My car has been slowly leaking coolant, recently after filling rsvr and driving a few hours, it had strong acidic smell and when turned off, all coolant poured out of reservoir.. What could this be?

30

Asked by Guru5HP9B Jan 18, 2018 at 05:11 PM about the 2002 Cadillac Seville SLS FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My car has been telling me to check coolant every so often, so I do, I add
coolant, and am fine. Recently I had filled it, the day after I was running
errands for a few hours, then I smelled a strong acidic smell, car started to
overheat and as soon as I turned the car off, everything poured out of the
reservoir tank. I do not see any leaks anywhere, although the hose coming
out of the side of the reservoir has acid around it. I noticed my cap was not
sealing, so I replaced that and it seemed to be fine, although, it just told me
to check my coolant level again, so I filled it again, and the next morning,
same exact thing happened again..... ?? Any suggestions??

3 Answers

30

It could be possible that something other than coolant 50/50 was added, not by me, but someone else was messing with it a while back. How would I be able to tell if there's calcium from hard water build up in the radiator? & the car didnt get hot until I pulled up to my destination so Im not sure how hot it would have gotten before I turned it off, but it was going quickly passed the half way mark

2 people found this helpful.
30

I will go check soon as I get a chance, although, last I looked (yesterday morning) there was a little bit of white/green build up on the outside of one of the hoses going to the side of the reservoir, and I think the liquid color inside the reservoir is an orange-ish color

1 people found this helpful.
5,165

These Caddys require Dexron III coolant, also, this is a common problem with the Northstar motor. Be sure there is no oil in the coolant and no coolant in the oil. ( head gasket problems )

1 people found this helpful.

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