My MX3 is going crazy!...help!

[TheBlackMoth]

Hi there, I haven't posted for a while, but my car is in a bit of a state right now...

The engine was running quite oddly about 2 months ago - it lost a bit of power and the idle speed was a bit jumpy, but when the weather got colder this problem disappeared, so I ignored it.

More recently it has warmed up a bit and has been very wet and I was driving the otherday, only to glance at the temperature guage which was maxed out!! Also the heating had stopped working - the blowers would only blow cold air....
I drove it again yesterday and there was still no hot air and about 10 mins into the drive, the temperature guage was reading boiling again, I also noticed that the idle speed had gone right up to 2500 revs..?!

Anyone know whats up here? I don't know if the two problems are linked, but I am going to put some more water in and try starting the car now, to see if theres any difference...

[johnmx3ze]

get some prestone lol or maybe your head gasket is blown... that sucks

[Mad Cow]

Does the engine actually get really hot when the temp gauge is maxed? If not, replace your coolant temperature sensor(s). Or maybe your thermostat is stuck closed.

[Nd4SpdSe]

Or maybe your thermostat is stuck closed.

Ya, I'm thinking the same thing...

[TheBlackMoth]

Cool, i will check that now....The day it happened and the heating broke it was very wet and I was driving through semi-floods.

[TheBlackMoth]

OK, I just filled it up with coolant and water and started her up again and it ran ok, but it squealed very loundly after about a minute... I left it running for about another minute and when I switched the engine off I heard dripping, so I check what was dripping from the engine and it seems like a very thin oil type liquid - like a mixture of water and oil....anyone know what the hell this is? I thought a coolant pipe might have broken, but when I felt the liquid its too oily to be just water....

[johnmx3ze]

OK, I just filled it up with coolant and water and started her up again and it ran ok, but it squealed very loundly after about a minute... I left it running for about another minute and when I switched the engine off I heard dripping, so I check what was dripping from the engine and it seems like a very thin oil type liquid - like a mixture of water and oil....anyone know what the hell this is? I thought a coolant pipe might have broken, but when I felt the liquid its too oily to be just water....

coolant is kind of oily to the touch... you might have a coolant hose leaking... where was the leak???

[Ryan]

Could be anything in the coolant system. Clogged hosery, Rad, heater core, broken pump...the leaky could be a bad hose seal or a bad gasket... what colour is the fluid? yellow/green?

[TheBlackMoth]

Thanks for the quick response, I couldnt see exactly where it was coming from, but its a kind of yellow/browny colour...

[Ryan]

hm, it could be many things, as many things are brown-y, including burnt coolant. But so is oil. tranny fluid is reddish, brake/clutch is blackish (right?)

[fowljesse]

How much coolant do you lose per mile? Stop every ten miles, and see if it's low.

[TheBlackMoth]

Given the fact is was over heating, surely its most likely to be burnt coolant no? I think there must be a bad leak, as about 1/4 of a litre came out in the space of less than a minute...

[Whisper]

Is there any oil in your coolant?

[Daninski]

1. If your coolant is low or if you have a air lock fluid may not get to your TB so the sensor will think the engines cold and keep the revs up.
2. No fluid means "no heat" and a quickly over heating engine.
3. Fluid under car sounds big time like anti freeze.
The End

[marcdh]

Do a compression test. Can you pinpoint where the liquid emanates?