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Well, I just picked my car up after 1.5 months of waiting to get my wheels re-chromed (long story, chromer was backlogged). So I get in the monster happier than a fat kid eating his birthday cake, and 5 miles down the road I smell anti freeze and look down and the reduced engine mode was in full effect. The main hose coming from the radiator was completely collapsed. Had to have the car flatbedded to WCC. As you can see it's not easy to load on a flatbed. Has anyone ever had this happen? I'm trying to figure out if my electric waterpump went out or it was just a bad luck deal. All I know is I'm sick of this thing breaking and not being able to drive it. But I still love it. After driving my lifted f-150 for 1.5 months, it felt like a formula race car.
My guess is that your water pump is working fine, but cannot draw enough coolant into it because your radiator cap is not allowing the coolant to be drawn from the overflow tank.
Did you try loosening the cap to see if the hose returns to normal?
Last edited by TEXHAWK0; Mar 10, 2006 at 08:07 PM.
My guess is that your water pump is working fine, but cannot draw enough coolant into it because your radiator cap is not allowing the coolant to be drawn from the overflow tank.
Did you try loosening the cap to see if the hose returns to normal?
I didn't try that. I dont know how many times the car was started in 1.5 months, so maybe it was becuase it sat so long?
Your hose didn't collapse because of the radiator cap. Generally, when they collapse it is because there is not enough coolant/liquid in the system. You have a leak in the coolant system somewhere. Look deeper, trust me. The suction effect is from air expantion/contraction.
Good Luck,
Nick
Your hose didn't collapse because of the radiator cap. Generally, when they collapse it is because there is not enough coolant/liquid in the system. You have a leak in the coolant system somewhere. Look deeper, trust me. The suction effect is from air expantion/contraction.
Good Luck,
Nick
I've seen this happen. Fill it up completely and monitor the situation.
Your hose didn't collapse because of the radiator cap. Generally, when they collapse it is because there is not enough coolant/liquid in the system. You have a leak in the coolant system somewhere. Look deeper, trust me. The suction effect is from air expantion/contraction.
Good Luck,
Nick
Agreed! I thought about this and re-read his post again.. he said he smelled the coolant, so...
Stopped by the shop today to drop some parts off. John, who is the head mechanic, says they ran the car for 10 minutes and it stayed at 185 degrees. He thinks the thermoststat could have gotten stuck or it's a head gasket. He was going to drive it home to see if it did it again. At this point, if it is a head gasket, I'm going to part the car out. This many problems on a car with 25k is enough. It's either a new Z or an srt-10. I still love my car so I hope it's only the thermoststat. I guess the new thing is to ditch the thermostat alll together and use washers to let the flow in. He says he's done it for a couple cars. Hopefully will know by the end of the week.
Don't ditch the 'stat! You'll just be trading one problem for others. BTW, if you're smelling antifreeze, it's likely not the thermostat. As others have said, you probably have a leak and you're creating air pockets, which is very hard on your radiator!
If your system has a leak, your expansion tank will continually be getting drawn down to the add level (after you've added more fluid) or beyond after the car has been run and sits overnight. If there are no leaks, the coolant level will stabilize and so will the amount in your expansion tank. If your head gasket is going, your oil should have the tell-tale "chocolate milk" look to it, and a simple compression check should confirm if that's the problem. This shouldn't be that difficult to diagnose.
"Hang in there" as Charlie says Mike and I'm sure you'll get it figured out.
I've often thought about going back to stock too, but I'm glad I didn't ( so far )
"Hang in there" as Charlie says Mike and I'm sure you'll get it figured out.
I've often thought about going back to stock too, but I'm glad I didn't ( so far )
Death before rolling stock stano. It just sucks having a big *** car payment on a car you only drive 6 months out of the year, in Southern CA to boot. I don't know how the guys in the east do it!