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: Overheating/coolant loss



JFP
01-16-2003, 04:34 AM
Dear All
Any thoughts on the following

My 9000 AERO is loosing radiator fluid, it looks like water in expansion tank is boiling and when you stop the car, a fair amount of water escapes out of the expansion tank filler cap.

I cant see any other external leaks, there is no water in the oil, the spark plugs are the correct colour. The car runs at the same temp it always has.

I hope its just the radiator blocked and that flushing it through tonight will fix the problem. However, if it does'nt would you think its the thermostst or am I lucky and its the head gasket gone

wrighar
01-16-2003, 06:50 AM
JFP,

If it looks like the water is boiling and the car is cold then think Head gasket.

If the temp is correct then it's not likely to be the thermostat as the sender is before that.

Have you tried feeling the radiator / hoses to see if it has cold spots?

Andrew

JFP
01-16-2003, 07:10 AM
Thinking about it, perhaps the car was running a bit hotter than normal, but nowhere near the red.

I also noticed the idle was a little more eratic then normal and it sounded a bit unhealthy when you rev it up and down. Then again when I looked at the spark plugs,while they were the correct colour they seemed "dirty" and knowing how fussy the AERO is about plugs I would normally have changed them. I put the origionals back in case I end up taking the car to someone who knows what they are doing and they help in identifying the problem.

If it is the head gasket how bad an idea is it driving the car (very carefully) ?