Last night I was cruising around in my '96 firebird w/ 3.8. I stopped at a stop sign, and when I started to go again, I really punched it and got the tires smoking. Then I noticed steam coming out of the hood and more than just tire smoke pouring out behind me. So I pulled over right away and shut her down. I walked over to the stop sign and dead square in the middle of my tire tracks, about 2ft into the intersection was a puddle about 1ft in diameter and then a trail of the stuff that lasted only about the length of the intersection. I got some on my hand and smelled it. Sure enough it was coolant.
I went back to my car and popped the hood, searching for a blown coolant line, but found
. Then, thinking that if I had lost alot of coolant, that I should have very little in the rad. I popped the rad cap, but to my surprise it was still full & pressurized and started spewing out, so I quickly screwed it back on.
I wasnt far from home, so I fired it back up and headed that way. I stopped at a red light a block away from home. When it turned green I started to go again. When I shifted into second I mashed the gas a little harder than I should've. What do you know, steam started pouring out the back of the car again. But unlike the last time I popped a coolant line, It stopped after about 10 seconds.
When I got home, I let the car sit for a couple hours before I looked at it. I popped the rad cap and it took about half a litre of coolant. I found no busted coolant lines, and there are no visible leaks.
The only thing I can think of, that makes sense to me would be a blown head gasket that is only releasing coolant under a heavy load. Does this make sense to anyone else? Is there anything I can check to confirm my fear?
I went back to my car and popped the hood, searching for a blown coolant line, but found
. Then, thinking that if I had lost alot of coolant, that I should have very little in the rad. I popped the rad cap, but to my surprise it was still full & pressurized and started spewing out, so I quickly screwed it back on.I wasnt far from home, so I fired it back up and headed that way. I stopped at a red light a block away from home. When it turned green I started to go again. When I shifted into second I mashed the gas a little harder than I should've. What do you know, steam started pouring out the back of the car again. But unlike the last time I popped a coolant line, It stopped after about 10 seconds.
When I got home, I let the car sit for a couple hours before I looked at it. I popped the rad cap and it took about half a litre of coolant. I found no busted coolant lines, and there are no visible leaks.
The only thing I can think of, that makes sense to me would be a blown head gasket that is only releasing coolant under a heavy load. Does this make sense to anyone else? Is there anything I can check to confirm my fear?
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