smoke from rad ... engine bay really hot ... coolant temps good?

[Levesque]

Hey,

After driving the car ... my engine bay is VERY hot ... sometimes I see whitish smoke..maybe steam...; looks like its coming from the rad.

Couple questions.

My coolant temps seem fine according to the gauge never go past half.

Would a bad rad cause coolant temps to go past half?

can this smoke ... or steam whatever it is be coming from the rad?

the coolant seems to be boiling in the upper Rad hose.

I do have a leak at the flex in my exhaust not sure if this would cause the extra heat...


I do not seem to be losing coolant tho... I dont see any leaks any where.

 

[rabenne]

First thing to do at this point is park the car, I hope you already did. If you have any parts stores that rent or lend tools than grab a cooling system pressure tester. Hopefully you can find one that will have the correct adapter. Pressurize your cooling system and watch for any leakage. If your car is leaking coolant, even slowly, eventually there will not be enough in the system to cool the engine. My shop does this for a fair price of $20. You may be able to find a local shop with a reasonable price on a cooling system pressure test. Dont drive that thing there if its overheating or you might end up with coolant leaking through your headgasket.

 

[Levesque]

its not over heating thats the thing... ive been driving like this for a while just the engine bay seems really hot thats all.. and some times I see very light light white smoke... maybe steam evaporating from the rad..?

 

[moronthr33]

if its steam then ## leaking coolant man look under ## car to see if u can spot a leak and make sure theres enough coolant in the system. if ## upper hose is crazy hot and ## lower hose isnt the u probly have a bad t-stat

 

[Orion97gs-t]

are you using the stock temp gauge? I don;t know that i would put my eggs in that basket if your steaming/smoking.

 

[Levesque]

Yep using temp gauge know Prosport Water temp gauge is installed just didnt get time to plug sensor. Will do that monday.

Also Ill check the lower Rad hose. If its not hot like the top you say its a T Stat?... wouldnt that cause over heat issues?

compression is good also 150-145~ on all cylinders


What should my Temps be at on my Prosport? Ill look monday when im at idle / crusing.

 

[Levesque]

if its steam then ## leaking coolant man look under ## car to see if u can spot a leak and make sure theres enough coolant in the system. if ## upper hose is crazy hot and ## lower hose isnt the u probly have a bad t-stat

If I had a bad T stat wouldnt I be overheating?

 

[smprende10]

temps should be right around 180-200 depending on how hot it is out side

 

[moronthr33]

mostly likely but not always, ive worked on cars where they didnt have any heat and yet the cars werent overheating.