drove the car to an auto glass shop for a new windshield, and a friend following me said there was some kind of spray / mist on the drivers side, around the front wheel during times when I'd put my foot down to accelerate, pass, etc. Got the car back to my shop later, and couldn't seem to recreate it by working the throttle manually, but only tried for a few minutes at a time. I did notice the radiator fluid was low, not to long ago it was topped off. I poured an entire jug of fluid in, and it just seemed to keep draining in. I ran the engine some more, and when I took the cap off later, i had some fluid come out of the overflow tube running down the side of the radiator by the drivers tire, and the coolant level seemed to be pretty low again.

Is this where I'm supposed to take the thermostat out and boil it to see if it works, or just replace it, or am I completely off? Still trying to work up to the point where i trust the engine, but not much of a mechanic, and no clue what the previous owners have done.

 

the thermostat sticking open should only over cool the engine or for longer drives cause it to over heat because the coolant doesnt spend enough time in the radiator. i dont think it would cause it to overflow. im not a subject matter expert by any means but i would start checking other things than the thermostat

 

a full radiator will always blow off the top 1-1.5" of water as the car heats up - its normal. It will usually stabilise just above the core that you can see inside the radiator under the cap and will always need a little top up every now and then.

That coolant goes down the tube onto the road unless you have a recovery system like more modern cars. You can easily add a recovery bottle if you want or you can just make checking oil and water a routine check on days you want to take the car out.

if you are loosing more than that per heat cycle (ie car started and run up to normal operating temp then cooled down again) you may have a slow leak. In the first instance, tighten all hoses and look around the top and bottom tank of the radiator for evidence of leaks. Second, check your heater box for water leaks (and on passenger floor). Third, replace your radiator cap. It may not be holding enough pressure.

The alternative is a blocked radiator - overheating causing more coolant loss. Has the car been running ok temperature?

Try the cheap/ simple options first! Let us know what you find.
good luck

 

I would add a recovery tank.

 

+1 on that

 

I was thinking about adding a bottle or something, do they make an after market recovery tank designed for a radiator like that? Also, I added an entire jug of coolant, and it all flow to the left side of the radiator as fast as I could poor, for the entire contents of the jug, and then when I ran the car for about 5 minutes playing with the throttle by hand, i didn't see a drop of coolant on the floor until I took the cap of, and a small amount went out the overflow tube, without the coolant level even being high

 

my biggest concern is really what was that fluid that was misting from around the tire? I had my window down and didn't smell gas or coolant, and I couldn't reproduce the spray in the ship running the throttle by hand.

 

brake line juice?