Hey guys, at christmas had to take the 300 inland to meet up with the girls parents, the trips about a 6 - 7 hour drive so the night before i checked everything and everything seemed to be ok. We leave nice and early and get out on the highway, about 4 hours down the track we get through a town (1 pub and 1 payphone, 2 houses) about 10 minutes out of this town i notice the temp guage is way up, so i pull over and as im pulling over the car conks out. Straight away i thought i cooked the engine and it was done. I popped the hood and seen that the Radiator cap had blown off, and the contents of my radiator had blown all over the engine. Now this would be a stage where most people would call the tow truk or similar, only thing was no mobile reception. I waited for the car to cool down a bit, started it, and filled it up again. I limped down to the pub in this town and sat there for awile and checked everything. Everything seemed fine and i was thinking i might not of put the cap on the night before tight enough and that it might of just came loose and venually popped. So car was cool, was running, no leaks, temp gauge was holding well again, sounded normal so i thought it was ok. (Bad decission) Headed back off on my trip and thats when it all turned to shit. Now in all this over heating i was trying to limp it into the next town and all of a sudden it thought it would be good to hot steam clean my foot, then drop the remaining water all over my girls feet. That was it car was going no further. Now i kno you guys are going to say i shouldnt of drove it any further after the first problem, but being quite poor atm, i couldnt pay for a tow nor a mechnic. The car is now home and i have pulled the thermostat out and all seems fine, Does look like there is alot of gunk in there. My questions are, What you guys reckon would be the reason for this? i know pressure would be the culprit behind the heater steam cleaning my foot but why would there be a pressure build up. The radiator cap seems fine, the thermostat is not sticking but is alot of gunk in the cooling system. There is no power loss or water in the oil so im hoping its still allright. Any info will be greatly appreciated. i dont really want to hear about what i should or should'nt of done, To late now. Cheers Dylan
Hey mate did your radiator have to stock cap on, or an aftermarket one? also, coolant spewing all over your gf's foot could be the heater core shitting itself. you probs had a leak there and that why your car became hot, eventually coming out of the radiator top. might be time for a heatercore bypass...check the tech section out. also, how badly do you think you cooked your engine? i reccomend you get that looked at as well.
Hey Ed, its the stock cap, im going to check the tech section now on how to do the bypass now, As far as cooking the engine, it doesnt seem to have any power loss or anything yet, and drove onto the car trailer ok. Was running a bit rough but not sure if it was because of damage or becasue the car sat there for 2 weeks un started. Dylan
Ah ok, fair enough yep, read the tech on how to do the bypass (big job), then check your radiator's neck...see if it is damaged. also inspect the radiator cap and do likewise. if both are damaged you can buy a new cap from caz1 (cazracing.com.au) and take your radiator to a shop and see what they can do. while its there get it rodded and cleaned out. also it wouldnt hurt to inspect your cooling hoses....maybe do a plenum pull if you can afford it. get the cooling system flushed and checked so you know its in good condition so this doesn't happen again. Erik
i'd say heater core, i too have had my feet professional steam cleaned. could also be the hoses above the gearbox though for your sake i hope not.
You'll need to find out why it overheated. There may be a leakage that only shows under pressure. With low water levels you would have produced a lot of steam, and that would have blown the cap out and blown your heater core to smithereens. Heater is obviously gone now but may not have been the initial cause. Bypass the heater, fill her up and pressurize the cooling systems to check if any more leaks. Also do a compression test to see if head gasket was damaged or heads bent Then do as Erik says and flush and replace all hoses and service radiator. Install an aftermarket temp gauge or TWD so you get more warning if you have a future problem
Hey guys thanks for the help, Much better response then i thought! i will be bypassing the heater core in the next day or so and hope i can have some sort of idea on whats stuffed. Anyways ill keep you all posted. Dylan
