Changed coolant expansion tank and coolant, engine lite came on. Scanner says coolant problems. What can it be. ECU is not recognizing new tank.
Car passat 1.8, M/T, 05, coolant was changed with the pink coolant from dealership, system was flushed and bleeded. Car is NOT overheating, temperature is showing as usual.
I have a 02 cavalier 2.2 it just started leAking coolant when in a drive thru. Steam started coming up from hood. When I looked under the hood the expansion tank was hissing and it looked like the antifreeze was coming out of the overflow tube at the top of the tank. What should I do? It is sitting still at the parking lot
View 3 RepliesLast week during a hot/long day on the road, my engine temp gauge started fluctuating between 1/2 and almost 7/8 on the gauge. The weird thing was that it was fairly stable most of the time, but every 10 minutes or so, it would heat up, and spend bout 15 seconds at the high mark before dropping down again. It didn't seem to be related to rpm, A/C operation, or driving intensity. When I got home, and let it cool down, I checked the coolant level. I couldn't see any coolant in the radiator, but the expansion tank was nearly full. I guess the low coolant level can explain the symptoms above, but I can't figure out what is happening to the coolant.
I took the car to a mechanic and had a pressure test, which didn't show any leakage. I had a new thermostat and radiator cap installed. They flushed the system, and tested the hose between the expansion tank and radiator. After driving the car home, the coolant in the radiator had already dropped to the point where I couldn't see it, and the expansion tank was 3/4 full. Now, I am planning to keep track of the levels of both reservoirs (and refilling the radiator of course) to see if the fluid is leaking, or if it is just not returning from the expansion tank. Hopefully this bit of knowledge should locate the problem.
The successful pressure test leads me to believe that it isn't leaking externally. However, I'm wondering if there is a small enough leak that wouldn't be detected by the pressure test, but is significant enough that it would allow air in when the engine cools instead of pulling the fluid back from the expansion tank.
Have a 2002 V6 in the family that's losing coolant at a rate of about an expansion tank every 3 -4 weeks.
I have searched all around with a flashlight, don't see any signs of coolant residue near the radiator, expansion tank or cap, water pump, or heater core connections. Heater core does not smell like coolant. Exhaust does not smell sweet or does not steam once the car is warmed up.
I pressure tested the cooling system on up to 18-20 PSI and still can't find any evidence of anything leaking out anywhere.
I'm going to change the upper and lower radiator hoses this weekend in the thought that maybe it's a pinhole leak once hot and under pressure (I pressure tested cold). Any common things I'm missing where it may leak?
2007, 4.0L, Explorer, 113,000 mi. Week ago noticed coolant expansion tank empty while hot and cold. Looked inside ex. tank and looked like it had not seen any action in a while. Looked inside radiator and coolant level was about 1 inch to 1.5 inches below bottom of rad. cap would be...approx. level with rad. seam, where black plastic top of rad. attaches to metal portion of rad. I filled expan. tank to "cold fill" line. Kept an eye on it while doing light, around town driving. The expan. tank level (cold-fill) didn't change.
Friday, my wife returned from work (30 mi., interstate drive). After being parked for 45 mins, went out to find fluid puddle at very front of car. Expansion tank was empty. Looked in radiator, and it was about one inch to inch and a half below bottom of rad cap...about level with rad seam, where the black plastic top is attached to metal. I topped off the rad. this time, along with filling expan. tank to cold-fill line. Turn car on, and after warming up coolant starting coming out from what appeared to be the seam at the top of the rad., where the black plastic portion meets the metal part of the rad.
I recently bought a 2003 VW jetta 1.8T with 150,000 miles on it. After the purchase I got about 20 miles down the road and it overheated. I noticed there was oil in the expansion tank. I replaced the head and head gasket on the vehicle. As i was taking everything off I noticed that there was green coolant in the car. WhenI took the head off the pistons were glazed over and a lot of things were charred.
