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Coolant expansion anomaly 900

posted by  j.pelchat on  Thu Aug 10 16:14 CST 2017
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last visit: Fri Oct 24 07:02 CST 2014
[RELATED]

On the road from DC to Boston. One day after about hour and half on highway and the half hour stop and go city driving, coolant is pouring out of expansion tank. I think it started right when we parked.
Went for a walk in the city and after a full cooling, tank was about two cups short. Topped off and drove on. No apparent problems since.
Wondering what might have caused this. Is it overheating? Dash gauge shows straight up in the middle. First thought is thermostat. Any thoughts?
--
89 240 wagon, 94 940, 215K, 94 940, 141K








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    Coolant expansion anomaly 900

    posted by  james_a_sousa on  Sat Sep 2 17:57 CST 2017
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    last visit: Thu Oct 23 18:51 CST 2014
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    What happened to your car before the trip? Was it serviced by someone other than you?

    With our '88 745 GLE, whenever a tech serviced the car and topped off the antifreeze, it would spit out about an inch from the reservoir in the first few days, and remain at that point until the next service.

    since the car was an older car, my daughter had to check fluids and tire pressure every Saturday, or lose the car for a week, so we kept good track of coolant level.

    Finally, I marked the level that the car liked with a magic marker, and labeled it FULL. We never lost any coolant after that.








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    Coolant expansion anomaly 900

    posted by  j.pelchat on  Tue Aug 15 07:57 CST 2017
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    last visit: Fri Oct 24 07:02 CST 2014
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    Back home without further incident. 1700 miles, no additional coolant loss.
    I think Spooks analysis was good. Thermostat changed June, 2014
    --
    89 240 wagon, 94 940, 215K, 94 940, 141K








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      Coolant expansion anomaly 900

      uid 46171's pic
      posted by  kittysgreyvolvo on  Tue Aug 15 11:40 CST 2017
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      last visit: Sat Oct 18 15:23 CST 2014
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      Topped off with a coolant mix or tap water. Tap water has minerals as you know that can form a precipitate to block. Use pre-mix or distilled, so you can keep the coolant at a 50 / 50 mix.

      Did you use A/C at the time all was boiling over? May want to check the A/C condenser fan function. (Though for some reason I keep imagining, incorrectly, the condenser fan engages when the coolant temp in the radiator gets to a temp threshold.

      Also, as aforementioned by someone claiming to be Charles, the pressure caps do fail.

      Just for a lark, it may not hurt to check for leaky cylinder head gasket symptoms where cylinder compression gets into the coolant jacket. One method is to feel how quickly the upper radiator hose fills with pressure. The normal way as coolant gets hot after some five or so minutes running or quickly when cold.

      Though my 1990 240 drinks coolant, without exterior leaks, the radiator hose does not fill with pressure before the coolant heats up. The exhaust gaskets are crumbly and need a replace.
      --
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    Coolant expansion anomaly 900

    posted by  someone claiming to be Charles on  Sun Aug 13 17:53 CST 2017 [RELATED]

    I had coolant pouring out of the expansion tank once and a new cap fixed the problem.








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    Coolant expansion anomaly 900

    posted by  spook on  Fri Aug 11 12:37 CST 2017
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    last visit: Fri Oct 24 08:06 CST 2014
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    Dear j.pelchat,

    Hope you're well. Very high ambient temps and stop-and-go driving - along with a sticky thermostat - could have caused a "boil over". When the care was parked after the driving you described, there was no air cooling the engine. The coolant - already heat-saturated - was briefly super-heated.

    Did the electric cooling fan come on and continue to run, after you parked?

    When was the thermostat last changed?

    Hope this helps.

    Yours faithfully,

    Spook








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      Coolant expansion anomaly 900

      posted by  j.pelchat on  Sat Aug 12 05:43 CST 2017
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      last visit: Fri Oct 24 07:02 CST 2014
      [RELATED]

      Spook thanks for that. The fan was not running on after shut off and I don't know about the thermo as I am away from home. Lots of driving since the incident with no other problems.
      --
      89 240 wagon, 94 940, 215K, 94 940, 141K







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