My foot gets hot when driving.

[14b_2g]

I have the recirculation option on the ac panel. So air from the engine can work it's way through the car. Anyway, my foots been getting hot lately. When my car was a little cooled down I checked the coolant and when I opened the radiator cap it let out some smoke. Just a couple of puffs, nothing too drastic. Does this mean I have to flush my radiator with some cleaning compounds and refill with 50/50? Thanks for your replies.

 

[BaseModelEvo]

There should be lots of hot COOLANT AND DISTILLED WATER in the radiator. You may be feeling your iron block heating up. Fill the radiator with whatever your mixture preference, while cold and runnning. When the car warms to operating temp the level will drop quickly. Keep filling until it no longer drops. Add some more to the overflow, some where near the "HOT" or "WARM" line would be nice. Replace the radiator cap. Hopefully problem solved.

 

[S_Ranger]

Fill it while it's running? Hmm, should I drain it first, flush it, then turn it on and refill? How does the temp level drop if there's no fluid? Can u clear this up?

 

[robs90tsi]

You should try and get some kind of coolant flush kit, I used the BG kit I got from my work, it works great, you should follow the directions on the coolant flush bottle, which will basically say, add the flush additive, let the motor run for like 15-30 minutes with the heater on its highest level, turn your car off, drain your antifreeze, then continue to flush until nothing but clear clean water comes out of your radiator. Your motor will have cooled down when you start it, so its ok that you dont have antifreeze in there when you start it, it has to reach operating temperature before the antifreeze starts circulating, the idea is to start filling it just after you turn it on, so that when the thermostat opens, the antifreeze level will go down because its flowing through the motor and heater core, and thats when you top it off, just start filling it as soon as you turn it on, and you shouldnt have any problems. Hope that helps. OOOO, and just for extra cleanness, remove your antifreeze overflow tank and clean that out as well.

 

[awdtalontsi1992]

The puffs of smoke are normal. It's steam coming out from your still hot coolant. There should still be some anti-freeze you can see in the thermostat housing. As far as hot foot.......Is your heat shield still ok. I know mine was rusted into nothing. If it has seen better days you can buy a new one or make one yourself. Another option is to apply adhesive backed heat reflectant tape to your floor. You might also want to check and make sure your heater ducts aren't clogged.