Hey guys, it's been a while. Anyways, so last year I was tearing up some back roads back in Ohio and after pulling over for a minute, I noticed steam coming from under the hood and a nasty smell. Popped the hood and coolant was everywhere, overflow tank was nearly empty. We took it to get pressure tested and they said nothing was wrong with it and not to worry, but my parents told me to keep a bottle of coolant in the car just in case. Over the next few months every once in a while, mostly after fast/long drives, I would find a few speckles of coolant and occasionally have to top it off. Well fast forward to more recent times, my car just came off of a 2000 mile road trip out to Flagstaff and across Route 66. I didn't have any problems with coolant, even after averaging 90mph on the highway for a few hours while trying to make up time at 3am because we spent too goddamn long at that one place in kansas and now we need to make time and bla bla bla. That was 2 months ago, and about 1 month ago I took a trip out to the navajo reservation and after parking at a gas station for a few minutes, noticed a huge puddle of coolant. Popped the hood, sure enough coolant was everywhere except inside of the overflow. Fortunately the gas station sold coolant and I was able to cruise back to Flagstaff. Now every time I drive the car for more than 20 minutes coolant comes out and I have to top off the tank. I know it is coming out of 1 single spot; the cap. Yes, the overflow tank's cap is where the leak is. I've wiped the tank clean, taken a drive, and then noted where coolant is coming from and it's always the cap. Now, I am a college student on an incredibly limited budget and I don't have the time or cash to really get this fixed. Is there anything I can do to fix it myself? I've heard of products that can make a gasket, should I try using some of this to give the cap a better seal or will it just turn out badly? Can I/should I try buying a new cap? Is the fact that the coolant is getting so hot and expanding so much as to worm its way through the cap indicative of a more serious problem? Like the thermostat or a radiator problem? I'm pretty sure it's not leaking from anywhere else, and it's not like it's leaking when it's parked for a while.

Any advice forum?

 

If the system tested okay it more than likely the cap. A bad cap will allow the coolant to come out after it sets for a while and gets hot and pressure builds.

 

Yea sounds like your cap isnt keeping the pressure in the system, get a new one and see if that fixes it.

 

I'm guessing there is no upgrade coolant cap, right? I know you can buy a whole new overflow tank and cap made of aluminum but that's far out of my league. Would one of the metal caps work better and fit right?

 

Hopefully its just a bad cap, had some coolant leak issues a few months back. Turned out to be the Thermostat housing :/ the cap was one of the things I ended up changing out as well, the old one was shot... $5 at Autozone for a plastic one should do the trick.