Who here knows about cars (real ones :) )?

[kup]

It all started yesterday afternoon on my way home from work (It's around 15km) when I noticed mid way that my temperature gage was rising. It never hit the red but it stabilized at about 3/4 before the hot section. When I was about 1.5-2kms from home I started to notice a strange clicking sound in the engine and when I stopped at a red light, it stalled. I was able to started up again and barely managed to get the rest of the way home as the motor was becoming louder and the gas pedal heavier.

When I got off the car, I noticed a strange sweet smell coming from the engine and it was steaming. I called the NRMA and the guy came and told me that it was overheated. He added coolant water and ran a couple of tests with the engine everything looked good and it maintained a cool temperature. At this point the smell had stopped and there was no leaking at all so I thought that the problem was solved.

The next day I drove all the way to work without any issues whatsoever, the engine held a cool temperature and I arrived normally. However by the afternoon, half way back I noticed the car overheating again only that this time it was much worse. The car stalled on me repeatedly but with some effort I managed to restart it until I got to the nearest service station (not even a KM from the first stall) and allowed the engine to cool for a few minutes and bought some coolant as advised by the NRMA the night before. I open the water lid and poured coolant into the engine. Despite the engine being off for some minutes, I could hear the liquid bubbling and stuff, I figured that it was because the cool liquid was reacting with the hot liquid inside.

After a while I noticed a bit of water leaking from under the car, I figured this was my fault as I had spilled some water while pouring the coolant. I then tested the engine and it started off just fine, no strange sounds or anything. I tested it a bit and it seemed alright and maintained a cool temperature. I managed to get home without a problem and the car drove very smoothly.

However once I stopped the car, I noticed a strange hissing sound coming from the engine that lasts 15-20 seconds or so before going away. I tried restarting the car and turned it off and the sound happened again, it seems consistent now. When I got off the car, I noticed that the car had continued to leak what appears to be coolant and there is a slight sweet burned smell coming form the engine.

Anyone know what is going on and if it would be expensive to fix? I certainly hope it's not expensive as my car is not really worth investing any more money on and I don't want to go as far as buying a new car.

Any help is appreciated.

[Vector Sigma 13]

Sounds like that coolant is dissapearing somewhere. At the least it could be a hose leak, at worst a blown head gasket? Never rule a welch plug out either they can be hard to notice if leaking. Where ever it going its going pretty quickly.
Just a note though- never pour coolant into a hot engine. The extremes in temperature can cause cracking and warping.

Im no mechanic- some of the guys on here might be qualified to give you better advice. Theyll probably need more information too.

[MV75]

First of all, NEVER UNCAP THE RADIATOR WHEN CAR IS HOT. You can get some serious burns, and I mean really serious. The water is beyond boiling. You were lucky.

Could be a few things.

Could be stuffed hoses, could be leaking radiator, could be blown head gasket (most likely). Dunno, not enough particular info. What car and model/year is it? Was the radiator empty when putting more coolant in? It seems from the clues that you are running out of coolant through some place.

The "sweet smell" is coolant (green stuff).

[Rampage]

a few random guesses

check your heater hoses from your radiator the o-ring may have come loose or the hose is blocked full of dirt & other nasties

or

your water pump is getting ready to crap itself

Bartrim may be a bit more help on this subject:)

[kup]

Thanks for the advice and info, guys.

It's a Daewoo 1.5i 1995 Hatchback.

As mentioned, I let the car cool for a few minutes before I uncapped it and there was no steam coming out of it when I did. However coolant was not visible and at that point (just arrived at service station) there was no leaking so I figured that the rest of the coolant poured the night before may have gone deep.

It only begun to leak after I added more Coolant into it. I will have to see how it goes tomorrow and will be taking it in for a check up (if mechanics near work are not booked).

I hope it's not the head gasket as I heard that is very expensive (like $3000) and my car is not worth that.

