Hello all,

I had a strange occurrence of events last night. About two blocks from home I smelled something that I thought was hot plastic, and then a block away my temperature gauge went from normal to way high.

I got home, popped the hood and what I thought was hot plastic seemed to be coolant sprayed around the passenger side of the engine bay. In the dark I couldn't find a source.

This morning I see that the lower radiator hose at the engine side has blown off, the clamp was broken. However, my antifreeze level was not down at all in the reservoir.

So my question is can I just replace the clamp, put the hose back on and I should be fine? Or is there more going on as to why all my coolant didn't just drain and the hose blew off in the first place?

Thanks in advance!

 

Another maybe helpful note was when I noticed the temp raising, I turned the heater to full blast to try to help cool it, but only cold air blew out.

 

The reservoir goes up and down depending on the pressure buildup or suction created by the cooling after turned off. with the bottom hose off, you had no pressure, therefore the reservoir level is moot. What should concern you is how long were you without water/pressure in the system, and did the water pump get damage by overheating with little or no antifreeze to lube it up. Only way to know that right now would be to do as you suggested, new clamp, fill up the radiator. My honest opinion, if the clamp broke, it's likely an old hose anyway, get a new hose, probably $20, and 2 new clamps. If you're getting dirty anyway, get a new bottom hose on there.

Then fill her up with the right type antifreeze too, don't mix up brands. It's Also not a bad idea since you've already dropped all the fluid, run a flush treatment through, instructions for procedure will be on that bottle.

 

Don't forget to burp the system..

 

Thank you for the replies! I will move forward as you suggested and burp the system.

 

Hello, thanks again for your help. I was able to replace the lower hose, fill the radiator, and burp the system and everything seems to be working again.

Thanks!