over heating

[scorched]

hey guys, i have an 03 cobra with 39k on the clock

i was driving tonight normally, not getting on it at all, when i feel the car hesitate slightly while accelerating, almost like a stumble or a miss. about a min later a begin to smell antifreeze and notice my temp gauge is reading higher then normal. i then throw on the heater on full blast, but only cold air is coming out, not hot like you would expect

i then pull over and pop the hood. all the coolant seems to have come out of the overflow cap. i slowly start to unscrew it, it then hisses and then more coolant continues to flow out of the system. i did not see any oil in the coolant, or anything out of the ordinary, other then the coolant being at the top of the tank

any idea what this could be? t-stat? waterpump? i have had the car for a 1 year/10k miles, and never had the coolant system opened, the coolant level always read on the normal level on the overflow tank

any help is much appreciated!

 

[03cobra#694]

I don`t think it`s the waterpump. The caps have been known to go bad. Might just want to get the Reisch 170* stat and a new cap and be done with it.

 

[P49Y-CY]

you've had it for a year and the cooling system hasn't been touched recently? all was running fine until this?

my guess is the t-stat failed

+1 get joel's t-stat

best of luck with it :beer:

 

[scorched]

so it sounds like it should be the t-stat? i just ordered one from lethal, hopefully that fixes the issue. i will go and pick up a new cap just to be safe.

could it possibly be anything else?

 

[DarkMach1]

Change cap and burp system, leave t-stat alone for now.

 

[scorched]

what type of coolant do you guys recommend when i refill? or does it really not matter?

 

[prostkr]

Double check that your fan is working, they fail quite a bit too. Motorcraft gold if that's what is still in it. I don't like mixing brands of coolant.

 

[scorched]

yea, the fan is still functioning. i forgot to put that in my original post. oops

 

[DarkMach1]

what type of coolant do you guys recommend when i refill? or does it really not matter?

I believe I used Prestone yellow. Use a 70/30 mix of DISTILLED water and coolant, respectively, make sure you follow the burp procedure.

 

[mec03svt]

Change cap and burp system, leave t-stat alone for now.

agree. don't do everything at once so you can isolate issues. burp it for sure.

 

[scorched]

new t-stat and radiator cap. burped the car. its good to go. thanks a lot guys!