i drove her today and steam came from under hood as i was running her up a hill to work. i had topped off the overflow reservoir cause she has been leaking from somewhere, you may remember

the rear plastic coupler broke a few weeks back and i lost all of my fluid. upon looking i found some fluid sitting on top of the engine cover ( under rad )and the radiator had some sitting along the top edges

that was dried up. i bought some epoxy to seal it but am not sure when it leaks up top, left her running in park and popped the hood only to see nothing. arrgg!!! don't know if it's the rad, a hose

or possibly a freeze plug. somebody also mentioned water pump and bypass coolant line. should i risk a pressure test or do a dye test? 280,000 on her and otherwise runs fine, doesn't overheat

and heat works great. what to try first? this is an aftermarket 8 y/o rad by the way that i have in maxy, so it's possible that it only steams/leaks under load? thanks for any experienced input

 

Usually one of the big chain auto parts stores will let you borrow a pressure tester with a deposit. I would start with a pressure check. The other thing is to fill it up at the cap, just let it warm up good, then see where the steam comes out.

 

If you are lucky, only the radiator needs to be replaced.

Otherwise, a hose needs to be replaced. Keep in mind, the hoses are 20 years old. if one popped, the others will, sooner rather than later. I replaced all of the hoses. I bought all of the hoses from Amazon. I paid about 80 bucks two years ago.

The facts are that our old cars need some love to keep them reliable.

I have replaced all of the hoses, the radiator, the water pump. The total cost was less than 250 dollars.

CS-AR also replaces or services the injectors as part of what he calls the mid life refresh.

The total cost of all of this might cost 500 dollars. If you do you do this yourself of course.

The 500 bucks, and a couple of days of work mean the difference between a reliable car which will last a long time, or a breakdown at the worst possible time.

Murphy's law says that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. I will add to that, at the worst possible time. I mean in the middle of winter, . or on summer vacation, at the top of a mountain range, when it is 100 degrees.

 

id put money on a hose somewhere leaking. pressure test the system first though.

 

I would say if ur aftermarket radiator is 8yrs old, it may need replacing.

 

i've done upper and lower main hoses, but they came from pep boys and i never liked them. cheap and flimsy feeling from day 1 and the clamps i replaced have had to be re-tightened a couple of times. i also did 1 of the lower hoses to the trans 2 years ago cause it was shot. i'm thinking this is a bad radiator cause of the fluid on top but also a hose somewhere below as well popped loose and is causing more trouble. good old bad $hit happening in 3's as we all know can happen with an almost 22 y/o car. thanks, i'll let you guys know what i find

 

1800 radiator. They have lifetime warranty.

 

Koyo rad here we come.

 

More than 18 months ago my radiator was leaking and at one point there was steam coming from the hood.. so I was like what the heck was that? I pulled over and looked at the hood and it looked fine...(radiators can steam if they are becoming hot, giving the driver a message)

Eventually that week my temp gauge went to 60-70% but never overheated, found out my radiator was leaking and was on its last edge. It had coolant still but barely enough, almost empty... do not let it get to this point. It was leaking on top next to the cap, you could see fluid splats on the radiator..so it looked a bit obvious.

Replaced the radiator and its been flawless the past 18 months. Radiator is still full to this day. Overflow reservoir full as well. New coolant = happy cooling system.

 

got ripped off on the repair cost. frickin first garage i go to doesn't bother to wiggle the hose that was leaking, but rather scares the $hit out of me and tells me it's the metal coolant transfer tube that runs between the heads. they said they won't repair that so i ask them who would and i go to that garage. i pull in, they're slow, ( first warning sign ) and i pop the hood and the first hose they touch shoots fluid all over the place so i"m like, " great, easy cheap fix ". not even an hour later after they show me a couple of small cracks in the rubber and plastic intake tube that they were supposed to tape off, i get maxy back. sprayed the excess fluid that was an inch deep in the center of the block and replaced the 6 inch rubber hose and 2 new little clamps, $109.00!!! wtf, charged me for an hours labor, ( more like 25 minutes ) if the first moronic garage would've done a more thorough job, they would've seen that hose leaking, too busy playing the " we don't do that kind of repair here " game. lazy fukin idiots cost me money and time, can't trust anyone anymore, period. if i would've seen that hose leaking, i would've fixed it, hell, i have that exact type of hose in the trunk that i've used for sea-foaming the vq, live and learn. i looked all over that engine for the leak. i thought the other garage was gonna charge me for a half an hour, once again, they weren't busy and i guess they needed to ripp me off to make up for it. rant

 

Threads merged.

