So I am trying to change my anti-freeze as we speak.

I emptied out my old anti-freeze, cleaned out my radiator with radiator cleaner (Let it sit in there, ran engine for 10 minutes, let engine cool, then drained it out.) Then I repeated that same step with water. I expected everything to be drained and ready to put my anti-freeze in.

I poured my 50/50 mixture of anti-freeze in and turned on the engine to see how it would run. Well the engine temperature skyrockets to the red-zone, just like when I had the cleaner and water in there. My check anti-freeze light stays on. I let the engine run to see if the coolant and water need to mix, etc.

Well, the anti-freeze is dripping out of my car somehow. It's not coming out where the draincock is at the bottom though, its coming out at like the very side by the fender almost, and I have no idea why. It's not like its just a little bit either, I just filled like half a tupperware bowl filled with the anti-freeze.

Could this happen if the draincock was not tight enough all the way? I tried tightning it and I can't get it any tighter. I have one more gallon of anti-freeze and water to use, and I have my engine turned off and letting it cool down. I want to figure out the problem before I drain and re-apply the anti-freeze.

Thanks for reading all this and any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Did you open the petcocks or drain plugs on the side of the block and forgot to close them? Could also be that the radiator cleaner took all the rust out and a freeze out plug is now leaking. The overheating is probably taking place because there is not enough coolant in the system, or there is an air bubble around the t'stat insulating it from the hot coolant, thus keeping it from opening. Run the engine with the radiator cap off, watch the temp gage & shut it down when near the red zone. In the meantime observe th coolant level in the radiator, it will suddenly drop when the t'stat opens. Add coolant as needed. Repeat till things stabilize.

 

The only thing I unplgged was the black **** under the left side of the engine. (reffered to as the draincock in the manual) I didn't know there were plugs on the side of the blocks, but that would make sense to what they are leaking out of. (Because its leaking at 2 points, but not he main drain.)

Theres no reason why it would leak out of these if I never loosened them though, right? I can't really see much because I don't have a jack or anything, but it looks like its just pouring out of nowhere.

I don't know what a freezeout plug is, but that might make sense because nothing was leaking out of there until I used the radiator cleaner? If that is the case, how hard/expensive would that be to fix?

 

freezplugs are on the side of the block, should be brass colored, they may be slightly discolored from age. They are round in shape, slightly larger than a quarter. They are pretty easy to replace, you could probably do it yourself if you drop the engine down.

 

By saying it is spilling out of the fender, do you mean the front passenger side fender by the tire? This was happening to me a while back. The coolant was coming out of the reservoir and I thought I needed a new reservoir, but I just needed a new radiator cap. I didn't think I needed a newcap since the one onthere was a few months old, but a new cap stopped it. If the cap doesn't sustain the pressure (not functioning)at what it's rated, all the coolant will flow into your reservoir, then spill out from there.

Like Z28pete said, run the car with the cap off and monitor it. Don't let the coolantspill and don't let it overheat. There are a couple ofbleeder valves that you can open, but you should put some type of towel to collect the coolant if it starts coming out. Don't forget to close them.Remember, just because the radiator looks full, it doesn't mean that it is and that's probably why the car's temp went up so fast. I have been filling with the car running and the cap off for the last couple times I had to drain the coolant and I have had no problems.