Alright guys, so im new to the forum and have came here hoping to recieve some enlightenment. Yesterday was one of the hottest days here in Maryland this year...i turned my car on after letting it sit in the sun and after turning it on and driving it..the temperature gauge rose to the top..literally. I stopped to find that it was smoking from under the hood, i opened the hood amd thank god it wasnt coming from the engine. It was coming from the coolant reservoir. The coolant was boiling hot and got all over the engine bay. I turn the car off to let it cool down. I also poor in some coolant fluid because it had gotten low. I returned an hour or two later to find that the coolant was lower than where i left it when i filled it up (i believe there is a very minor leak) so i started it and it stayed at normal temp until i started to drive the car again...the gauge started to rise the longer i drove it. It got as high as almost 3/4 of the gauge. When i got home it started to overheat again and so did everything else with the coolamt boiling. I know that it is not the fans that are failing because they do indeed work...also, the hot air doesnt work in my car. Whats wrong with Carl? (named this car Carl cause it does nothing but hand me Ls so
I just added L to car)

 

Well maybe the fans dont work, im not sure...they turn on when i turn the AC on but i just read something about some relays making the fans turn on after the engine starts warming up...i was driving with the AC on...wouldnt this result in the fans staying on and keeping the engine cool? Apologies if i sound like a fool...im just a rookie lookimg at the top tier tryna learn about my car..you hear me.

 

When your engine coolant temp goes well over the half mark, you should notice your radiator cooling fan kicking on (driver-side). If it does not, that is an issue.
However, based on your description, you may have a coolant leak. Inspect coolant hoses and radiator, our vehicles are at age and you're in the environment where radiator may have degraded. Generally, you'll notice blue/greenish powder-like residue at any radiator leak points or elsewhere your leaking coolant has collected in engine bay area.

Good luck.

If you're not comfortable doing this or have a technically inclined friend, then go to a reliable shop and have them diagnose it for you. You can decide with some research, if you can at least replace the parts to save some money or it may not even be worthwhile if cheap enough.

 

this happened to me last week, check out my thread about it, make sure u have the dip tube inside your res, the reason why it boiled is because your coolant level was extremely low and air got in your rad from coolant res. you need to check your engine to see if there is any internal coolant leak after this

 

Hey fellas, this just happened to me earlier. I had a leaks in my resovoir Cap and it spit out liquid on my Engine hood. I'm getting a new resovoir tank today to replace it. Will this do the trick and also filling the Resovoir Tank back up? I heard you mention checking the engine as well. I have a TL Type S '08. Interestingly enough my AC went out a couple days ago. I'm wondering if this is related. I will try to upload pics.
Thanks fellas.

 

you may be low on coolant.. check your radiator for leaks

 

yea actually, just took it to a shop across the street, the guy said the cool was at like 1qt maybe. Man...
Will filling the coolant back up do the trick/take care of the boiling water, plus over heating?
Thank you very much for responding brother.