday I was driving for about 10 minutes all of a sudden i notice a little bit of white smoke come up from the front right of the car. and my temp needle went up to the 3/4 mark(it never goes past 1/2). So i immediatly pull over and lift up the hood. Thats when i notice my cap for my coolant resorvoir missing(i must have forgot to put it back on a few weeks ago when i was doing a check up on my car.). anyways, smoke was coming out of the resorvoir and the water inside their was boiling and it was at a pretty low level. so i went bought some water and filled it back up to the full mark and continued to drive. at low speed the needle would kinda go past the 1/2 way mark but on the freeways its fine.

1. Is the water in the resevoir suppose to boil like that?
2. could the missing cap be the thing that is causing all this trouble.?
3. Is it because i probly have more water than coolant mixture its causing this?(mixture right now is probly %20 coolant, and 80% distilled water)

Any help would be appreciated. oh one other thing. This morning when i checked the level again before i left, the resevoir was practically completely dry again, but there is NO water leaks under the car. HELP!!

mikeyboy

What do you mean it keeps drying up? Sounds like you have a headgasket issue to me.

TLW

Since you let the cap off the radiator, all the coolant came out

you filled it back up, but you needed to fill up the radiator and the resovoir to proper levels

you are ok IMO fill up the resovoir to full level, ride aorund , let the thermostat open, check fliud level again

No worries J...good luck and Merry Christmas

Johnny

Jmai22

basically what i mean is that it was empty again after i had filled it up with only 45 minutes of driving.

Jmai22

Hey TLW,

I actually never had the cap of the radiator off. i lost the cap to the resevoir, but not the radiator it self.

I hope all is well also. i'll let you guys know if the water level drops again in the resevoir.

Merry Christmas to you and all as well. Thank you.

Jmai22

Lets assume it is a headgasket issue, what are some of the other symptoms i should look out for. Also is it something that is easily repairable and what is the cost? thanks

TLW

Do you have a cap for the resovoir now?

If so just fill to level and continue on

Jmai22

haha nope. not yet. i really should though. i'll pick one up on Tuesday.

Is the water inside the resevoir suppose to boil?

turbogs300

Replacing the cap on the resevoir won't make any difference! However filling the radiator with the correct mixture of antifreeze and water will! Make sure to get all the air pockets out!! If the fluid was low you probably have a leak! Check your hoses and radiator for leaks when the engine is at operating temp.

Jmai22

shiet, i think i just found a leak... tonight after i came home from a 30 min drive i wanted to pop the hood and check for wet marks under the hood. Well it looks like i have a leak to the left of the engine. the entire left side of the engine is wet, but not dripping on the ground. I'm not sure if its coming from the 3 inch hose that is coming out of the left side of the engine but its wet right below that hose.

how much would it cost to fix this?

vsd

my radiator was drying up pretty quick after being filled too, i wasn't sure what it was, but when i was changing my air filter i looked at the radiator under the shroud, and noticed that it was leaking there. so $150 later i have a new radiator and no more problems.

mikeyboy

Jmai,
What scared me is the crazy boiling when filing up the antifreeze. How bad was it boiling? Like histerically with huge bubbles or just mild boiling.

Jmai22

thats it??? was that a brand new radiator assuming mine is leaking at the radiator also?

Jmai22

It was boiling pretty bad. As soon as i opened my hood, the sound from the boiling/gargling coming form the RESERVE tank was so loud it caught my attention, and when i peaked in the hole you could see bubbles just constantly come up from the bottom, there was about 1" of water left at the bottom of the reserve tank and a good amount of smoke from the heat.

Yes, i'm pretty scared too, I've been on this board for a little over 4 years now with my GS and i think i have one of the highest(if not highest) post counts for first gen members, I may have to let this car go. Little things keep popping up here and there that doesn't cost much to fix but i rather sell the car and get something a bit more fun.

I've been looking all day today for a fun new car, been looking at the Mini cooper S and E46 M3... haha can't decide.... well nothings going to happen for another month or so..... Gotta pay off some debt first.

turbogs300

I have a brand new radiator if you're interested.