I'm not quit feeling your pain on this one maxride41. You should have done your due diligence. Inspection means looking and wiggling hoses etc. All you did was open the hood and look around. Also, before a repair is made, you should ask what it's going to cost. When they told you $109, you should have asked if it was possible to get a half hour charge. Some shops don't do half hour charges...Conversely, the shop should have asked for your authorization to do the work and charge $109. Again, you could have possibly negotiated. In the end, it was both your fault and shop's fault based on what you've told us so far.

 

Well atleast it was just a hose that was leaking, could of been worse. $109 is not bad but for hoses.. Yeah kinda a rip off. But again not terrible. Should of had them quote u before doing the job and show you what you were being charged for.

 

My experience has been that once one hose pops, others will agian, shortly.

That is why I replaced all my hoses, myself.

My total bill for all the hoses I bought through Amazon was about what you just paid.

Our cars are 20 years old. Hoses are likely to leak.
Injectors are likely to leak.

It makes sense to accept this reality, then do preventative maintenance.

 

....

^ I was trying to save you $109 from the start.

 

i'm sick of this money pit of a car coasting me out the a$$. yes wizard, i was tired and fuked up on not asking for a price on the repair. i hate myself for trusting them to fix my car. furthermore, i was almost home and i get a misfire so i pull out the scanner and get p0300 and p0325 which i replaced 18 months ago. fukin god dammit straight to hell, it's in the back of course and cylinder number 3. $hit!!!!!! i might be looking for another max, i've had it with this one!!! needs a passenger side lca, alignment, motor and trans mounts, a radiator sometime in the near future, and now possibly a coil pack/ injector. it's not throwing a c/e light, but is mis-firing which from what i've read can be the coil pack. thoughts, any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. not a rookie by any stretch as you guys know. but i'm really torn with all these problems.

 

Time for an overall maintance repair. I would lend a hand wrenching some help your way. The fact here is that your car, if your riding on almost everything original it's time to upgrade the parts.

 

Nah it's terrible. I changed out my rad, both rad hoses and new clamps for $70.

minus the cost of coolant but I had some laying around

 

you car, and the next old car you buy, and the next one after that, all need the same thing.

fuel systems and cooling systems will need to be overhauls to be dependable.

You have two choices.

Do the overhauls your self, replace all parts which are likely to fail soon. This will cost some money and time. The result will be a dependable car which will last for several years.

Or you can replace parts only when they break.
Some people choose the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" school off thought. They feel that there is no point in servicing an old car. Generally these people suffer multiple breakdowns, at bad times.
Then they have to pay a mechanic big bucks to get their car back on the road. Then it will break again soon.

The next car will also have issues. New ones.

Your car is the devil you know. You will sell it at a low price because it has issues.

A replacement car is the devil you don't know. It might look good now, but you might have to repair the same things your car needs now.

Replacing your car will cost more money than properly servicing the one you have.

 

Lol max ride.. getting some bad luck here.. time to replace some stuff here...you know what they say, when you quit on something.. you may be at the end of these repairs.. remember your at what? 280k miles? Its going to need stuff at curtain miles especially I remember u saying that u still have your original coils. Yep you know its coming. I have started to find out our original coils on these cars this year are starting to go.. I had to replace my coils this year in June. $298 to replace all 6 with new Hitachi.. months later no problems at all. Its best to replace multiple items when your down there. Its cheaper in the long run.

Its kinda like mining through an underground and trying to find that gold, but quit because its getting frustrating; when reality the gold was only 10 more minutes away where you have stopped and quit at.

