On another thread I posted about my idler pulley disintegrating which threw the belt, and thus the car overheated. Towed home. I replaced the pulley and belt last night and went to fill the radiator.....only to watch fluid run down the driveway. Upon closer inspection, there is a huge hole blown in the side of the plastic radiator tank! Do these cars have a closed cooling system I take it?! Or is there something else wrong that caused this? Would think the pressure would bleed off via the overflow? Or do these cars not have this?

 

Do you think the pulley hit the radiator when it came off?

 

That would be my guess. Pressure wouldn't blow a hole in it. either the pulley or the belt probably wacked it and broke a hole in it. You probably didn't overheat, just struck a big leak

 

I dunno. The split starts right below the upper radiator hose neck and goes down the side of the tank about half way down...dont think anything could hit it there. I'll post pics.

 

This is the driver's side tank that is split....

 

You didnt notice that while putting the new pulley on, and before putting coolant in it?

Pressure blew that out.......I'd guess it overheated just a bit....

 

Yeah, I couldnt believe I didnt see it either. That side of the radiator is pretty well hidden when it's in the car.

 

Time to explain to the GF that when she see's old faithful erupt under the hood that its time to shut it down and look for someplace to coast to a stop.....hopefully the top end is OK?

Did she see how hot it got before stopping?

 

She said no lights came on or anything on the dash. I gotta imagine that thing would light up like a christmas tree on crack!? She did pull over once she saw steam, but it was too late.......

Do I maybe need to replace my radiator cap? I would think these cars have some sort of pressure relief system? Overflow? No?

 

What seems more likely to me is that the pulley-belt combo hit the radiator housing causing a crack. The crack burst open when the system was pressurized again. Not to generalize but most women don't notice anything about the car they're driving unless a wheel comes off or something!

 

I was thinking the same, but where the radiator split, there's no way anything hit it as it's pretty tucked into the core support. I dunno.....maybe you're right! I have it running again with a new radiator and it seems exactly the way it was before all of this.

 

Hide the keys
Get a new girlfriend???

 

About 4 in 10 would notice that. The other 6 need a more direct symptom, like car won't go when gas pedal pushed, before considering the car's behavior unusual.

 

This also happened to my dad's BMW 528i awhile ago and steam was also coming out of the engine...radiator tank cracked and coolant leaked out slowly. Just chalk it up to wear and tear, time, weather, etc. Things get old and fail. Good as new after replacing the the plastic tank.