My car blew up!
02-05-2005, 01:06 AM
#1
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My car blew up! [SOLVED]
Earlier tonight I was coming back from a movie, and I was driving along side a friend. At a light or two, we decided to launch it and see who could be the first to reach 10 over the speed limit. Shortly after this happens, I noticed my temperature gauge was over half-way, and slowly rising, I knew something had to be wrong because this had never happend before, so I hit the hazards and pulled over, as I'm making the turn into a very empty parking lot, smoke starts coming out from under the hood.
After opening the hood, I see coolant all over the place, its on the battery, on my beautiful intake, but it mostly seemed to come from under the intake manifold. My coolant has been leaking when I drive, slowly, but i just kept adding coolant. Earlier that day, two of the lug nuts on my right wheel were loose, so I pulled out a breaker bar and tightened them as tight as possible. However, what happend was when I was not pushing hard on the gas or braking, the whole car would shake rapidly. The noise coming from the dashboard and the wheel sounded like a helicopter, and it was shaking me up pretty good.
After getting home, fixing the lugnuts, and taking the car around the block, I determined everything was fine and went back to where I normally parked. I noticed a small spot of water from where the car had been, which I thought was odd, but I ignored and drove off to the movies.
Ok, sorry for the long-winded story, but I thought everything in it was necessary to mention. My car is sitting in a parking lot a few miles from my house, tomorrow I plan to call AAA and have them tow it back to my house so that I can diagnose and fix the problem. Here is my theory, since the car was already losing coolant, there had to have been a weak point somewhere, and it wouldn't have been near the radiator, since it never leaked while parked, only driving would cause problems. The violent shaking that occured earlier had sealed its fate. Now I'm hoping that it is something simple like a hose blew, which would simply require a simple replacement. But I don't know anything about my coolant system beyond the radiator itself, the two tubes going in and out of it, the thermostat housing and the two lines for the cabin heater.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be, and what should I look for tomorrow when I can get the car back?
EDIT: The heater hose that went from the cabin to the top of the block developed a hole, sprayed over the engine bay. S'all good now, I replaced it.
After opening the hood, I see coolant all over the place, its on the battery, on my beautiful intake, but it mostly seemed to come from under the intake manifold. My coolant has been leaking when I drive, slowly, but i just kept adding coolant. Earlier that day, two of the lug nuts on my right wheel were loose, so I pulled out a breaker bar and tightened them as tight as possible. However, what happend was when I was not pushing hard on the gas or braking, the whole car would shake rapidly. The noise coming from the dashboard and the wheel sounded like a helicopter, and it was shaking me up pretty good.
After getting home, fixing the lugnuts, and taking the car around the block, I determined everything was fine and went back to where I normally parked. I noticed a small spot of water from where the car had been, which I thought was odd, but I ignored and drove off to the movies.
Ok, sorry for the long-winded story, but I thought everything in it was necessary to mention. My car is sitting in a parking lot a few miles from my house, tomorrow I plan to call AAA and have them tow it back to my house so that I can diagnose and fix the problem. Here is my theory, since the car was already losing coolant, there had to have been a weak point somewhere, and it wouldn't have been near the radiator, since it never leaked while parked, only driving would cause problems. The violent shaking that occured earlier had sealed its fate. Now I'm hoping that it is something simple like a hose blew, which would simply require a simple replacement. But I don't know anything about my coolant system beyond the radiator itself, the two tubes going in and out of it, the thermostat housing and the two lines for the cabin heater.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be, and what should I look for tomorrow when I can get the car back?
EDIT: The heater hose that went from the cabin to the top of the block developed a hole, sprayed over the engine bay. S'all good now, I replaced it.
02-05-2005, 07:04 PM
#6
4500rpm hesitation
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Originally Posted by bluetwo
That was just a little bit cold... :dunno:
Eh, he already found the problem, if he hadnt I would've probably given suggestions *shrug*
All it is really is a chance to postwhore I guess.
02-05-2005, 07:15 PM
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Sory buddy but you most likely blew your head gasket. It could be a coolant line or hose on the back side of your block though. Here is what you do:
1. take the radiator cap off
2. start engine.
3. after the engine at normal operating temperature look to see if there are any steady bubbles coming up in the coolant. If there is then you have a bad head gasket.
You can also check your oil for coolant and see if there is white sweet smelling smoke coming fom your tail pipe. But check all coolant lines for leaks before you go through the trouble.
Oh, and WTF is this shit:
1. take the radiator cap off
2. start engine.
3. after the engine at normal operating temperature look to see if there are any steady bubbles coming up in the coolant. If there is then you have a bad head gasket.
You can also check your oil for coolant and see if there is white sweet smelling smoke coming fom your tail pipe. But check all coolant lines for leaks before you go through the trouble.
Oh, and WTF is this shit:
Don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me
They stand for free, they stand for hate, but nothing I believe
Don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me
They stand for free, they stand for hate, but nothing I believe
Don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me
02-05-2005, 09:43 PM
#9
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you dont need to tighten your lugs as tight as you can, thats just asking for a broken stud some day
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/torque.jsp
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/torque.jsp