So I cleaned everything and put the new head and gasket on. After everything i cleaned the expansion tank of the oil and put new coolant in. After I drove it around for a little bit and everything seemed fine and there was no oil mixing with coolant. So I left got another 20 miles down the road and it started steaming and the overheated light came on. I checked the engine and there was no oil in the expansion take but the coolant was just pulsing it wasn't a constant flow.
My car recently had its timing belt changed, it's got about 83k miles. up until then there had been some oil loss, but there was some leaking found around the valve covers so the gaskets were done. my mechanic did a full tb change, including the water pump. he said that the coolant was pretty cloudy when he changed it too.
When I got the car back, the coolant filled the tank to about half. it was running and warmed up (had just been driven about an hour) at the time. this was a couple weeks ago. i haven't driven the car since then as its my wife's ride. today, after i got to work (hour on the highway) and turned the car off, i checked the coolant level. it was at the min line.
Now of course, my first thought is "oh crap, am i really gonna have to do a head gasket now?" But I'm wondering what else might be going on, particularly after a TB change. Also, the car has been running kind of like crap as of late. I changed out the spark plugs, which were clearly OEM, and that worked immensely, but after a ride on the highway for an hour it's a bit rough getting off the highway. Dunno if it's related - my mechanic also thinks i need to replace my wires too, so perhaps it's just that.
So far it doesn't look like my oil is being consumed, though i need to pay more careful attention to that as the days go on. i do get a burning coolant (i think. could be oil, but I'm pretty sure it's coolant) smell from the vents when i warm start the car and turn on the heat. it goes away in about a minute or so. when i first got the car back, my mechanic said it was due to the coolant he spilled all over the engine, but after two weeks i wonder if it isn't something else. i suppose it could be, but the car's been driven about 400 miles since and i would think it would be gone by now. maybe i need to clean the engine to be sure? So, questions:
1) Is it possible that there was some air in the system, and that the air worked its way out, causing the overall level to go down?
2) Are there any likely areas of the TB job that could cause this? i don't recall it ever consuming coolant before, and at this rate, i certainly would have, i should think - we had the car for a year before this.
3) The car had a bit of sludging in it - guess is that it never had anything but dino oil before. So I changed it out with some 502 rated oil and my mechanic advised me to drive it hard every so often and then change it out before my normal interval. today i put it into manual mode and got my rpms up around 6000. could the high rpms have led to consumption in some way?
At this point i'd like to collect as much info as i can about this before making any decisions about how to proceed.
So we were getting the annoying check engine light pretty religiously when we got to a half tank or less of fuel. In the trouble shooting I guess maybe there was a bad ground or something that required a little work then they told us the the intake flap motor was bad. Or at least was not returning the correct values.
So they ordered a new one and replaced it on Friday. I was looking at the paperwork, seemed like a fun job, pull the intake manifold, replace the part, put back together.
In the end, the experience with Emich VW in Denver was great. The service writer was awesome and you can even pick a tech to work on your car. I think that's a fine idea.
The car is great. Filled up with first tank of diesel last Sunday. About 100 miles into a long ride east, the CEL came on without explanation. I double-checked the gas cap, and it had been replaced properly.
View 5 RepliesComing back from Busch Gardens today. Filled up at a Shell. Got on the road and within minutes got a check engine light and the throttle started surging like when you have water in the tank (know from past experience-don't ask). Is the check engine light what would come on if I had water in the tank?
I was able to make it home after adding one bottle of dry-gas but the car is still doing it...major loss of power during mid-level throttle. I was able to keep the engine light from coming on if I was very careful with the throttle and kept the revs around 3K or higher.
Hate to take it to the stealership if not necessary. Burned 1/4 tank of gas on the way home. Should I add a second bottle of dry-gas and top off the tank with fresh gas before taking it in? Don't want to damage injectors or?
Whats under here that can be causing my car to smoke? During the week I dont drive it much just because I drive and take home my work truck, but when I start it up and let it run it smokes pretty heavily, right under the coolant tank but more to the rear. Other then a valve gasket what else could this be? Also comes from that opposite side but not as heavy.
