Hey guys,

Update: No oil in coolant. Car was very low on coolant and it was also old and brown, which gave me the false thought of it containing oil. I needed to replace my radiator, water pump, and thermostat.

 

You check the oil?
Look in the oil fill hole for milky brown color.
At a glance it sounds like HG.

 

Car is currently at a shop and if it does end up being the HG then i think it's time to get a new car.

 

With no history I'll state the obvious, on modern cars HG failure is rare unless the coolant is neglected.
If the coolant is left too long and the anti-corrosion properties are gone, the HG erodes and leaks.

That said maintenance was likely a factor unless other leaks and overheating occured before this event?

 

So after hearing back from the shop they tested the block and coolant for leaks and didn't find any. The supposedly "oil" in coolant that I have seen without any experience, I think I jumped the gun on conclusions. They told me they needed to change the radiator and thermostat and for $1,300 i declined. I still find it odd that the car started spewing coolant and a/c shut off while doing so. My temp gauge was fine no warning for overheating so is my thermostat bad? or do i just need to do a flush? Also, maybe my water pump might need replacement? any ideas?

I saw that the coolant was brown and thought it was oil and when it spilled it was brown on the asphalt, but it could've been oil that was already previously on the asphalt? i'm not sure.

 

Unchanged coolant turns brown and smells bad.
Low coolant can lead to false readings at the sensor as steam lacks the thermal mass to trigger an over temperature warning.

As a DIY, flush the system. Fill it. Burp it, and pressure test it.

I don't know the correlation of not overheating but AC turning off. It makes sense that if it were overheating to turn off the AC to reduce the heat load into the radiator and the work load but no clue if they implemented such a thing.

 

They have mentioned that I was low on coolant. I will do a DIY flush asap and i will pressure test it. I will also be ordering a new water pump, thermostat, radiator, and radiator upper and lower hoses. I will replace them all as soon as I get all the parts in. Thank you very much for your reply 2013FSport.

 

Update: After 8 hours of working on the car I finally finished replacing the radiator, water pump, and thermostat. I put new upper and lower radiator hoses as well. I filled the radiator and made sure the coolant in the reservoir was between low and full and bled the car. I left the radiator cap off, heater was on all the way and the car was on jacks so the radiator was the highest point to bleed the air. The filler cap was making a gurgling noise and I thought at first that it was the air being bled out but after running the car for about 30 minutes with the radiator cap off it still kept going. I'm very confused at this point because the shop where I took my car told me that they have tested the block as well as pressure tested the coolant system and said that there is no exhaust leak in the coolant. I'm in doubt right now and picked up a block tester which I will use after the car has completely cooled down. The car runs very well I drove it for over 2 hours and it works flawlessly. The engine doesn't run as hot as it did before I replaced everything. The car does not over heat nor does it spill coolant. Any idea guys?

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DP...pF2hi8BUTy2486

Link to a video of it.

 

If you don't lose any coolant and the engine runs at normal temperature then nothing to worry about. Also without using a Lisle Spill Free funnel it can take a very long time to get all the air out. Another factor is cavitation causes bubbles, as does coolant that is nearing the boiling point.

Block testers are tricky to use hence unreliable in my experience.

 

That's great news and the car runs better than ever. I was about to buy a Lisle Spill Free funnel but wanted to make sure the car was fine before I start spending anymore money on it. I lost a little bit of coolant after the car cooled down which is normal after filling it. But no signs of leak, smoke, or anything. The car engine runs at normal temperature. Also the oil cap and inside is sludge free.

 

Perhaps your filling issue was actually brought on by having the nose elevated??

It sounds like it should help, but that may not be the case. I usually try to vary the RPMs a bit to assist with air removal.

In a closed leak free system it is the cool down cycle that draws coolant from the reservoir to fill the block and everything else. Keeping in mind that it can take 3 to 5 cool down cycles to complete this.
And just because the reservoir is full, that doesn't mean the block is purged of air and is full of coolant. Check the block when cold and parked level.

 

Thank you for the reply! I do believe that filling the coolant while the car was elevated might has caused more air in the system. I think I should have filled the car while it was level and then raise it up to bleed the cooling system better. As i said in my previous reply, the coolant was a little bit lower after the first cool down cycle and i will check it again later which should be the second cool down cycle. I will buy a the spill free funnel to help bleed the system and i did not raise the rpm much while bleeding the air which i will also do soon.

 

You did exactly what I would have done, as far as the process of blurping the cooling system goes. As long as it continues to run below the halfway marker on the cluster and mechanically runs fine (assuming no spitting of coolant out anywhere), then I'd say you've done your job.

 

Thanks for the reply guys! i'm fairly new to doing all these things. I've only changed suspension components and stuff like that but never worked on the engine before. I feel like I have learned a lot and it feels awesome to know that i'm capable of working on the engine without feeling intimidated. I have great news, I bought the Lisle funnel, bled the car completely for a while, raised the rpm while doing so and I can say that the car is air free and I saw no more bubbles. I used the block tester and there wasn't a slight change in color or anything so i'm convinced that the head gasket is fine an that there is no exhaust leak in the cooling system. My concern was the bubbles since I thought it'd go down after "bleeding" the car without the funnel, but I guess i needed the funnel to quicken the process of bleeding that car and couldn't be happier with the buy. Thank you guys so much for your replies and helping out.