Hello all,
First time posting.
I bought my childhood dream car (96 black and silver stripes and still have my model car from the 90's) and have had it for over five years now. I’ve been pretty lucky so far and have been able to drive it freely without any issues—until last fall.
I noticed at stoplights that the temp would rise higher than normal, but it would quickly cool back down once I started driving again.
The last week I was driving it, the heat stopped working. It would blow air, just no heat.
I drove the car to work one day and got there early, so I decided to let it idle and watch the temp. It climbed higher than I was comfortable with (past the three middle lines), so I shut it off. After sitting for a few minutes, there was a burst of noise and coolant started pouring onto the exhaust manifold or close or it, creating a ton of smoke. I believe it was leaking on the driver’s side where the rubber hose meets the main metal pipe to the radiator.
I filled it back up with coolant, got it home later that day, and parked it until spring.
Today I tested the fan:
12v to the relays
Fan works when I bypass the relay on both high and low speed
While car is running:
Fan works when I turn on the A/C
Fan does not turn on from temp alone but I only let it get just past the third middle line.
If I turn the A/C on and then back off, the fan stays on (not sure which speed)
I wanted to check the coolant levels, and that’s when I discovered there is no expansion bottle in the bumper—it’s just gone. I traced the hose from the top of the fill tank and it isn’t connected to anything but has a clamp like it used to.
A couple questions:
Could this have been the cause of all the cooling issues? (Air in the system causing heater problems and overheating while stopped?)
Was the temp sensor not getting hot coolant to flow past it, so it never told the fan to turn on or do I have at least 2 issues?
I’d rather not pull the bumper—has anyone relocated the expansion bottle somewhere more accessible?
What should my next steps be?
I searched pretty thoroughly, so I hope this issue hasn’t already been covered in another thread.
Thank you for any help!
After reading this I figured I should try an answer some questions that I might ask if I read it.
Fan looks stock, too small. . .
Relays look stock as well and I couldn't find any aftermarket relay systems or wiring.
When dash gauge was 190-200, radiator pipes were 100-140degrees. Looks like thermostat is working.
Pipes to heat box were around 110
If I squeeze the big radiator hose with engine off, I can hear gushing back and forth.
I know how lucky it is that I made it 5 years without cooling issues
Oil looks good
No white or dark exhaust smoke
51000 miles
First time posting.
I bought my childhood dream car (96 black and silver stripes and still have my model car from the 90's) and have had it for over five years now. I’ve been pretty lucky so far and have been able to drive it freely without any issues—until last fall.
I noticed at stoplights that the temp would rise higher than normal, but it would quickly cool back down once I started driving again.
The last week I was driving it, the heat stopped working. It would blow air, just no heat.
I drove the car to work one day and got there early, so I decided to let it idle and watch the temp. It climbed higher than I was comfortable with (past the three middle lines), so I shut it off. After sitting for a few minutes, there was a burst of noise and coolant started pouring onto the exhaust manifold or close or it, creating a ton of smoke. I believe it was leaking on the driver’s side where the rubber hose meets the main metal pipe to the radiator.
I filled it back up with coolant, got it home later that day, and parked it until spring.
Today I tested the fan:
12v to the relays
Fan works when I bypass the relay on both high and low speed
While car is running:
Fan works when I turn on the A/C
Fan does not turn on from temp alone but I only let it get just past the third middle line.
If I turn the A/C on and then back off, the fan stays on (not sure which speed)
I wanted to check the coolant levels, and that’s when I discovered there is no expansion bottle in the bumper—it’s just gone. I traced the hose from the top of the fill tank and it isn’t connected to anything but has a clamp like it used to.
A couple questions:
Could this have been the cause of all the cooling issues? (Air in the system causing heater problems and overheating while stopped?)
Was the temp sensor not getting hot coolant to flow past it, so it never told the fan to turn on or do I have at least 2 issues?
I’d rather not pull the bumper—has anyone relocated the expansion bottle somewhere more accessible?
What should my next steps be?
I searched pretty thoroughly, so I hope this issue hasn’t already been covered in another thread.
Thank you for any help!
After reading this I figured I should try an answer some questions that I might ask if I read it.
Fan looks stock, too small. . .
Relays look stock as well and I couldn't find any aftermarket relay systems or wiring.
When dash gauge was 190-200, radiator pipes were 100-140degrees. Looks like thermostat is working.
Pipes to heat box were around 110
If I squeeze the big radiator hose with engine off, I can hear gushing back and forth.
I know how lucky it is that I made it 5 years without cooling issues
Oil looks good
No white or dark exhaust smoke
51000 miles
