Does coolant boil out and bursts if it's very low level and hot outside and AC is running?
300

Asked by Daaani Sep 26, 2016 at 08:13 PM about the 2004 Kia Spectra LS

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I was driving on a triple digit temperature
day and running the AC and going stop
and go an up the hill and engine starting
getting very hot!!! I drove a little more and
since it wasn't going down obviously I
pulled over and under the hood where the
gauge for the coolant is, I could see that is
was literally bubbling and could hear it
hiss. It also must have boiled over because
I could see the coolant liquid on the plate
that holds the battery and a little on the left
wing of the car dripping...
Is possible because the conditions I
mentioned and the coolant being VERY
LOW that it happened, or could something
else be in place here?
Thank you

3 Answers
103,435

KenF answered 8 years ago

Low coolant will cause an engine to overheat, so you did right by stopping before the motor conked out. Refill the coolant to proper levels (and use proper 50/50 coolant mix). After running the engine keep an eye on the coolant level to make sure you're not leaking any.

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300

Daaani answered 8 years ago

I filled up the coolant ! I drove with it today when I was super high my engine didn't get hotter then normal , but I could see traces of new coolant that sprayed out on the insides under the hood... Are some cars that are poorly made not able to withstand the heat and the pressure or something may be leaking somewhere?

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103,435

KenF answered 8 years ago

I don't recommend driving when super high heh... :) If you replaced a hose and topped off on coolant, you need to bleed air out. Basically refill radiator to about half, run engine with radiator cap off until it warms up and thermostat opens, you should see the coolant get sucked into engine and maybe some older coolant (and a lot of air) come out of radiator tubes. If you filled radiator to max before bleeding air, it will be forced to expel a lot of coolant initially. So check your coolant levels again and make sure to bleed the air out.

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