I didn't see an area where this would be appropriate so it goes here.
My daily driver is a '99 DeVille NorthStar. My grandfather bought it new and gave it to me before he died. I got the car with 28k on it, currently has 80k. I've always contemplated getting rid of it because I have an irrational distain towards GM. Well, turns out my distain may be more rational than I thought. The past several months I've been getting 'low coolant' warnings. I'll put a few cups in and go another week. Rinse. Repeat.
About a week ago I got home from work and noticed there was coolant POURING out from the engine bay. Initially I was pretty happy, I figured whatever had been leaking had given way and I could replace it and go. No such luck. No evidence of any leaks at all, the coolant was coming out the overflow tank. I changed out the radiator cap, filled the system back up and went to work the next day. Got to work and there was nothing. Went to lunch, great. Come home... about two miles from my house I notice a stream behind me... I swerve around a bit and the stream follows. Get home and it's pouring again. I benched it and drove the Supra for a week and a half (which I should have been doing anyway
). I rented a pressure tester and pressurized the system. I found a small coupler with a worm clamp that was very loose. I tightened it up and the pressure tester held pressure for half an hour. SUCCESS!!!! So I thought. This morning I go to work... great results, temp hit 190 and stayed there. Came home at 3:30 with typical results. I got off the freeway and hit downtown traffic so my temps went upto 215 or so. Stayed there until I hit the autoparts store (4-5 miles from my house) to return the pressure tester. No leaks, everything was great. I live on a bluff, I've got a zig zag drive to get upto the top, pretty decent climb at a pretty decent pitch. I literally make a 'Z' pattern as I climb the hill. North, 180*, South, 180*, North again. By the time I get to the top of the hill I see a stream starting again. Another fifth of a mile to my house and it's pouring out the overflow tank again.
SO. I drive 22.5 miles to work in the morning and it's perfect. I drive 21 miles home until I hit the hill then everything goes to hell.
Any suggestions on where to start diagnosing this problem? I feel like the hill is a crucial point where everything falls apart, but I cannot think of a reason why that would be. I feel like if I had a weak water pump I wouldn't be able to maintain cooling on the way to work and on the way home during downtown traffic. I feel if the thermostat was faulty I wouldn't be able to make it to work period... I'm out of ideas...
I'm going to sell this thing once I fix it and get a(nother) Toyota.
My daily driver is a '99 DeVille NorthStar. My grandfather bought it new and gave it to me before he died. I got the car with 28k on it, currently has 80k. I've always contemplated getting rid of it because I have an irrational distain towards GM. Well, turns out my distain may be more rational than I thought. The past several months I've been getting 'low coolant' warnings. I'll put a few cups in and go another week. Rinse. Repeat.
About a week ago I got home from work and noticed there was coolant POURING out from the engine bay. Initially I was pretty happy, I figured whatever had been leaking had given way and I could replace it and go. No such luck. No evidence of any leaks at all, the coolant was coming out the overflow tank. I changed out the radiator cap, filled the system back up and went to work the next day. Got to work and there was nothing. Went to lunch, great. Come home... about two miles from my house I notice a stream behind me... I swerve around a bit and the stream follows. Get home and it's pouring again. I benched it and drove the Supra for a week and a half (which I should have been doing anyway
). I rented a pressure tester and pressurized the system. I found a small coupler with a worm clamp that was very loose. I tightened it up and the pressure tester held pressure for half an hour. SUCCESS!!!! So I thought. This morning I go to work... great results, temp hit 190 and stayed there. Came home at 3:30 with typical results. I got off the freeway and hit downtown traffic so my temps went upto 215 or so. Stayed there until I hit the autoparts store (4-5 miles from my house) to return the pressure tester. No leaks, everything was great. I live on a bluff, I've got a zig zag drive to get upto the top, pretty decent climb at a pretty decent pitch. I literally make a 'Z' pattern as I climb the hill. North, 180*, South, 180*, North again. By the time I get to the top of the hill I see a stream starting again. Another fifth of a mile to my house and it's pouring out the overflow tank again. SO. I drive 22.5 miles to work in the morning and it's perfect. I drive 21 miles home until I hit the hill then everything goes to hell.
Any suggestions on where to start diagnosing this problem? I feel like the hill is a crucial point where everything falls apart, but I cannot think of a reason why that would be. I feel like if I had a weak water pump I wouldn't be able to maintain cooling on the way to work and on the way home during downtown traffic. I feel if the thermostat was faulty I wouldn't be able to make it to work period... I'm out of ideas...
I'm going to sell this thing once I fix it and get a(nother) Toyota.
