Hi everyone first post.

I took the car for a quick drive, waiting for the garage door to open notice the smell of coolant burning. Under the car was a puddle of coolant. Pulled off the belly pan and noticed the raditor hose fell off. Got a new clamp put it back on.

Question is I noticed the coolant resevior is still at max, but the radiator is empty. Does that mean thermostat is not opening? I ran the car at idle to warm it up and it started to go above the midway point and the resevior was still max so nothing flowed into the raditor.

Would I need a new thermostat? Can we mix coolant on these cars or it has to be only infinity coolant? Ony available at dealer? Can I just top up on water then flush the system in the mean time?

 

You have an air pocket in the coolant system and it is a typical problem with the VQ.You need to bleed the system.On the pass side of the engine in the heater hose(by the battery box) you will see a plastic plug in the hose which you use a flat blade screw driver to open....you will need a friend to help you.

When the engine is running you will need to unscrew this plug and let the air out of the system while your friend revs the motor to about 1500 rpm.You may have to do this several times to get the air out.

 

thanks for the reply.
so i did as you said but i think there is a bigger problem. i let out all the air pretty sure. cycled the method three times. but the heater is blowing cold, and i took it for a test drive around the block and it was getting over the half way mark for temperature so i headed back home. got in the drive way it was close to 3/4 max temperature, that was probably total of 1km driving. i think something like the thermostat or water pump, because the coolant tank is still sitting at max, seems like coolant is cycling only through the radiator.

maybe thats why the hose flew off in the first place.

let me know if you got any more ideas, planning on taking it to a shop ASAP.

 

Radiator caps do 3 things.

Raise pressure so the boiling point is higher
Relieve pressure at the a predetermined point
Equalize pressure during cool down

Sounds like the vacuum seal is not working during cool down.

 

It still sounds like you have a big air pocket in the cooling system as these cars are a b!tch to bleed sometimes.

 

I tried as to all the instructions provided. Thanks everyone. Dropping it off at a Motorsports shop. he was laughing on the phone mentioning how difficult they can be sometimes and my luck with cars. I've used him a lot even with my audi, he tried to give me instructions. So I'll just let him straighten it out.

Coming from an audi turbo to natural aspirated I thought maintenance and DIY's were to get easier but this is the first one Im giving up on.

 

Problem resolved, still cost 70 bucks though, plus the 30 for coolant i intial tried.
On the way to dropping off the car, i guess overnight some of the air did escape and the car stopped overheating, but there was still plenty to prevent the heat from coming on.

Mechanic just had some special funnel, basically topped off the coolant in the funnel placed in on the radiator cap inlet. let it sit for an hour, and the coolant goes in and out, air bubbles come out and its done.

thanks for everyones input.