hearing boiling and smelling coolant
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hearing boiling and smelling coolant
I have a 2002 neon; 2 liter 4 cylndr; 133,000 miles.
the car started over heating very randomly a few months back; i could drive it around town, stop at lights, etc and it would run cool except for two or three times it got hot and I could hear the boiling coming from the coolant reservoir, but as soon as the car cooled down i could drive it without a problem. Usually when I drive it I don't hear the boiling; the car stays cool.
That changed a few days ago. over the weekend every time i'd get my car going it would start to over heat. I had to keep it no less than 65 on the highway to keep enough air flowing to keep the engine cool.
i could hear boiling through the coolant reservoir and smell coolant. I never saw over flow. The fans come on when the a/c is on or off.
I noticed muck in the water; i did a radiator flush and changed the thermostat. With the cap off it is clear the distilled water/coolant mix i put back in is flowing through the system. After running the car for over a half hour in park it stayed cool according to the temperature gauge. But, when I stopped the car, once again I could hear it boiling and smell coolant.
Any ideas as to what might be happening?
A/c puts a TON of drag on the engine for in town driving so i usually don't run it, and I'm sure there's no correlation, but just thought i'd throw that in there in the odd event the two problems are somehow tied.
the car started over heating very randomly a few months back; i could drive it around town, stop at lights, etc and it would run cool except for two or three times it got hot and I could hear the boiling coming from the coolant reservoir, but as soon as the car cooled down i could drive it without a problem. Usually when I drive it I don't hear the boiling; the car stays cool.
That changed a few days ago. over the weekend every time i'd get my car going it would start to over heat. I had to keep it no less than 65 on the highway to keep enough air flowing to keep the engine cool.
i could hear boiling through the coolant reservoir and smell coolant. I never saw over flow. The fans come on when the a/c is on or off.
I noticed muck in the water; i did a radiator flush and changed the thermostat. With the cap off it is clear the distilled water/coolant mix i put back in is flowing through the system. After running the car for over a half hour in park it stayed cool according to the temperature gauge. But, when I stopped the car, once again I could hear it boiling and smell coolant.
Any ideas as to what might be happening?
A/c puts a TON of drag on the engine for in town driving so i usually don't run it, and I'm sure there's no correlation, but just thought i'd throw that in there in the odd event the two problems are somehow tied.
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,584
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From: Northern California
I had the boiling noise, smell, and a bit of overheating when I first got my Neon. Checked the cap the next day, and half of the gasket was missing. Bought a new one, for what, $4 and it has been perfectly fine since. Worth a quick peek.
