Overheating; defective heater hose

Posted on Tue 10/11/05 in Technical Interleude

SATURDAY, 10/5/2005

The other day after driving in the city for about 20 minutes, I saw some smoke coming from under the hood when I slowed down. I pulled the car over and waited for it to cool down. I refilled the coolant reservoir with coolant. By the time I drove the remaining mile home, the temp gauge was on red and the car was smoking again.

I couldn’t see any leaks, so I assumed the coolant was being burned somewhere, thus the smoke. But, where? Based on reading and investigation, I was scared that it might be a blown head gasket (possibly a $2000 repair), And then, after flushing water through the radiator finally developed a leak. It was coming down pretty heavy from under the engine block.

Upon recommendation from my buddy, Juan, I checked the heater hoses to the engine block, and WALALAA! One hose looked like it was taking a leak (but, literally) right on my engine.

As of now, I have cut the hose and reattached it. However, the clamp has worked me out enough today, so I will attempt to tighten it tomorrow. It is in an extremely tight spot. Updates to come on the resolution.

UPDATE 10/11/2005
With the help of my generous, tool-weilding friend Tony, the problem is resolved. However, I will be replacing all my coolant hoses as soon as I can because this one looked pretty nasty on the inside.