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Smoke From Radiator

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Old Nov 21, 2023
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hardgainer's Avatar
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Smoke From Radiator

Last week I saw white smoke coming from the radiator and I opened the hood to find coolant all over the engine with the coolant reservoir empty. I thought it may be a hole in the radiator so I replaced the radiator and the radiator cap. While I was draining all the coolant from the old radiator I found a little oil in the bottom. The car drove perfectly. but as before smoke was pouring out from the side of the radiator and there were a few drops of coolant in the engine. I did not replace all of the radiator hoses (except for the lower hose), the hose clamps, the thermostat, or the water pump. I was thinking of replacing some/all of these and retesting.

I checked the oil and it looked normal. I did not see any air bubbles in the radiator. It's driving OK and doesn't overheat so this leads me to believe it isn't the head gasket.

What could be the issue?
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Old Nov 21, 2023
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Re: Smoke From Radiator

If you're losing coolant, you need to figure out where it's going. If it's a leak, find it.

Head gasket failure usually pushes coolant out and into the reservoir where it eventually overflows.
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Old Nov 21, 2023
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Re: Smoke From Radiator

GOOD NEWS.

I found out I just added too much coolant and it was pouring out.
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Old Nov 22, 2023
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Re: Smoke From Radiator

Originally Posted by hardgainer
I found out I just added too much coolant and it was pouring out.
What?

The radiator is supposed to be completely full. You can only add too much coolant to the reservoir, but you said yours was empty.
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Old Nov 22, 2023
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Re: Smoke From Radiator

Headgasket
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