Coolant everywhere

[Deadly BlaZe]

Before I go on, yes i know i'm a n00b.

I was driving and my temp gauge started slowly moving past the half point and steam coming out from the engine bay. I checked and there was coolant everywhere and noticed that the radiator cap was unscrewed. I'll admit last night i checked the coolant and forgot to tighten the cap all the way The temp gauge never got to the red zone, the highest it got was right before the 2nd to last line.

Anyway, i pulled over quickly at a gas station and filled it back up (half a gallon). Drove the car, and temp guage went back to normal. and car felt perfectly fine. My question is, should i expect something to blow anytime soon? Headgasket? I checked my oil (changed it last night) and it seemed a little clearer than the usual light brown color.

 

[Nicks2319]

Sounds like the headgasket is going bad, or you could be leaking coolant into the oil from the oil cooler. Have you actually looked under the hood to see where it is leaking? Check all your connections to see where it is coming from. Is it leaking while the car is sitting idle, and if so, find where its coming from. Hopefully you aren't leaking it all into your block.

The best approach right now is to actually find the leak. Check the 2 turbo coolant lines, the oil cooler lines, 2 lines going into your throttle body, and the lines going to the heater core. It should be obvious if any of these are at fault.

(and you are a proven member, try posting in the specific threads)

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

Sounds like the headgasket is going bad, or you could be leaking coolant into the oil from the oil cooler. Have you actually looked under the hood to see where it is leaking? Check all your connections to see where it is coming from. Is it leaking while the car is sitting idle, and if so, find where its coming from. Hopefully you aren't leaking it all into your block.

The best approach right now is to actually find the leak. Check the 2 turbo coolant lines, the oil cooler lines, 2 lines going into your throttle body, and the lines going to the heater core. It should be obvious if any of these are at fault.

(and you are a proven member, try posting in the specific threads)

I mentioned in the first post that it leaked from the radiator cap, it wasn't screwed on all the way.

 

[Nicks2319]

I mentioned in the first post that it leaked from the radiator cap, it wasn't screwed on all the way.

Ha, I misread somehow. So you didnt have your radiator cap on and coolant came out, and now you put it back on and everything is fine. If everything is fine, then I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

Ha, I misread somehow. So you didnt have your radiator cap on and coolant came out, and now you put it back on and everything is fine. If everything is fine, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Yeah, i'm just paranoid i guess.

 

[DiamondStarAwd]

No you didn't damage anything, or shouldn't have. I had a thermostat housing being to fail on me in rush hour traffic and the car would slowly get hotter and I would have to rev to bring it back down. I felt like a ricer but whatever works. The motor lasted for another 6k miles and is being put in another car as we speak, hoepfully she fires up.

 

[nuclearpenguin]

If you have coolant in your oil, i WOULD worry about it. That's no good. Run it a couple days now with the new oil, and check it. If it's white/clear/watery then you've got an issue. Give it a few days and check the oil before you get too worried. Mighta just been a fluke

 

[No_Skillz]

Oil doesn't mix with coolant so the general color wouldn't be any lighter. Coolant in your oil would be kind of difficult to spot, especially if you're only checking the dipstick. However, you might spot some foaming. On the other hand, oil in your coolant is very easy to spot. A look in your coolant overflow bottle will reveal a slick floating on top. You should run it a few days like penguin suggested, then check the coolant. However I doubt you did any serious damage with your short overheating stint.

 

[drivemusicnow]

... this is the "are you a dsm owner" test. Something extremely minor happens, and you're asking what parts you need for the inevitible rebuild.

=) you passed

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

... this is the "are you a dsm owner" test. Something extremely minor happens, and you're asking what parts you need for the inevitible rebuild.

=) you passed

haha yeah. But anyway, the car seems fine now, thanks for the advice.