View 3 RepliesI was driving my 2003 Passat 1.8T normally when all of a sudden I see "STOP" on my dash and my coolant light turned on. I pull over and see a bunch of white crap all over the engine cover. The temp gauge didn't go up however, so I drove it home. I am taking it to the dealer tomorrow. I am guessing it could be the water pump? Also there was white crap on the bottom of the hood which showed where it might have came from. I circled that area in the pic.
View 3 RepliesChanged the oil in the car today, I added 4.5 liters and went to start it and it was misfiring. I thought what the hell did I do to the car to run so rough..I shut it down and checked the level and topped it up. Started the car and it was fine ..
I am thinking that because the oil filler cap was removed and started that the computer detected something changed in the engine . This is the first time an engine has done this to me, these things are fine tuned..Must be something to do with the pvc valve system.
The engine oil is being sucked into the cooling system and filling up the coolant recovery tank. It's a peanut butter mess. The radiator is loaded also and I can't what the passages in the block look like. Some say its a head gasket but why would crank case be empty. I would think there would be coolant mixed with oil in the crankcase. I think its a engine porous issue. The vehicle was bought used with 133k miles and a 3 month warranty.
View 11 RepliesI had my Passat (2006) for a couple of weeks now and this message comes up on the dash warning: "AFS inoperative". The bulb failure light was flashing as well. I have the bi-xenon lights.
The L/H bulb was changed and the warning and the bulb failure light is still there, but both headlights are working now. The major drama is that the lights are now dipped and at night we can only see about 20m in front of the car. The lights don't do the start up dance as normal.
I have a 2002 Ford Explorer and I am still trying to figure out why the coolant will overflow in the radiator reserve tank. I put in a new thermostat and a new cap to the overflow tank. When the tank is cold, sat over night, I put in new anti-freeze to the cold coolant line. Then I start up the explorer and let it run for a while. The temp gauge goes up, then drops a tad and cold air comes out of the vents.
After I rev up the engine, I see the coolant level starts to rise in the overflow tank, then it goes to the top and starts to leak out. This takes a while being the thermostat has not kicked in to suck the fluid in. Before this happens, the heater core lines are luke warm. After the tank overflows, the remaining gets sucked into the engine and I get nice warm heat. What causes this. I had the test done to see if the head gasket is bad. The test was negative.
I've got a 2003 passat 1.8t, I just changed my rear brakes about 5000km's ago, and my front pads have a lot of pad left.. the light just came on...? Is it safe to drive still? Is there something I should look for?
View 2 Replies2009 2.4 Sonata. Replaced the battery. Engine light came on after battery replacement. Engine code P0106 (MAP sensor or vacuum leak). Car drove fine before and after the battery replacement. Engine light after replacing battery?
View 2 RepliesI have asked my dealership why this light comes on when the gas cap hasn't been touched and they told me on new cars this can happen. I have tried to tighten the cap, I can't get it to click except when I release the cap it clicks as it spins backwards. I have tried to tighten the cap but if it should click three times to the left I'll break it before that happens.
I got it down near 1/2 tank yesterday and the light came on and in 15 miles it was back off again. Only once we turned the car off and back on, which hasn't worked until yesterday.
The gas cap light comes on when my tank is low on fuel, dealer says it is a small evap. leak. I have an '07...
View 10 Replies1995 Ford Van E150. So I've been trying to solve my overheating problem for months now. One morning I walked out of my house and all of my coolants was on the street. I could not completely detect the source of the leak after running more coolant through it. I also checked the dip stick and coolant on the ground for any sign of oil/coolant mixing. I started by replacing the thermostat.
I did a more thorough inspection and found a crack at the bottom of the radiator that I replaced less than two years ago. I replaced the radiator again and while I had the belt, intake and fan disassembled I switched out the water pump as well. The old water pump was gunked and the gasket was almost completely worn off. The van is still overheating and spitting out coolant at a much higher rate. I'm guessing because of the new water pump. A friend said it could be the intake manifold because of where the steam was coming from the motor.