2 replies to this topic

[andyb5]

This afternoon, I was auto-crossing my 1999 V70 R, and in the middle of a run, it turned itself off, after it apparently overheated.

As it was in the middle of a run, I was not focused on my gauges at the moment, but was looking at the course. There hadn't been any evidence of overheating earlier in the day, since I had already run 4 times without problems.

Immediately after the ECU cut power, I noticed light grey smoke coming from near my passenger headlight. I popped the hood and saw there was coolant coming out of the expansion tank, from around the cap.

I left the car to sit and cool off for about an hour, and then added water to the bring the coolant level back above the minimum level. I started the car, and it idled fine. The temperature gauge was at the bottom "peg" when I started the car, and it slowly but steadily climbed up towards the "normal" level. At this point I had to go work the course, and turned the car off. I haven't started it since then.

I should add that it doesn't appear that any of the radiator lines are leaking, but I haven't had time to crawl under the car and really take a good look at the lower radiator hose. The hoses are original, but in reasonably good shape.

I'm really confused as to what (if anything) happened, so if anyone has some suggestions as to what might have caused it, I'd really appreciate it!

[Ihatespeedbumps]

Could be as simple as a bad cap or a cracked reservoir.

The easiest way to check for a blown head gasket is to let the engine cool down, remove the coolant reservoir cap and crank the engine. If it gushes like Ol' Faithful... bad news. If not, pressure check the cap and inspect for leaks.

[andyb5]

It wasn't leaking after I restarted the engine, and after the thermostat opened, the level was holding steady. So I'm hopeful that it isn't a HG, and praying it was just a loose cap!