[To Punish & Enslave]

I am a qualified diesel mechanic. Overheating can be caused by many things. Its seems as you have noticed that you are loosing coolant. The question is where is the coolant going? It can leek externally eg a radiator hose or internally eg into the engine oil. Overheating could be caused by so many factors. Like a faulty radiator cap that is around $10 to fix.

Fan belts can slip or belts can break off. Water pumps can fail or a stuck thermostat or blocked radiator is not uncommon. Call into your local mechanic and get them to quickly test your cooling system with a pressure tester. That shouldn’t cost much and is a good place to start to ascertain what is going on.Also is your engine oil gone milky? Don’t open radiator cap until engine cool and don’t add coolant when engine hot. The more you drive it as it is the more damage you could do.;)

[loophole]

I've had this happen to me before as well and im pretty sure it was a blown head gasket but my car does like to do that.
If this is the case try to make sure you get a felpro gasket set for it they are the best out there and not much more expensive than the cheap crap which ive had problem's with before.
On another note i would highly reccomend using castrol corrosion inhibitor as your coolant because it doesnt corrode the alloy parts(i.e. water pump) of your cooling system and engine block for that matter as bad as conventiol coolants.
I shall also put this question past my dad as he is the mechanic of the family and would have a better idea than me,but he doesnt get home until Saturday.

[Pulse]

Reading over what happened, I'd put my money on one or more of your hoses having sprung a leak. If that's what is causing the overheating, it shouldn't cost very much to fix it... :)

[i_amtrunks]

Just a question, how much coolant have you been buying and pouring into the radiator? ie. how quickly is it loosing coolant?

I'd suggest waiting for the engine to cool right down and pour in some coolant and then keep an eye on the engine, and see if you can spot where the leak is coming from. Hopefully it's just a hose, as they are inexpensive and rather easy to fix. If its the actual radiator that is leaking, then you could be looking at some serious costs to fix/replace it.

If you cannot determine where the coolant is leaking from it could mean it is leaking into the engine, check your engine oil, if it looks diluted and leaves a chalky residue when wiped on a cloth, it means you quite likely have the leak entering the engine.

The problem with engines overheating is the flow on effects to other components, fan belts, engine oil etc.

[kup]

Hi guys,

This morning I drove to work and for 3/4s of the trip it maintained a reasonable cool temperature but when I reached the homestretch, it rapidly begun to climb and barely got to the Mechanics near work before it stalled.

However this time I noticed that there was no leaking at all before driving and when I arrived at the Mechanics.

I have left the car at the Mechanics for them to check what is going on, I seriously hope it's nothing serious otherwise I will have to spend savings in buying a new car and this will cause me to retire from the Transformers business :(.

Thanks for all your help and advice, hopefully this will have a happy ending.

[To Punish & Enslave]

So Kup what was the outcome?

[kup]

So Kup what was the outcome?

Car died, its beyond repair unless I want to spend more money than its worth.

Yesterday I bought a Holden Commodore Acclaim for a very cheap price and I am very happy with it. It was the Executive edition too so it comes with Cruise Control, power windows, Central locking, CD player, etc.

My fear is that it would eat up much more gas than the previous car but it seems to have reasonable consumption.

[Saintly]

sorry to hear that, Kup...

a bigger car will always have a heavier fuel consumption (i'm generalising)

[Pulse]

Sorry to hear that Mate... :(

Hard to believe your Daewoo only had a lifespan of 13 years... (they sure don't make 'em like they used to... :rolleyes:)

[kup]

sorry to hear that, Kup...

a bigger car will always have a heavier fuel consumption (i'm generalising)

At the price I got it for, it seems very good and so far an increased fuel consumption is not showing that much. I have driven from Miranda to my place (20kms) and then work and back (15km each way) and the fuel gage hasn't shifted down that much. The up side is that I no longer need to travel huge distances as often as I did with the first car.

We will see after a couple of weeks but I don't expect it to be much more than the first car when it comes to fuel. I am also having it checked up tomorrow just in case but so far it runs like a charm.

