Hello,

Today I was driving my car as usual, not hard at all. When I turned the car off i noticed a "whirring" or "whining" sound coming from the front of the car, when i stepped out of the car I noticed ALL my coolant going everywhere and there was smoke coming out from under the hood, it was leaking all over the ground and pretty much emptied itself out. I think the smoke i saw was just the coolant burning.

I left the car alone to cool down for a little bit before I checked it again and saw there was very little coolant left in the reservoir. So I drove to the local walmart to grab some Prestone coolant, only a mile drive and I kept my speed around 25. When I got there I bought some coolant and filled the reservoir up to a little more than half.

I turned on the car and the temp gauge was reading back to normal and was right in the middle. So I drove my car back to the house and about a minute into the drive the temp gauge starts going up again and the check engine light comes on and starts jerking a little, i can only assume this is the "limp" mode i've heard about on here.

So I quickly pulled over and checked the coolant reservoir again and it was filled with a blackish liquid that seemed like it had some particles up at the top. I left it alone for a little bit and the liquid seemed to go away.

Im going to have it towed tomorrow since I don't want to risk damaging anything further. Any ideas on what this could be?

I did some research on here and I'm hearing anything from bad water pump to air in the radiator. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ash

 

Well you have have some air in the system now. Since it has been low a few times. But my first guess would be the cooling fans arent coming on. I would start from there.

 

Black stuff in your coolant reservoir? That's not good.. I hope it's not oil, because that could mean you have a blown head gasket.

Make sure you're using pre-mixed coolant if you went and bought it at the store and poured it right in. You're supposed to run a mix of typically 50/50 coolant to water in your cooling system. Some coolant comes premixed in a similar ratio, some does not. If you're running 100% pure, undiluted coolant, it will not cool the vehicle as effectively as it should be.

Maybe your thermostat is stuck closed and needs to be replaced. If you ever run into this situation again and need to drive the car a short distance, turn the heat on HOT and run the heater on full blast. The heater core acts like a small but very effective radiator by removing excess heat from the coolant (assuming you have enough in there to cycle through the heater core), and blowing it into the cabin. It's summer, so you'd obviously need to do this with the windows wide open as well so you don't bake yourself into a sweaty mess.

 

It was black and seemed to have some sort of dirt in it but it went away after I checked it again in 15 mins, when i removed the cap the first time the fluid in the reservoir was bubbling and very hot, And I made sure it was a premixed coolant.

 

Sorry to say, but that 1 mile drive to the store at just 25 mph was enough to potentially damage your engine.

 

It may be that there is something in the system that is failing. Aluminum oxide is dark in color and would darken your fluid. This could be from the radiator or water pump. Also the rubber lines from the radiator can start breaking down and leaving black "dust" in the radiator water.

Oil mixing with coolant will have a chocolate milk color. I can be leaking head gasket or cracked head on the engine, where the oil is seeping into the coolant supply, mixing in. This will eventually cause failure if not taken care of soon.

Some times using the wrong coolant or mixing coolants can cause this to happen. Check to see if your water pump turns freely. You should be able to pull it by hand if the serpentine belt is off.

 

I took it to Corner 3 Garage in Lake Forest and they said it was the thermostat, and that when they went to bleed it wouldn't "release" even. So they replaced the thermostat and left the car running for 20 minutes and took it on a long test drive and said the temp is holding steady now. Thanks for all the help!

 

Can you verify that both fans still work and actually turn on? A coolant reservoir overflow happened to me 2yrs ago on my 07 coupe due to the fans not functioning.

There's a warranty extention for the fan motors. Apparently a lot of them have started dying prematurely. Take it (or tow it) to your dealer have them check it out for free since it's a warranty issue. They'll know about it.

 

Yes both fans seem to turn on perfectly but couldn't faulty fans be responsible for ruining the thermostat? This is awesome, I just called them and made an appointment. He made it seem like if that's not the issue they are gonna charge me $150 as a diagnostic fee but my problem mirrors EXACTLY what everyone in the thread below was talking about. This is extremely dangerous since your car can break down on you at any time.

04-07 Radiator Fan Recall

 

I'd talk to the dealer again and clearly mention the fan motor warranty. And how your symptoms pretty much match what happens when the fans arent operating normally. Be firm but polite.... i guess not every dealer is as generous.. but most are. Warranty work should be totally free.

 

I have a 07 as well. I had the same problem less than a month ago.. What I did.. check the radiator cap, make sure both fans are coming on, make sure coolant is in the car, no leak anywhere (from block, hoses or radiator), do not fill reservoir up pass the line on the tank. If all those things are check and no problem then it might be the t-stat.. next it could be the water pump.

My t-stat was bad.. After t-stat/new gasket, was replaced the car is back to normal.

 

Yeah Corner 3 replaced the gasket and thermostat and everything seems to be running back to normal, they said it was so bad it wouldn't even drain. Only thing i'm worried about is if the fans are not coming on all the time it might have caused the thermostat to malfunction, which could easily happen again. How many miles are on your 07 if you don't mind me asking? I'm right at 59k which seems awfully early to have to replace the thermostat.

 

I have about 67k. I don't think by the fans not coming on will make the t-stat go bad.. U have to keep in mind that the t-stat is turned by a timing chain inside the block of the motor. To me, if it was the fans.. your car would run hot all the time.. cuz the fans are not turning on.. The way I check the fans.. after everything was installed on the car..we let it run for about 15 to 30 minutes to get it to normal operating temp.. You can also, rev the engine to about 3k rmp while the car is jacked up off the ground (make sure u know how to do it right b4 doing it this way). Both fans should be switched on by then and u can see both of them running.. Also, notice if they are BOTH spinning at the same speed.. if one or both are spinning slow then your fan motors are bad.