Radioator Spewing Everywhere

[cichlidfort]

I drive a 2003 Jeep Liberty and about two months ago I all of a sudden I starting hearing strange noises and I smell a burning smell and my battery light turns on. I pull over and my engine is smoking like a cegar. I was on the highway at 2:00 A.M. when this happened too with my roommates lol. Anyways, I get towed and eventually when it got fixed, they say the radiator pump or whatever blew some seals ultimately it being the reason why it spewed everywhere. I got a new belt too for my car. Well tonight when I was driving all of a sudden if feels like my Jeep is driving on a bumpy road. I get to the parking garage where I park and put on my emergency lights and check out my tires...it felt like I had a flat tire. Everything looked good. I got back in the Jeep and it still drove like I was on a bumpy road or one side was uneven. I get to the third floor and I noticed everytime I put my Jeep in drive it sounded like something in the engine was dropping or rubbing. Well I reversed it in my parking spot where no one was around and all of a sudden my engine is smoking again. I get out of the car as soon as possible fearing something was catching on fire. I looked under the car and tons of radiator fluid was pouring out just like last time...the fluid was orange. It was the same exact smell and everything. Apparently what was "fixed" was never fixed because the same thing happened. Does anyone have a clue what the hell is going on?

Edited January 24, 2008 by cichlidfort

[thegr8cody]

normally they spew if its overheating if its oranage it might be rust? when i flushed mine there was some rust build up in it. hope that helps

[cichlidfort]

normally they spew if its overheating if its oranage it might be rust? when i flushed mine there was some rust build up in it. hope that helps

orange isn't the natural color of it?

[mrwigglezdj]

well newr cars have orange anit freeze as well as the traditonal green, you could have a blocked radaitor causeing the over heating, the pump could have gone out again, you could have a blown freeze plug or two or a number other things, not to mention collasped radiator hoses bad thermostat...

the round thing that is attaced to the fan (clutch) could be bad as well not allowing the fan to pull in enough air to keep the motor and radiator cool as is would normaly do

Edited January 24, 2008 by mrwigglezdj

[cichlidfort]

well newr cars have orange anit freeze as well as the traditonal green, you could have a blocked radaitor causeing the over heating, the pump could have gone out again, you could have a blown freeze plug or two or a number other things, not to mention collasped radiator hoses bad thermostat...

the round thing that is attaced to the fan (clutch) could be bad as well not allowing the fan to pull in enough air to keep the motor and radiator cool as is would normaly do

hmmm, that might be it, the clutch that is.

[thegr8cody]

yea there a b**** to change to got a get a strap wrench or lodge a screwdriver in there good lol

[mrwigglezdj]

you van look at most water pumps and tell if that is what is wrong, to check the water pump look around for a small hole the size of your average bic pen, and if it is leaking fulid then the pump is bad, if no fulid there then take the cap off the radiator (must be cold or you can be seriously hurt) and start the motor and look and see if fulid is flowing like a stream if there is no leaking fulid and water is flowing after a minute or two (warm up process) then the pump is good..

and if you have flowing then the radiator isnt backed up or blocked unless its like a trickle instead of a FLOW..

to check the freeze plugs you may need a mirror but the freeze plugs are round objects pressd into the motor block, about the size slightly larger than a golf ball, and it wont be flush with the block the plug will have a ridge and then a recess into the block a little, if you see fulid around any of them then that plug is bad and needs to be replaced....

the fan clutch (if i remember correctly) you try to spin the fan with your hand (lol motor must be off) and if the fan does not want to spin with very little pressure then the clutch is bad,

to check the radaitor hose, squese it and if it is solid then its good, if its soft and real easy to squese then it might be a good idea to get to the parts store and have them hand you a new one and compare how hard/soft a new one is and go off that judgement, and you will have a upper and lower hose

the thermo im not sure how you test them , i normaly just replace mine every 2 years since they do not cost alot along with a thermo gasket...

i hope some of this helps you get back on the road without blowing up your motor, and with it being an automatick you dont want to drive it too much over heating , because not only does over heating kill a engine, but HEAT will cause your trasmission to fail as well, trasmissions dont like high heat and with the transmission cooler being intragrated into the raidator , it will get hot along with the engine during a over heat spell...

[FieroGrande]

did the car overheat at all?

[cichlidfort]

did the car overheat at all?

I am got the car towed to the shop today...hopefully they fix the problem this time. Yes the car overheated. When I was finally parked, TONS of smoke was steaming out of the engine but there was no visible damage.

[FieroGrande]

did you get a new thermostate?