kkempke

Probably a dumb question for this forum but hoping someone can help me. I have a 98 Mustang with about 46,000 miles. Yesterday, after driving about 20 minutes in hot weather, there was steam coming up from the engine and a brown fluid drained onto the garage floor. The gauges did not indicate the car was overheating. Unfortunately, I didn't check the radiator reservoir until today and it looks pretty empty. I live in a town where there is no service available on Sunday. Can I just put water into the radiator until I can get it to a garage tomorrow?

MustangChris04

yep

Chopper

Unfortunately this sounds like a bad head gasket.The engine isn't really overheating it's just pressurising the cooling system with cylinder pressure.This forces coolant out through the overflow,just like if the engine is overheating.
You can refill the system with water and start the engine.If the water starts to rise in the system as soon as the engine starts you can be sure of the head gasket theory.

xzo6

Check to see if there is antifreeze in your oil(pull out the dipstick).If at the end of your dipstick if you find there is some white goop on the dipstick you likely have a bad headgasket(antifreeze changes the colour of your oil).You may even have some white smoke coming from your tailpipe.