 

ha, u funny josh. what r u like 24? i have 280,000 on this car and she still runs great. and jvg, i wish i had the money and time to do all 6 injectors, or all 6 coil packs, but its true. if aint broke, i won't fix it cause the cars not worth the money to me. i keep it running and check all fluids constantly including any codes that pop up i fix asap. cars not worth spending all my hard earned dough on, trust me, i've spent a boatload already. o, and i have another car, here she is...

 

I had the injectors rebuilt for 110 dollars. CS_AR bought new ones at 11 bucks each. oem coils can be sourced from the wrecking yards , and often work just fine.

Glad that you have a nice car.

Some members are older, such as myself. Some are younger, in their 20s. As long as someone has a good solution to a problem, I don't care if they are young or old, male or female, black, white, or green.

I wish you all the best.

 

I'm gonna give it to you straight.

Your car is a money pit because you made it that way. Sure you keep fluids topped off and take care of SES codes when they come up but that is the bare minimum work. Your car has 280k and you haven't done a midlife on it yet?

I'm 29 years old, a female who works almost 80 hours a week, raising 2 kids and my 97 (156k) is a daily driver. I'm not rolling in dough. But even I know that when I see steam coming from my hood, I should do more than note where coolant ended up. Flashlights do wonders when checking for cracks and bad lines/wires/leaks in dark spaces in the engine bay. I still found time to replace my valve cover gaskets, injectors, coils, plugs and more a few weeks ago (less than 4 hours total, btw).

These cars are not hard to work on. Taking care of things as they go wrong is not the right way to do things. Preventative maintenance keeps our cars running longer and stronger. I guarantee that if you put the effort into it, yours would run better. Instead you want to get upset when she costs you money. Well, sorry not sorry, she's telling you that you're neglecting her. When you buy an old car, expect to pay the price when you don't do what needs to be done BEFORE it becomes an issue.

 

Maxride..your car is failing you because you BABY IT!! These motors love and need to be REDLINED frequently. (Racing inspired Engine) wink wink** I feel like the more you run these cars into the ground the less problems you have, the more you baby it the more problems you have. Lol.

 

lol oh no they don't. They are most comfortable between 2500-4500rpm. They do not like revving. Never have, never will. People that beat on their cars on here tend to keep fresh&topped off fluids, good gas, and decent parts in them. That goes a long way. These motors are also not race inspired they ended up in race cars but were heavily modified to work in those applications.

 

If the car has not been maintained properly, reving and beating on it will not be good for it. In fact, the risk of throwing a rod is quite high.

 

got news for you, i have spent thousands on maintaining this car and keeping the body clean and she's almost 22 years old. there's no neglect here, i'm 52 and i've had this car for 11 and a half years. longer than any other car i've ever owned, so obviously i love the car but i only fix her whens something breaks at this point. i have a laundry list of repairs that all popped up, some i knew about, some i didn't and i have parts waiting to go on, just have bills to pay and get tired of repairs. lets face it, cars never gonna be worth close to what i've put into it, and that's what i'm starting to think about and have. only reason i still have her is because i love the body style, color, and still get compliments on the overall shape of the car all the time. i had a guy walk past her and say, " nice job " because he had one back in the day and it reminded him of his ride. trust me, i don't just drive her around and wait for stuff to break but i get tired of sinking money into a car with all these miles and i know i can't keep this up forever.

 

Well I mean either way If you spent thousands on it maintaining it, what difference is it if you have a car payment and owe $20k to the dealership/owner? I mean it all really comes out the same... but in a different way. Money is spent on repairs, knowing your not going to get it back, and money is spent on a newer car while depreciating in value..not getting your moneys worth back.
Some love the feel of fixing something, some get annoyed by it and ditch it, and some love taking care of it. Everyone's eyes see it in a different way.

Cars are just one of those things people enjoy as a hobby; not to make a profit out of it. Its for fun. For me I love my car looking really good and taken care of, sure I have to find a way to make that happen income wise.. It is possible if you put your mind into it..everyone's situation is different. Other people's opinion may not be what you think.. but don't let that get to you. Do what makes you comfortable and is best for you. Only you can make that decision.

 

That's how I look at it. And that why I only repair what needs to be repaired.