Here is what happened:
I pulled into a station and kept car idling while I learned the doors were locked for a minute. So I looked in the trunk for something I misplaced.
Went in, got a few lottery tickets checked.
Got in the car, temp guage was maybe 1 mm greater than normal max. Drove toward home, got her up to 5000-6000 rpm . Also did some coasting, in gear and in neutral. Got maybe 1 km from that gas station and noticed the heat temp needle was just a few mm shy of the red zone. Babbied it into the driveway. Shut off engine after maybe 20 secs of 'the turbo effect' (let it sit idling so oil can circulate excess heat away from hot engine parts, like on a turbo car after driving fast)
Locked her up, and heard a gurgling from under the hood. It was dark and those keychain mini-lights are great at times but rather inadequate in this case. Noise was coming from upper rad hose, it was vibrating and making a noise that was sort of a gurgle but more of a farting sort of noise. I grabbed the upper hose and it was warm, maybe you could call it pleasantly warm but sure not hot or scalding. When I squeezed it I'm sure it was filled with air, not liquid.
Rad cap was cool. Coolant recovery overflow was NOT full (I thought that maybe the rad cap had been putting fluid into the recovery reservoir so that it would be full) No obvious hot-spots in the engine (like the rad glowing red or anything) Electric fan that cuts in when it gets too hot, was NOT on at all, from the PetroCan to home or after parking. I have definately heard it recently.
If there was a puddle of coolant coming from under my car when I came from the door of the PetroCan, I think I'd see it but I've been kinda absent-minded lately.
This morning I drove 20+ km on a mainly-100 zone; and I exceeded 5000 and likely approached 6000 rpm. PERHAPS while enjoying the view I MAY have exceeded the limit by a few, for a few seconds...
What may be more significant is that I decided to do a 'driving mini-flush' of the heater core; namely that I had 2 windows rolled down, turned the heat to full hot and the fan to full blast (which I don't even do in the winter) and switched the mode switch from vent to defrost to floor, all of them a few mins at a time.
I will TRY to recover coolant for a sample; whether that works or not I will remove cap when it is cold in the morning, fill with water, look hard for leaks and the like, and get it to a garage. I have a jug of Prestone in the trunk, too.
What do you think the problem is?
I will be having flush done with 'routine' replacement of cap and thermostat.
The following may be somewhat applicable:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=000398;p=1#000000
THANKS!
Rob
[ September 29, 2003, 03:02 AM: Message edited by: rob-the-oil-nut ]
I pulled into a station and kept car idling while I learned the doors were locked for a minute. So I looked in the trunk for something I misplaced.
Went in, got a few lottery tickets checked.
Got in the car, temp guage was maybe 1 mm greater than normal max. Drove toward home, got her up to 5000-6000 rpm . Also did some coasting, in gear and in neutral. Got maybe 1 km from that gas station and noticed the heat temp needle was just a few mm shy of the red zone. Babbied it into the driveway. Shut off engine after maybe 20 secs of 'the turbo effect' (let it sit idling so oil can circulate excess heat away from hot engine parts, like on a turbo car after driving fast)
Locked her up, and heard a gurgling from under the hood. It was dark and those keychain mini-lights are great at times but rather inadequate in this case. Noise was coming from upper rad hose, it was vibrating and making a noise that was sort of a gurgle but more of a farting sort of noise. I grabbed the upper hose and it was warm, maybe you could call it pleasantly warm but sure not hot or scalding. When I squeezed it I'm sure it was filled with air, not liquid.
Rad cap was cool. Coolant recovery overflow was NOT full (I thought that maybe the rad cap had been putting fluid into the recovery reservoir so that it would be full) No obvious hot-spots in the engine (like the rad glowing red or anything) Electric fan that cuts in when it gets too hot, was NOT on at all, from the PetroCan to home or after parking. I have definately heard it recently.
If there was a puddle of coolant coming from under my car when I came from the door of the PetroCan, I think I'd see it but I've been kinda absent-minded lately.
This morning I drove 20+ km on a mainly-100 zone; and I exceeded 5000 and likely approached 6000 rpm. PERHAPS while enjoying the view I MAY have exceeded the limit by a few, for a few seconds...
What may be more significant is that I decided to do a 'driving mini-flush' of the heater core; namely that I had 2 windows rolled down, turned the heat to full hot and the fan to full blast (which I don't even do in the winter) and switched the mode switch from vent to defrost to floor, all of them a few mins at a time.
I will TRY to recover coolant for a sample; whether that works or not I will remove cap when it is cold in the morning, fill with water, look hard for leaks and the like, and get it to a garage. I have a jug of Prestone in the trunk, too.
What do you think the problem is?
I will be having flush done with 'routine' replacement of cap and thermostat.
The following may be somewhat applicable:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=000398;p=1#000000
THANKS!
Rob
[ September 29, 2003, 03:02 AM: Message edited by: rob-the-oil-nut ]
