What on earth is going on with my car?!?

Question

The issue started with an oil leak, now resolved. But now my car is over heating and smells like coolant... as far as me and my boyfriend can tell there are no visible leaks, it takes about 15 minutes of driving for the fan to kick on and almost an hour for the engine to cool after driving only 20 minutes. how can i tell the differance between a broken thermostat, a blown head gasket or a hose leak? i cant afford any major repairs at a mechanic or a new car, please help!!!!

Answer 1

Put in a new thermostat. It is pretty simple and cheap fix (if that is indeed the problem).

Answer 2

if its a head gasket leak there is a tester us mechanics have but for a regular person you can check the tailpipe for coolant smell or residu also it will more often than not blow alot of white smoke as if it was cold and warming up the fan is normal for it to come on after 15 min and the engine being hot after 20 minutes is still nothing to worry about. the main things to check are as i said the tailpipe for coolant or white dense smoke. If the thermostat is stuck in closed position you will overheat and with that sort of problem you wont see any leak its internal, same with most head gasket leaks. since you said fan comes on i assume its working, check the radiator in the front for any trash or leaves that can be clogging it and restricting air flow thats a common problem and again there would be no leak just overheating from lack of air through the radiator fins. Check hoses for any blockage generally they last 3-5 years or so but if they feel to hard and make cracky sounds when squeezed they are bad and sometimes the rubber inside deteriorates and clogs the inside of hose and blocks flow. one other thing it could be is a blocked radiator or heater core\ what year and mileage are on car? if the coolant is over 2 years old you need a backflush it could be as simple as the coolant is old and acidic and cannot cool properly and the radiator could be clogged. i hope this helps i tried to explain it the best i could. oh and one more thing check coolant level and do not drive car while its running hot you can destroy engine very easily and fast when temps are above 220 email me if you need any help Stang3025l@yahoo

Answer 3

Quick test: Open your radiator cap when car is cool, start it and run for a little bit. Rev the engine and if coolant spews out of the top, u have a blown head gasket. Your coolant must be full for this to work. It might just be a leak so when it gets hot and the system is pressurized, thats when you look all around and under for the leak. A good auto shop can confirm a headgasket in 2 minutes with block tester fluid over the radiator.

Answer 4

A blown head gasket can be hard to do unless you know cars. The hose you would see a leak also you would use coolant. A stuck thermostat is easy to test. Take the therm out and see if it stays the same. If not take it to a mechanic. The longer you go the more it cost. If you get the head gasket done now that may be all you have to replace, however if you wait you may have to replace a cylinder head.

Answer 5

well a hose leak is simple look under the car and see if there is water / coolant on the floor . to check for a blown head gasket open the radiator cap and start the car when it is cool look into the radiator and see if you can see bubbles and or signs of oil in the water if you can the chances are the head gasket is blown.to check the thermostat start the car when it is cold and let it run at high idle 1000 - 1200 rpm and observe the temp guage after about five minutes depending on ambient temp the guage should suddenly rise fairly rapidly to normal or just above normal temp then drop slightly if it does this your thermostat is opperating correctly

Answer 6

if there is no wet spot on the ground under the engine than you dont have a leak.
Head gaskets can be hard to tell, one way is to check and see if the oil on the dipstick is milky grey...that means antifreeze/water is mixed in the oil....thats not a good thing.
Anther way to check the head gasket is to run the car with the cap off the rad and watch for bubbles constantly coming out. If there is....thats not a good thing.
Thats a couple ways, but the only true way is to do a pressure test which isnt really that hard to do with the tools.
Hows the transmission working I had a grand am that would over heat because the tranny wasnt working properly. smell the transmision fluid on the dipstick. If it smells burnt....thats not a good thing.

Answer 7

start with the cheep stuff or on sunday listen to car talk you call them and they answer your questions and tease you alot of fun!
i would replace the thermostat and make shure the coolant is full if the windshield fogs inside you have a heater leak under the dash
after the car heats up check the hoses they may start leaking after they expand from heat
and wont show easily because of evaporation and heat are the hoses dried out and cracking? look at the edges of the hoses they may be loose or need to be replaced because the work done disturbed them . i hope this helped but you gotta call the car talk guys

Answer 8

ha sounds bad..the best thing to do is change the thermostat and see what happens..if a hose is leaking you would be able to see it..if a head gasket was leaking it would eather be in the oil or coming out the ex hast and it would miss on what ever cylinder it was getting water in..it could also leak out the side of the block but again you would see it..Hope this helped

Answer 9

Take is to a servies tect a new name for a grease monkey,Let him or her run a pressure test on it .BO NOT RUN YOUR CAR HOT,it will worp the head or crack it Hopely this has not happen yet.You did not say what kind of car,Ford has a problem with head gasket.Some v/6 gm have head gasked problems to.Need to take to someone or it will cost a lot of money,if a hose leak you will see it .If it is a head gasket it could be front and run out on back.I know you say you have no money for repair can you walk for long ways that where you are going .CAR MOTORS CAN NOT TAKE HIGH TEMP THEY WILL BREAK BAD..Well I read some of the answers above me if you dont get it fixed you will be walking soon,Why spend money changing parts when you or your boyfriend dont know whats wrong take it to someone get them to tell you what is wrong,then fix it.

Answer 10

the final automobile I had replaced right into a Peugot 205 GTI. the 2nd replaced into an Audi a million.8ltr game. I now have an Audi 2ltr that's sluggish and could quickly be replaced for an Audi A3 2ltr game. i'm uncertain what the final automobile in the international is! I take excitement in that my autos above are common autos yet i've got not got the money for a Porche or Ferrari!

Answer 11

Could be one or a combo of these.

Thermostat - easy to fix

Hose - leak visible and easy to replace

Coolant sensor - moderate to replace

Principal fan not working - overloading auxiliary-need to replace fan - moderate to hard work. if there is room moderate, if not-need to take one third of engine apart to pull out.

Radiator plugged - need to take it to a radiator place and have it siphoned and tested for blockage.

Heater core - need to replace - heck of a job - usually need to take dash apart to replace.

Start with the first two and go from there.