zenally

About three weeks ago, I was sitting in park for about 4 minutes in a parking lot. I happened to notice that my hot/cold gauge was starting to creap up. So I turned the car off. I got out of the car and noticed a big puddle of green antifreeze streaming away. So I popped the hood and noticed that the antifreeze was leaking from the overflow container. There were no cracks in the container so the fluid was escaping through those two little holes around the mouth of the container where the cap goes.

So I waited a while, blasted the heater to make sure the engine stayed cool, and drove it to the nearest lube shop. They looked at it, and the car had just went back to normal. It wasnt overheating, the overflow wasn't overflowing, the AC worked fine...It appeared to be fine.

I watched it for a few days and it still seemed fine except that the overflow container was over time creaping past the fill line. I poured it off and kept monitoring it. The trend seems to be that every 5 or 6 days it creaps past the fill line and I pour some off. However, the radiator is completely full because when I open the cap I see the antifreeze right at the rim or top. Heres what I did next, I went to the parts store and got a new thermostat. I had it installed. I have been watching the gauge and it seems like it has inched up a notch. It used to sit about 4 notches below half and now its about 3 notiches below the half mark. I dont know what else it could be????


The 2003 TL has 170,000miles. The timing belt, hoses, and water pump was replaced last year. I dont here any abnormal noises under the hood. The next thing I'm planning on doing is turning off the Auto AC for a day to better see if there is a leak coming from the water pump.


Has anyone experienced this before? Any suggestions?


Thanks,
Zenally

fsttyms1

So after replacing the thermostat it still does it?

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

Uh oh....boiling over CAN be a sign that the head gasket is not sealing properly. Compression forces air into the coolant passages and pressurizes the cooling system enough to push coolant past the rad cap and overfill the reservoir!

You might want to have a leak-down test done.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

thats what it sounds like to me too
and was it a quick lube place that you took it too, cause if so they don't know jack S***