Engine Coolant squirt all over the floor

[Moe Arif]

I parked my 89Civic in the garage after a short drive, and as I was shutting the garage door, I heard a hissing sound just like steam escaping through a valve. Rolled the car outside the driveway (without starting) and saw green coolant all over the garage floor, and some smoke coming out of the hood. Opened the hood and saw that the engine coolant had squirted all over the back part behind the engine. The radiator was completely dry, the rubber pipes attached immidiately to it, were dry too.
Traced the main rubber hose from the bottom left of the radiator that goes to the engine block, and then there is another short hose that is attached to the other side of the engine block, and connects shortly into "something" - This particular hose looke wet, but upon running my fingers, could not tell if it was punctured, or that was the source of leak. did not have time to further check this last night.
NEED SOME HELP to diagnose the problem:

I will check the hose in question, but if that is not the source, Is it the water pump gone bad??
Could it be something else wrong with the engine??

Urgent HELP PLEASE.

[TheSilentChamber]

OH MY GOD YOUR GOING TO DIE! RUN!

Fill it up with water, run it and look and see where its leaking. More than likely its a hose.

[Moe Arif]

Thanks "TheSilentChamber". That thought occured to me except for the fact that it is currently -7 degrees C in Toronto, and was wondering if the cold water "test" would cause any damage, especially when that would squirt out more coolent currently remaining in the system. Also, even though I know the capacity of the coolant mix required, I tend to screw up in determining the amount left inside the system, and what % (water + coolant) mix is remaining in the system, so I can add the right amount of the mix into the system (I like to have 60% coolant + 40% water).

[kris]

Originally Posted by TheSilentChamber

OH MY GOD YOUR GOING TO DIE! RUN!

Fill it up with water, run it and look and see where its leaking. More than likely its a hose.

Wow, what a completly useless post.

Does the hose that connects into "something" go into the firewall? If so, it is one of your heater core hoses. If you can describe the something, that will be a little better.

You water pump would not squirt coolant all over, but rather seep out.

[TheSilentChamber]

Yeah, diagnosing problems is allways useless.

[kris]

You call that a diagnose? Damn, you could work for Napa then. Thats the type of crap they say.

[FrodoGT]

Sounded like a perfectly reasonabl first step to me...actually, might be something I would do....

[TheSilentChamber]

How do you propose he find what is leaking then? Even if he said "the heater core input hose looked wet" would still be open to finding out where the leak is at, and offen times it will be a pin hole that will not leak until the system is fully pressurised. If your going to offer up repeated smart ass comments you should atleast offer up a better solution.

[kris]

Originally Posted by TheSilentChamber

How do you propose he find what is leaking then? Even if he said "the heater core input hose looked wet" would still be open to finding out where the leak is at, and offen times it will be a pin hole that will not leak until the system is fully pressurised. If your going to offer up repeated smart ass comments you should atleast offer up a better solution.

Looks to me like he already determined that a hose was leaking. So why not give him something better to go off of, rather than 'sounds like a hose'. Why not buy a $5 cooling system pressure tester, pressurise the system, and find the leak then? Much easier than waisting time, and coolant. Another thing, a pin hole leak typically does not leak enough coolant, to form puddles under the car in a matter of minutes. But go ahead, keep posting your smart ass replies, with half ass answers.

[TheSilentChamber]

Looks like you "mr veteran moderator" is the one giving smart ass comments nad half ass answers. Would you like to know how much a pinhole sized leak will flow up X amount of pressure? You should also know that a pressure tester will not fully pressurize the entire system, not one that cost $5 anyway.

[kris]

Originally Posted by TheSilentChamber

Looks like you "mr veteran moderator" is the one giving smart ass comments nad half ass answers. Would you like to know how much a pinhole sized leak will flow up X amount of pressure? You should also know that a pressure tester will not fully pressurize the entire system, not one that cost $5 anyway.

Your posts are riddled with half ass remarks, and pointless thread whoring. It's something typical of what you do. When you get called on it, you get offended. I understand completly.

Back to the topic, I see various cooling system leaks quite often. Most of them are caused by know it all, backyard mechanics, using poor hose clamps, or worn out hoses. The leaks can easily be tracked down by a cheap pressure tester. I bought mine off the Snap On truck for $20. So I know a parts store will carry them cheaper.

Anyways, I will let you get the last word, as your online ego depends on it.

[FrodoGT]

Wow, seems to me you have both half-hijacked this post...half-answered his question, and half-made asses of yourselves....