I'm having car problem, halp me superman!

[Kroze]

Here's what happened today. I drove the car for around 2 hours in 95-97 degrees weather today with the A/C on. With only 2 blocks before I got home, I heard my drive belt squealing faintly but didn't think much of anything about it. When I pulled into the drive way and got out of the car, i smelled coolant and immediately looked under the car and saw coolant dripping.

I opened the hood and there were coolant everywhere around the thermostat & timing belt side of the engine block. Since it's still hot, I went inside the house and wait for the car to cool down (Aprox 1 1/2 hours)

After waiting for the car to cool down, I start it back up & left the engine running while:

- Check coolant level - Good.
- Checking all of the hoses for sign of damage/tear/leaks. None.
- Check for leaks around the thermostat housing & hose. None
- Check for sign of leaks on the upper & lower radiator hose. None.

So the car stop leaking coolant and I thought *thank god*.....But when I went to shut the engine off, I saw the coolant meter was near the overheat mark. 🙁

I think I've narrowed it down to:

A) Thermostat housing/seal or thermostat failure?
B) Waterpump and/or waterpump seal?

The car is a 2000 Neon with only 65k miles.... anyone have any suggestion? I really hope it's a thermostat because I can replace it myself and save $.

 

[slickvic000]

I would personally start by cleaning all current coolant off of the engine and thermostat housing.Make sure the coolant recovery tank is at the proper level, and that your radiator is full with coolant as well. Start the car and let it run like you did at your house and let it warm up and see if the overfill reservoir is filling fast and see if the coolant is coming out of it. If the coolant is only spraying out of the overfill tank, then you can start looking at your radiator cap/water pump/thermostat. Your coolant level in the overfill tank may look fine but your radiator cap check-valve could be defective. Your radiator cap may not also hold the proper pressure required to keep the cooling system operating properly. That is what I would personally start with since it is simple to get to, and simple to test with a special radiator cap pressure tester. If the coolant is coming out from your timing cover then your water pump seal is more than likely leaking and needs to be replaced, which would cause coolant to be released from the built in weep hole. If there is no leak around the water pump area, and your radiator cap tests fine, you should look at a thermostat that is not opening fully or worn water pump fins.

 

[cprince]

It could be that you have a crack in the radiator. Like slickvic000 said, you should wait for the engine to cool completely and fill the radiator and overfill tank with coolant and check for leaks. I had a cracked radiator back in December, and I found the crack by filling the radiator with water and squeezing the upper radiator hose.

 

[Bignate603]

Sounds like slickvic has got it covered pretty well for the testing.

Personally, if the belt started squealing it sounds like your water pump is having issues. Your thermostat shouldn't cause that (unless it somehow sprayed the belt and got it really wet)