S
sr73087
Guest
I was on the highway with the car fully warmed up at a steady cruise around 70mph. All of a sudden I smell coolant. I keep driving for about 30 secs, keeping a close eye on the temp gauge. It started to creep up and went above the half way mark. I pulled over immediately and shut the car off. I sat their for about 5 minutes and limped the car into a safer area, keeping an eye on the temp gauge, it never went more than slightly above the half way mark. I pop the hood to find the upper hose looks to have popped. I changed that hose no more than 2-3 years back, it still nice and soft, not brittle or spongy. My question is what would have caused this to occur, just the hose, could it be the radiator cap not releasing pressure ? I had someone else mention that it could be a stuck thermostat but if that was the case wouldn't the car would have been overheating prior to the hose popping ? Which was not the case.
I had someone else say its a headgasket, which would mean in this case than combustion gases are getting into the coolant causing the systems pressure to rise and popping the hose. Which would also point out a possible bad radiator cap, which should release excessive pressure. I have not done a leakdown , cooling system pressure test or the dye test to test for this. There is no oil in the coolant that is left and no coolant in the oil. Also there were no drivability issues for the short time that I drove the car while the coolant was leaking. Is there anyway this could be a headgasket ? What are the other possible problems that caused this ?
Thanks for the great answers guys.
My point that it was not a stuck thermostat that caused it was that the hose burst before it started to rise in temp, therefore that couldn't be the cause of the problem.
What about the blown headgasket idea ? I don't see how it could be this but I would like some other opinions.
I had someone else say its a headgasket, which would mean in this case than combustion gases are getting into the coolant causing the systems pressure to rise and popping the hose. Which would also point out a possible bad radiator cap, which should release excessive pressure. I have not done a leakdown , cooling system pressure test or the dye test to test for this. There is no oil in the coolant that is left and no coolant in the oil. Also there were no drivability issues for the short time that I drove the car while the coolant was leaking. Is there anyway this could be a headgasket ? What are the other possible problems that caused this ?
Thanks for the great answers guys.
My point that it was not a stuck thermostat that caused it was that the hose burst before it started to rise in temp, therefore that couldn't be the cause of the problem.
What about the blown headgasket idea ? I don't see how it could be this but I would like some other opinions.