antifreeze leak
 

Driving my 2005 8 yesterday up a steep hill at slow speeds. car suddenly would not go forward, gasing it did nothing. It slowly crept up hill. At top put car in park and it died. I smelled antifreeze. The next morning car started right up no problem but now with constant low coolant light that would go on for a few minutes and off during a 20 minute srive. Made it home. Cooling fan was on. Not a good sign as it is 65 degrees and never comes on at these temperatures. Stayed on for only short time. Opened hood and there was coolant fluid all over inside of engine bay. Like it was coming from overflow but not sure possible as that tube points downward which would not seem the casue for leaking that appears to be shooting upward from location of fluid in engine bay. There is now no coolant in overflow tank at all.

Did I break something you think? Hole in one of the overflow pan hoses maybe? Would water pump cause that? I plan to fill with distilled so I can go get some antifreeze.

Thanks for the help.

Odd, I also have a coolant leak, light on, and I can smell it in the car. Couldn't get an appointment until Monday with dealer, is it ok to pour a little into the reservoir as I need it to get to work tomorrow? By no means a permanent solution, but unsure if that is safe to do. Thanks

could be a number of things. t stat, water pump, or in my case a blocked restrictor in the top line to the overflow bottle

Well upon initial investigation I realized that the opening that the radiator cap goes on on top of coolant overflow is cracked. Not sure if that is as result of some underlying coolant issue or that is the issue itself. I will try to epoxy the opening, it is still attached, and see if it will hold. Any ideas on best way to epoxy/glue that type of plastic?

Don't even bother...you need a new one :(.....you can't expect to fix that kind of plastic for the heat and pressure the cooling system exposes it to.

The bottles are $120ish from Mazmart ....that is a lot better than tanking your engine cause you blew the coolant all over the ground :)

Agreed. I need to drive it about 30 miles however. That is why I need an emergency fix. Think it will survive for 30 miles. And do you think that is the cause of the original leak in first post or just a symptom of some other issue that caused the pressure to build and break the cap area?

Likely the cause of your problem. If you fill it up and drive carefully with the cap loose it will help keep it from spewing all over the place...just don't push the car too hard because it will boil easier if it isn't pressurizing ( it likely wasn't before either :) )