Massive Loss of Coolant

[scotts96gt]

I think i already know the answer to this one but want to get everyones input...On the way home from the parents tonight (-4 degrees) the engine let loose its coolant.By the time i got home and shut her down (about 5 mins of driving from when i noticed we had no heat and the Temp guage was pegged) the engine was making a sound like i was dragging my radiator underneath the car. Upon first inspection with the motor off there was a loud clunking sound coming from the radiator area. Once the car cooled for a min or two I was able to look around but can not pin point where I blew out a gasket or hose or pump. There appeared to be a lot of fluid down below the serpentine towards the rear of the engine, but the hissing sound was coming from somewhere under the thottle body. Oil seems to be okay.... not milky, just a little thin. I am thinking the lower intake gasket but i am stumped because i cant tell where it is spraying out.. And of course i am still trying to sort out my steering problem but i supposes that does not matter much at this stage of the game.

[jrecken]

My guess is you were short on anti freeze and it froze up.

[stripe]

Originally Posted by scotts96gt

I think i already know the answer to this one but want to get everyones input...On the way home from the parents tonight (-4 degrees) the engine let loose its coolant.By the time i got home and shut her down (about 5 mins of driving from when i noticed we had no heat and the Temp guage was pegged) the engine was making a sound like i was dragging my radiator underneath the car. Upon first inspection with the motor off there was a loud clunking sound coming from the radiator area. Once the car cooled for a min or two I was able to look around but can not pin point where I blew out a gasket or hose or pump. There appeared to be a lot of fluid down below the serpentine towards the rear of the engine, but the hissing sound was coming from somewhere under the thottle body. Oil seems to be okay.... not milky, just a little thin. I am thinking the lower intake gasket but i am stumped because i cant tell where it is spraying out.. And of course i am still trying to sort out my steering problem but i supposes that does not matter much at this stage of the game.

Same thing happened to me. It was the LIM.

Cheers
Stripe

[scotts96gt]

Well sorry for not posting any updates sooner. I filled the car with water and ran for 45 mins. it never over heated or leaked. I am thinking that somehow i was blowing coolant out the overflow because of a frozen line. But i did notice that when the car was heating up the upper radiator hose would collapse all the way flat. then open up once i am assuming the thermostat opened. I drove it a lot over the last week and weekend and i noticed two things. I would intermittantly have no heat, and the temp guage now floats between being just under half way while moving and just over half when the car is sitting. As of tonight i have replaced the thermostat and water pump but i am experiencing the same problems. The car warms up normally but no heat inside then the guage goes back and forth with the temp i get heat for a bit inside the car and then it goes away. I have tried to bleed the air out of the system with the two bleeders but nothing but steam comes out of the one by the thermostat and absolutely nothing out of the one right out of the pump to the heater core. I am stumped

[jrecken]

you should be getting water out of those bleeders if not you have not bled it enough

[scotts96gt]

I had run the car for about 45 mins, temp guage was up to middle, no heat coming from vents and no significant coolant coming out of those bleeders. Mostly just steam from the one by the thermostat. Could i still be way low on coolant? i put in 2 gals of 50/50 through the overflow. It just does not seem to be taking it out of there enough to burp the motor. Tonight i might take the upper hose off and just pour it directly into the rad from there. It just seems like the coolant isnt passing through the system at all until the rpms are up

[scotts96gt]

Okay here's the deal. I have replaced the thermostat, water pump flushed and filled the system again... I still can not get the engine to stop running hot then cold then hot again. Tonight I drove the car for a solid 30 mins and the heat inside was intermittent and the temp guage was bouncing between 1/4 and 3/4 looking at the guage. So after dealing with the same type of situation for over a week i got pissed and opened the bleeder just after the thermostat all the way open and got nothing but hot air, not even steam. Pulled the upper rad hose off and it was wet like coolant had been flowing through but was just pressurized with air. I did this literally the moment i got out of the car, foolish yes i know! I am also still noticing that when i rev up the motor the rad hoses collapse completely flat. I have put nearly 3 gals of 50/50 into the system and have no visible leaks (oil looks fine). At this point i just want to figure out why the coolant isnt flowing properly so i can get heat inside the car

[3echo9]

Have you found the problem yet? If so, what was the fix?

[scotts96gt]

Turns out it was the lower intake gasket as most probably suspected. A word to the wise though, if you don't have a manual be cautious with torque specs you get off the autozone website. They might be correct, but not necessarily for your year car. Torqued the rockers down to half what they were supposed to be because of incorrect info. Been running for two weeks now though and no signs of coolant, and have not had to add any which had become an daily ordeal.