over heating and loosing coolent

[Rip90laser]

ok so i take my 91 eclipse gs out its id say 40 degrees out.. didn't get on it about 10 MI down the road its hot never got hot before actually ran more towards the cool side i pulled over for a bit flipped the hood pins up and let the hood sit up for a few min.. got it cooled down and took it back home got there and looked around.. and noticed lots of steam was blowing out of the rubber hose in my overflow tank the next day i check my coolant and its damn near empty i just topped it off the day before all this went down my first thought was head gasket but im not sure its been too cold to check it out much but its warming up this week.. im thinking radiator or rad. hoses.. but i dunno if that would cause steam out of the over flow hose.. then maybe thermostat sticking but i wouldent loose my coolant if that was the case soo let me know

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

Radiator cap. Very common.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

I would look at the thermostat first. When you get really hot, your coolant pressure overcomes the radiator cap. This is a good thing. Keeps you from doing more damage plus alerts you to something wrong.

I would replace the thermostat and do a test run on a "closed" course. You know, locally so in case something happens, you can get home safely.

If it is still getting hot, you can always get a hydrocarbon tester. Usually thorugh Snap On or Mac or Matco or such.

This tests for hydrocarbons in your cooling system. If the blue dye turns yellow, then likely you have hydrocarbons in your cooling system. This is exhaust gas for the lay person.

Exhaust gasses produce pressure in your cooling passages and prevent the water from circulating thus making a bad situation worse.

But before you freak out, do the thermostat first. You can always freak out later if it proves not to be the problem.

However as always, let us know and we will talk you through it.

Good Luck


And what Ed said. I would do his suggestion first. Easiest and cheapest. Most overlooked. Even by me this time

 

[Rip90laser]

hrmm ill stop by the parts store and pick up a presuized cap and try that.. i have wantedone for a while any ways and well go to the next post if that doesnt do the trick thanks alot guys