Water bubbling over???

[birchy]

For the first time today i turned off my car and the water was bubbling out of the overflow tank? I think its the overflow anyway, the bottle right at the front by the radiator.

What could cause this?

Thanks

 

[birchy]

anyone?

 

[andr345]

Your radiator cap might need to be replaced.
Was the engine temperature OK?

 

[birchy]

Will this cause the water to bubble over then?

After some "spirited driving"...

The engine temperature was steady and then i stopped the car, the fan came on and a fair amount of water came out of the radiator/front of the car area and it was frothing out of the overflow tank and making a bubbling noise?

 

[birchy]

Small Update:

Checked it this morning and the coolant was low so i filled it back up to level with water.

Ive also noticed a sort of gold/bronze dust around the tank fill cap and where the water has leaked???

There is absolutely no white gunk on the dipstick or oil fill cap either.


Any comments from you all would be hugely appreciated, need to try and pin point the problem

Im going to order a new radiator cap aswell..

Anybody had any experience with these? They look good but if they're crap then i'll obviously order a standard part.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MUGEN-RAD...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3cb9965df6

 

[stoneyni]

Looks like a fake to me if the picture is true, AFAIK Mugen ones are not stamped " made in japan" on the tab

 

[andr345]

When the coolant flows to the radiator tank, it means that the temperature and pressure got higher than normal so the radiator cap opened to relief the radiator.

IMO order an oem cap

 

[Evl]

thermostat sticking perhaps?

 

[birchy]

Thanks for the comments..

Ive ordered a genuine Spoon Rad cap to see if that helps.

It hasnt been leaking so to speak the last day or so, but instead just sort of dribbling a white foamy substance.

 

[Suits]

The rad caps are spring loaded to a certain pressure to keep the cooling system at the correct constant pressure so that the cooling system can do it's job once up too temp.

If your coolant is boiling out of the cap its because of one of two major things.

1.Your cap has broken and lost it's spring load.
2.Your car is getting too hot and boiling the coolant. A hole in the cooling system would cause this.

Pressurized water has a higher boiling point than 100 degrees.

As the pressure drops so does the boiling point, IIRC the K20 operates between 90-110 degrees when up too temp.

Now, the Spoon rad cap has a higher pressure load than OEM so that the coolant levels can get hotter, as they would with race cars.

A small piece of debris hitting your radiator can cause cooling problems, sometimes enough to get the whole system to fail, sometimes just enough to give the symptoms like you're having though.

It hasnt been leaking so to speak the last day or so, but instead just sort of dribbling a white foamy substance.

Like mayonnaise ?

:?

It's unheard of generally as the K20 is a solid lump if the oil levels are kept correct, but headgaskets that leak, can allow oil to get into the cooling system and create a mayonnaise like substance.

 

[birchy]

Ok cheers for that info mate.

And no its not a mayonnaise substance. More a foamy water substance.

 

[Griffin]

Head gasket.

 

[Griffin]

Note to self... Read thread before replying.

 

[Danger200]

Just a thought but if you're topping up coolant with water, then that's the problem right there surely? Flush the system and replace with the proper stuff.

 

[Marshall-P]

Just a thought but if you're topping up coolant with water, then that's the problem right there surely? Flush the system and replace with the proper stuff.

Definately worth doing a complete flush and adding new coolant. after a while it does start to lose its boiling resistance properties especially if there is a build up of water in the system.