Kailak3

Can anyone help me? My radiator is pushing water out into the overflow and loosing water, then it overheats.
I have changed the thermostat, water pump, radiator cap and flushed my radiator.

What else can I do?

HATEnFATE

how's the oil level?
are you burning oil?
if there coolant in your oil or oil in the Coolant?

You may have a blown headgasket

18TTony

Next thing you should do is:

Go to an auto parts store and buy an "Engine Block Test Kit". Test to see if you have a blown head gasket.

Or, something else you can try is (with the engine cold), fill up the radiator completely with water.......leave the radiator cap off the radiator...........start the engine.........look at the water and see if you notice any bubbles coming out where the radiator cap normally would be.

A "slightly" blown head gasket will allow small (exhaust) bubbles to come up out of the radiator. A severely blown head gasket will allow the water to seem as if it is being "pushed" out of the radiator.

Either way, a blown head gasket is a blown head gasket and needs to be replaced.

Remove the cylinder head and replace the head gasket. Simple job, if you got the skills. Could be done in a day.

Shop I work at charges $1,100 Labor and about $300 in parts............I do these same repairs at my house for $500 Labor and less than $100 in parts (buying parts online is dirt cheap $$$).

If the cylinder head is warped, it will add a couple hundred dollars to the repair cost to have the cylinder head resurfaced.


Don't bother wasting money on any of those miracle "Head Gasket Repair" chemicals. They WILL NOT work on this type of blown head gasket. Those head gasket repair chemicals ONLY work on blown head gaskets that are blowing coolant into the exhaust pipe, NOT blowing exhaust into the coolant..............but if you dont believe me, go out and buy "Blue Devil" head gasket sealer. It's the best stuff available and the most expensive, but still a waste of money in your situation.

MaK_05TC

Are the fans functioning properly? How many miles are on the car?

jimmything03

i am having a similar problem i am leaking coolant cant find the leak. 06 scion tc changed thermostat hoses are fine reservoir stays full but have to keep adding coolant to my radiator. oil is clear not milky. any ideas? heat works great when driving but goes cold when idling. dont think its heater core carpet on passenger side is dry and no coolant smell inside car.
thanks

18TTony

This is a common when the coolant system is low on fluid.

You should never have to add coolant to the radiator........the way the system works is: The coolant heats up, expands which creates pressure. When the pressure reaches 16psi the coolant passes the radiator cap plunger seal and turns into steam. The steam enters the "overflow" tank it cools off and turns back into fluid. When the engine and cooling system cools off, the coolant in the overflow tank gets sucked back into the radiator.

If you have a bad (main) radiator cap seal (not plunger seal), the steam will escape the cooling system (not enter the overflow tank) but rather enter the atmosphere instead of the tank. Eventually, you will need to add more coolant.

jimmything03

I do understand that, in my case if I don't add to the radiator the car will over heat even though my reservoir is full. I am not seeing any leaks anywhere this is where i am getting confused.

2stroked

That's why everybody is telling you that it's most likely a bad head gasket. What's happening is your coolant is leaking into the combustion chamber (through the bad head gasket) and getting burned / blown out the exhaust. This also leads to a pretty foul smelling exhaust.

RichBinAZ

Can you borrow one of these from autozone??? The reviews say it only tests the cap, but the basic unit has a pressure cap and it should test the radiator???
Duralast Coolant System Adapter 9300 - Read 5 Reviews on Duralast #9300

If you can get a "free loaner" (refundable deposit???) it may be worth the effort - they may even tell you how to do it as well.

jimmything03

mine was having the same problem, mine was caused by a huge nasty air pocket bled the system and changed the hoses on my resirvoir and so far its working fine.

Kik

Do you have a lot of condensate coming out of you exhaust when you start the car? Put a clear mason jar over the exhaust pipe and hold it there for a couple of 2 or 3 minutes, let it collect some condensate. If the condensate has a tint to it that matches the color of your anti-freeze, then you most likely have a blown head gasket. I myself would do a pressure test on the system before spending any money on parts. If the system hold pressure then I'd buy a new cap for the radiator and sse if that works.

I'm not sure if your engine is the same as my 2005 model, but, I thought I had a blown head gasket too, and I didn't. My head bolts pulled out of their threads in the block. Had to tear it all apart anyway and put new gaskets, but drilling, tapping, inserting steel inserts, that was the fun part. Be prepared to buy some new motor mounts also.

tgetherwecan

I am really hoping that what I think is happening could be something else. My car is overheating, I fill the radiator and about 5-10miles later it is overheating. My oils is low but is still the right color, the water in the radiator is still the right color but it keeps overheating and now I have water inside the car. Someone please tell me it's not the head gasket!!!!!!

Kik

If you have wetness on your passenger floor board then it's most likly a heater core leak. Hopefully it's that and not the head gasket or stripped head bolts.

Jtrejo

Hey so did you ever find a solution ?

Because I am having the same exact issue.

It runs fine in city but then..

I run on highway for about 15 min and the coolant overflows from the reservoir.

I have replaced , Water pump, Radiator , thermostat, Hose's.

I don't think it might be the reservoir because I see no leaks. But I will replace this week anyway.

My compression is Excellent !

One mechanic told me that it's possible that it can be the catalytic converter. Reasoning? It's possible that it's partially plugged because when driving at high speeds, not sufficient exhaust escape, which returns exhaust fumes back into engine and heats it more than required temp and boils coolant which in turn overflows through reservoir.

So after I replace Reservoir the next step will be to replace catalytic converter.

I might be doing this the wrong way but oh well ...