HELP COOLANT ALL DRAINED OUT WHILE DRIVING
 

Was driving on the freeway towing a small enclosed trailer when I noticed a giant cloud of steam in my mirrors and then the check coolant level warning came on. Pulled off the freeway into a gas station and am now stuck. There is no coolant whatsoever and the hoses are all empty. Enginge did not overheat luckily. Look like the coolant came from the rear of the engine and sprayed all over the firewall. What do I do? It's 95°f here today and I'm roughly 7 miles from home. I can't leave my trailer as it is full of tools. What do you think this is? The heater core maybe?

Best thing to do would be fill it up again, and get somebody to start the engine while you watch where it comes from. I had one get a hole in the back there. This is the part number for the hose I had to replace... 64218409062

Definitely NOT heater core.

Have the car towed to the shop, since the heater core is in the discussion there's no chance you will be fixing this yourself. Call a buddy to come get the trailer.

Dang that sucks. Glad you got you did not get an overheated engine.

Hopefully the tow does not cost more than 50-100.00

You could try to fill once it is cool. Never in a hot engine. And see where the leak is. It could have just been a low coolant turns to steam and blows all out through the relief cap event. If you are lucky.

Fill. Start engine with cap off.
Watch water flow with cap off.
If all is ok after a few minutes, put cap on.
Let idle until operations temperature.
Leak? Then take to shop.
No leak and hot. Continue trip. carry water in jugs.

A friend is on the way to tow the trailer to my mom's house since it is close (7 miles) and the insurance will cover the tow back to my place (25 miles) but I still need to find out the problem. There's no way I'm taking to into the stealership or even a shop. I don't have $3k to drop on this thing. I will do the work myself regardless of what it is. Also the coolant was not low, I topped it off two days ago and check it every so often.

Saw you're only 7 miles from home. You can drive with the cap off that far so you don't have to pressurize the system as long as water is full and flowing in the coolant system.

The most common reason this happens is a blown hose.

If the hoses are fine, the next most common thing is a pinhole leak during a trip that causes low water and a hot spot in the engine. Then it suddenly turns to steam and blows the water all out the relief valve.

The easiest way to find a non apparent leak is to get UV dye and a light (AutoZone). It works best looking after dark.

Any update on this? Hope you made it home safely.

Yes, I am home now tearing apart the x as we speak. I've located the leak at the back left of the engine and I can't seem to figure out how to get the electrical box off the engine. I've removed the bolts and unplugged the coils. How does this thing come out? It's in my way.

There are clips under the electrical box that attaches it to the injectors. They're a pain to get to, but all you need is a long skinny screwdriver and just try to get one side off. I've also read you can just yank the electrical box straight up.

Ok thanks, I'll try it.

Mam4.6 you were right it is that hose you were talking about. How fun. Anything else to replace while I've got this torn apart? Also thanks for all the support and input from everyone!

When you pull the water manifold in the rear of the motor you're going to need new 4 o-rings in addition to the head water gaskets, two o-rings for manifold, two orings for water pump.

Lucky guess... I had an underlying issue that caused mine to rupture under pressure. Does your have a pinhole leak, or a whopping tear in it. I took the inside cowl cover off, then the whole cabin air filter assembly. Only 4 bolts holding that on, and it comes right out... Gives you good access to the back of the engine. I didn't need to do anything other than that, i.e. other hoses, gaskets, etc... Took the old hose off, put the new one on, bled the coolant system, and everything was good...

Mine has about a 1.5 " tear in it. Water was pouring out of it when I poured it into the expansion tank. And yeah that's what I did is removed the cabin air filter housing. I've been having an issue with my expansion tank cap, it will bleed out coolant little by little like the system has too much pressure. Even with a brand new cap from the dealer so I have to add coolant once a month or so. Any ideas what could be causing that? Do you think that's what could have caused my ruptured hose?

If your hose had a small leak in it, that could've been what was pressurizing your system, and the hose weakened over time, finally rupturing. I'd replace the hose, and keep your eye on it. If your still getting excessive pressure in the system, diagnose further...

I don't think it ever had a small leak because I'm under this thing quite a lot and never noticed any dried up coolant on the backside of the engine/around the bell housing area. But who knows. Hopefully the dealer will be open today so I can get the hose and some more coolant.

Unless the expansion tank cap is defective, even though it is new, or you are overfilling the system, bleeding coolant indicates the system is overheating enough to reach the pressure release point for the cap. That could be because of a leak where the coolant got too low or a thermostat or waterpump problem. All of these should have caused the temp to run higher long enough to be noticed before a hose bursting.

I would fill it with water after replacing the hose, let it run until it has been at operating temp for 30 minutes and check for leaks or white smoke out the tailpipes before filling with coolant. It could also be the expansion tank leaking giving the appearance the leak is coming from the cap. I would get out my handy dandy auto stethoscope and put the probe on the water pump and listen for a growling noise. Look for indication coolant is leaking from the pump. Replacing the hose may be all you need to do but since you are losing coolant from the expansion tank I would check for a contributing problem causing overheating.

You never saw any indication of coolant on the ground after having driven at operating temp for 25 or so miles?

No, none of that. That's why this doesn't make any sense. The temperature gauge has never risen above halfway since I've owned the car and I've driven it 1000 miles through 115° heat in the desert with ac on max. The coolant is definitely leaking through the cap and not the tank. And never any coolant on the ground or from anywhere elese. Just the cap.

Replace both hoses while you are back there. If one went, the other will soon. I had exactly the same situation occur, 5 miles from home, steam out of the back of the engine.
I would check the tank and fill neck for a crack if you are not over filling it. Our system uses a pressure chamber. If the tank water level is low, the system pressure will also lower at the same temperature. Only way to over pressure it,is to either over fill or over heat.
Mine had a micro crack at my neck which would seep slightly. Replaced the tank, which is a common occurrence.