Radiator And Overheating Issues

[monkeykplunk]

So, from the beginning.....

A while ago I started noticing a liquid leaking from underneath the passenger side of my dash. At first it was cold so I assumed it was just some sort of condensation from the aircon as it had been on full for a while.

Then it was a hot liquid.

A few weeks after that, a friend noticed that the carpet in the passenger footwell was soaked, and upon closer inspection, it was a brown slightly greasy liquid that seemed to be coming from around a plastic like box behind the dash.

Then that week, the car overheated, and when it finally got cool enough for me to fill it up again, the radiator was bone dry and whatever was left in the overflow bottle was actually boiling!

I filled it, watched it for the next few days, and put it down as an isolated incident.

Earlier this week, it did it again.

This time I've been checking it before I go to drive the car.

So far I've been putting in about half a litre after every drive. And I started noticing more of the liquid inside of the car and that it looks and smells very similar to that within the radiator.

I have also noticed that instead of the car temp being at about 1/4 on the guage its been sitting at around 1/2 which is where it would normally sit on a very very hot day.

I've talked with some people, and my father suggested it could have something to do with the heater box or the pipes leading to it.

Does anybody have any ideas or any ways I can test out some theories?

[blind_elk]

Listen to your father.

And before you destroy the engine through continual overheating, stop driving it and get it fixed!

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

bypass your heater by re-routing the 2 coolant lines going to the heater (through firewall on passengers side).

This will fix your problem for now until you can get the heater unit fixed/replaced.

[predator]

two issues.. your heater box as above - and maybe also its so bad its leaking enough pressure to causing the whole car to overheat. A small leak in the cooling system can make a huge difference to its efficiency

2nd possible could be that the thermostat or the like is busted.. causing overheating.. the overheating as a side effect has caused your old and wearing heater core to spring a leak due to a lot of expansion and heat.

[monkeykplunk]

Thanks Predator and Merlin

ok, so if I reroute the heater core for now, and monitior the temp, I should be able to find out if its my thermostat thats gone as well?

If so, 2 questions....

I assume the hoses for the heater core are the rubber ones heading into the fire wall that exit the engine on the drivers side. Am I able to just reroute them directly where the exit/enter the engine?

And how hard is it to change the thermostat and where abouts is it located?

[predator]

ok, so if I reroute the heater core for now, and monitior the temp, I should be able to find out if its my thermostat thats gone as well?

yup, you'll have eliminated the heater core entirely, so you can narrow it down to whether its that or something else. Even if it is something else as well, if its leaking through the cabin, then you'll need to replace it at some point if you want your heater back.

I assume the hoses for the heater core are the rubber ones heading into the fire wall that exit the engine on the drivers side. Am I able to just reroute them directly where the exit/enter the engine?

yeah.. if you get access down there, or rig up a hose and a couple of hose<->hose connectors just where it goes through the firewall. Probably easier 2nd way.

And how hard is it to change the thermostat and where abouts is it located?

on an rb25 the thermostat is a bit easier to change than rb20.. but its located just where the bottom radiator hose goes into the engine.