[MV75]

Car died, its beyond repair unless I want to spend more money that its worth.

Yesterday I bought a Holden Commodore Acclaim for a very cheap price and I am very happy with it. It was the Executive edition too so it comes with Cruise Control, power windows, Central locking, CD player, etc.

My fear is that it would eat up much more gas than the previous car but it seems to have reasonable consumption.

Don't worry about the fuel. What you saved by not buying a new little car will more than make up for it. :) Plus in reality, it's most likely not too much difference anyway.

[dirge]

You tend to make up efficiency with a newer car, anyway. Which will at least partially offset the size.

[i_amtrunks]

Parking in the new, larger car is the fun part! :D

Smart move in upgrading to a newer car Kup, when something big goes wrong in a 10+ year old car, its only a matter of time before more things go wrong!

[Saintly]

Parking in the new, larger car is the fun part! :D

Smart move in upgrading to a newer car Kup, when something big goes wrong in a 10+ year old car, its only a matter of time before more things go wrong!

+1 on that!

[kup]

Parking in the new, larger car is the fun part! :D

Smart move in upgrading to a newer car Kup, when something big goes wrong in a 10+ year old car, its only a matter of time before more things go wrong!

Actually its a 'new' car because I just bought it for me. Its actually about as old as the other one but in much, much better condition and low millage.

I am having it checked out by the mechanics just in case but I have been driving it for 3 days and it still runs very well. Also the parts are cheaper and easier to maintain than the other car so it is an upgrade (lots of extra features too) even if its about the same age.

For $3000 for a car in immaculate condition, I am very happy with it considering that the impact to my savings was much smaller than expected.

[i_amtrunks]

You certainly chose the right time to upgrade to a larger car, not only do you have the average family cars all being sold due to high fuel prices flooding the market and making them cheaper, you also caught the tail end of the Fleet Car season, where all the corporations and councils trade in their 3 year old vehicles for new ones, and flood the market even more! :p

And as you will find out, finding parts for the Commodores, Falcons and Camry's is cheaper and easier, because there are hundreds of thousands of them sold. Anytime you need something you can head on down to pick 'n' payless and grab 3 or 4 of whatever you want!

[kup]

I just came back from the Mechanics.

The car is in excellent condition and it has recently been serviced and excellently maintained. No work was needed to be done on the engine or any system. The only thing he did was replace a light bulb of the front right low beam which was failing.

The Mechanic also bought my old bomb for $150 and did the checking for free! I just need to take it to the RTA for the transfer thing.

[i_amtrunks]

The Mechanic also bought my old bomb for $150 and did the checking for free! I just need to take it to the RTA for the transfer thing.

You went to a mechanic and left with more money than when you dropped your car off??? :D

Mechanic probably got a good deal there, if the starter motor, radiator, alternator and other odds and ends are okay he can make some money off them, and then sell the body of the car for scrap. Still easier than trying to get rid of a seized up car yourself!

[jacksplatt11]

as others have said, fords and holdens are so cheap and easy to maintain, with the right care and a bit of luck they can go 300-400k+ kms with only small fixes... parts are so readily available from pretty much any wrecker under the sun, and if you get yourself a gregorys manual you can do pretty much anything yourself if you have access to the right tools, some of the bigger jobs like head gasket etc are a bit harder, but servicing, brakes, things like cooling system and power steering pump etc can all be easily fixed even if you're only a little bit handy with tools..

[Bartrim]

Sorry a bit late to this thread but it played out exactly as I expected. There wasn't too much you could do to save your Daewoo Kup. Although you could of taken the car back, put some Chemiweld in to temporarily block the leak and traded it in yourself. Where as it's not exactly ethical in my book it is quite common practice for people trying to offload dead beaters.

Just a question. When you filled it with coolant and water did you have the engine running?

BTW thank you Rampage for mentioning my name and the word help in the same sentence. Always feels flattering when people think you can help:D