Going for a cruise..beautifull weather!

Saw white smoke from the hood and temps start to climb. Pulled over and popped hood. Antifreeze all over passenger side! Too hot to check out where the problem is so I called AAA. They where there in about an hour.

So while waiting, car cooled down enough so I could try to see the problem. Dipstick looked fine. No water in the valve cover. Antifreeze all over the underneith where the heater hoses/AC lines run. Hopefully it is just a blown hose. Car was running great when I shut it off, so I don't think it is a blown gasket.

Four people pulled over to help...the last two wanted to buy the car! It is all original that needs a new interior, body work, paint and suspension work(mostly bushings). The last guy to stop looked it over thoroughly. He said that it looks like a heater hose...he then told me about his '68 vette, camaro, '70 pick-up truck, etc. He asked me three times what I wanted for it. The last time I looked at him and said "You're serious..aren't you?" He replied Yes. So I figured what the hell and quoted him 25k. He gave me his card, took down my name and phone number and said he needed to look some things up and he would call me later in the day.

Wow! I really don't expect him to call back, but if he did, I would think about it hard if he would pay 25k.

Told my wife the story and is she PIZZED! She forbid me to sell the car! Even though she can't drive it(stick shift). I even told her that I'd buy a C5 vert./auto. She cooled down a bit and said in very calm voice.....NO.. Your probably going to buy a C5 or C6 anyway, so keep the '70.

Well, going to watch the football games. I'll put it up on stands later today or tomorrow to see if I have a blown hose. Hopefully that is all that it is.

What a day....so far!

 

Coolant is all over the valve and A/C connections. Almost looks like it is leaking from the Valve...threads are coated/dripping with coolant.

 

Looks like it is leaking from the water pump hose to expansion tank at the expansion tank. Having a hard time telling.

Anyone have a recommendation on a cooling system pressure test tool? I think it might be a good idea to pressure test the system before I go changing hoses randomly.

 

Sounds like permission to buy another Vette

How much coolant did you lose ????? What temp did your guage get to ????? It should be fairly easy to tell which hose it's leaking from.....and easy and cheap to replace.....

Recently, I could smell coolant inside the car and traced it to a small leak in the heater core...It wasn't enough to cause overheating, but the smell of antifreeze was present.......

If it were coming from the expansion tank, I would suspect a problem with the radiator, thermostat or water pump...is the overflow hose routed through the frame to the ground?

Also, depending on how much coolant you've lost, you might want to drain and replace the coolant and change the oil

 

A pressure tester is the way to go. I have a Stant pressure tester. I've had it since the 70's. The lower radiator hose usually ruptures in a location impossible to see, so the pressure tester is the best way to find it.

 

The wife always has something up her sleeve....she mentioned last night how much she liked the look of the new 2008 Camaro....BTW, her first car was a Camaro which she totaled when she was 16!



I don't know how much coolant is lost. The radiator cap is on the expansion tank. Now way to tell without refilling through the upper rad. hose. Based on how little water was actually on the ground, I would guess that not that much was lost.

My temp guage is always at the first hash mark which is around 190 degrees at the upper hose using a laser guage. It hit the second hash mark before I turned it off, so I am guessing 220-230? When I shut the car off it was still driving great..no stumbles or other problems to indicate engine damage.

Cooling system is about 2 months old (about 1k miles on the car since). New Radiator, and hoses (except for heater hoses!). Waterpump is original, never worked on. Thermostat is probably about 6months old. 16lb Stant with the red lever.

The overflow line is in place. There was no overflow coming from the hose. The rad cap was not releasing pressure when I opened the hood. The pressure was definitely releasing from somewhere else.

Only thing I can figure at this point is the heater hose. Rechecked oil today, no water. That is the oil fill side of the engine, so I can see in the valve cover. There is no evidence of water. No water around the intake either. Definitley came from "below".

I checked with autozone and they can rent me a Great Neck tester. Unfortunately, won't be able to touch it until the weekend. I will also replace the radiator cap just in case.

Paul