Problem question from a newbie

[miked1984]

Hey guys, let me first be completely honest in saying that I know very little about automobiles, I know only of the absolute basics and hope that this does not get me flamed.

In saying that, I recently bought a 96 Eclipse RS with noticeable mileage on it already (above 100K) and have noticed a few slight problems, but maybe they are more of incoveniences. I won't list them all here for that would probably piss everyone off pretty good, so I'll only ask about one thing that's been bothering me since day 1:

When starting the car up, I find that there is a noise coming from behind the dash that sounds like rushing fluid...sort of like water rushing through a pipe. It persists for about 10-15 seconds, then stops.
I was told that this was merely rushing water or something and that it's not worth worrying about, and the mention of it being a loose belt was brought up as well.

If anyone has any idea what that could be, I would great appreciate an answer since not many of my friends are of great help. Thanks very much in advance.

-Mike

[kjewer1]

Originally Posted by miked1984

Hey guys, let me first be completely honest in saying that I know very little about automobiles, I know only of the absolute basics and hope that this does not get me flamed.

That will hopefuly get you more respect than flames. Thats the perfect attitude to have, and I wish more people were man enough to admit this. Its the assclowns that pretend to know things, and spread missinformation all day, that should get flamed.

When starting the car up, I find that there is a noise coming from behind the dash that sounds like rushing fluid...sort of like water rushing through a pipe. It persists for about 10-15 seconds, then stops.
I was told that this was merely rushing water or something and that it's not worth worrying about, and the mention of it being a loose belt was brought up as well.

Odds are there is a big air bubble in your coolant. TO be safe, go burp that out if you can. When the car is cooled off, remove the radiator cap. I'm assuming on the NT cars thats the highest point in the cooling system, like most cars. Hopefully the level is low. Sounds strange, but that makes things easy. If so top it off. In either case... Start the car and let it run until the thermostat opens. Hopefully eventually you will see the level drop as the bubble gets to the cap. Keep on topping it off, and dont put the cap back on until there are no more little bubbles rising up. This will make sure its all coolant in there. On your car its more of a nuisance than anything, but on a turbo car this will cost you a head, and its why I'm including this procedure anyway. Hopefully the NT cars are even remotely similar to the turbo cars, and this works for you. Good luck, and welcome to the site.

[miked1984]

Thanks a lot, I will certainly give that a try.