Heater/Coolant issue: Weird Gremlins
Okay, here's the deal:
A few days ago I noticed a sudden increase on my temp gauge on my 1988 Pulsar NX, so I put the heater on max power, and highest setting.
However, the air coming from the vents was, well, cold.
I immediately thought that I must've lost coolant, as that would be the cause of both the high temperature of the motor, as well as the cold air from the heater.
When I arrived at my destination, I popped the hood, and sure enough, there was the sound of boiling/evaporating liquid coming from the motor, and the coolant reservoir was almost empty. I hadn't seen any smoke coming from the exhaust, nor could I locate any significant leaks.
So I thought a refill of the coolant would be the solution.
Here's where it's getting interesting.
I was about to refill everything (motor was cold, mind you!), but when I removed the radiatorcap, coolant sprayed EVERYWHERE. It was like there was a lot of pressure behind it. The coolant reservoir was still empty. Here's the funny thing: Besides coolant, there was also smoke coming from both the radiator, as well as from the reservoir. This struck me as odd, because the motor was cold.
I put the cap back immediately, and started the car. After a while, I removed the cap again. No coolant came out, so I poured about 4/5th of a liter of coolant in it. After a while, the coolant began to overflow again (from the radiatorcap). I closed the cap, and poured the rest of the coolant in the reservoir.
I drove home, and after some time and variable engine temps (rising, dropping, rising and dropping again within a few seconds) it stabilized to below half again, and the heater was blowing warm(-ish) air again.
So I thought all was well again, until I drove home from work today, and I noticed a rise in engine temps again, accompanied by cold air coming from the vents. This happened for a few minutes, after which everything stabilized again (sort of). When I popped the hood again, I saw that there was still some bubbling in the reservoir, and you could definitely see that fluids were streaming back into the reservoir.
Finally, when I put the HVAC on max power and max temp now, it's actually very cold compared to what it was before (there's still some heat, but before it felt almost like I would burn my hand when I put it in front of one of the vents).
TL;DR:
What could be the problem when I have the following things happening:
- Engine temps rising from out of nowhere
- Cold air blowing from HVAC on highest setting
- Pressurized coolant spraying from radiator filling point with cold motor while reservoir was almost empty (implying there's plenty of coolant).
- No smoke coming from exhaust (apart from what seems like smoke when first starting up in the morning, but that could be because of the cold)
I have a few theories, but I'd like to hear your thoughts first.
A few days ago I noticed a sudden increase on my temp gauge on my 1988 Pulsar NX, so I put the heater on max power, and highest setting.
However, the air coming from the vents was, well, cold.
I immediately thought that I must've lost coolant, as that would be the cause of both the high temperature of the motor, as well as the cold air from the heater.
When I arrived at my destination, I popped the hood, and sure enough, there was the sound of boiling/evaporating liquid coming from the motor, and the coolant reservoir was almost empty. I hadn't seen any smoke coming from the exhaust, nor could I locate any significant leaks.
So I thought a refill of the coolant would be the solution.
Here's where it's getting interesting.
I was about to refill everything (motor was cold, mind you!), but when I removed the radiatorcap, coolant sprayed EVERYWHERE. It was like there was a lot of pressure behind it. The coolant reservoir was still empty. Here's the funny thing: Besides coolant, there was also smoke coming from both the radiator, as well as from the reservoir. This struck me as odd, because the motor was cold.
I put the cap back immediately, and started the car. After a while, I removed the cap again. No coolant came out, so I poured about 4/5th of a liter of coolant in it. After a while, the coolant began to overflow again (from the radiatorcap). I closed the cap, and poured the rest of the coolant in the reservoir.
I drove home, and after some time and variable engine temps (rising, dropping, rising and dropping again within a few seconds) it stabilized to below half again, and the heater was blowing warm(-ish) air again.
So I thought all was well again, until I drove home from work today, and I noticed a rise in engine temps again, accompanied by cold air coming from the vents. This happened for a few minutes, after which everything stabilized again (sort of). When I popped the hood again, I saw that there was still some bubbling in the reservoir, and you could definitely see that fluids were streaming back into the reservoir.
Finally, when I put the HVAC on max power and max temp now, it's actually very cold compared to what it was before (there's still some heat, but before it felt almost like I would burn my hand when I put it in front of one of the vents).
TL;DR:
What could be the problem when I have the following things happening:
- Engine temps rising from out of nowhere
- Cold air blowing from HVAC on highest setting
- Pressurized coolant spraying from radiator filling point with cold motor while reservoir was almost empty (implying there's plenty of coolant).
- No smoke coming from exhaust (apart from what seems like smoke when first starting up in the morning, but that could be because of the cold)
I have a few theories, but I'd like to hear your thoughts first.
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