Q: Overheating.

asked by on December 29, 2016

I am having an issue where my car is overheating. The Anti-freese is spitting out form the breathing hole of the resovior. Can a leaking resovior cause this problem. Or do I need a new thermostats.

My car has 375000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

Thermostat Replacement $157.20 - $759.78 Get a Quote
Radiator Replacement $353.55 - $1403.40 Get a Quote

Hi There, This can be caused by a number of things such as low coolant levels, a faulty thermostat, a clogged radiator or a failing coolant fan switch. The coolant fan switch helps to maintain the proper coolant temperature by turning on and off at specific temperature thresholds. When this switch is not working properly, this can cause the fans to come on intermittently, all the time or sometimes not at all. When this happens you will notice a temperature spike and drop occasionally as the fan comes on and off. If the thermostat is not working properly or is stuck closed, this will not allow the coolant to properly circulate through the engine, which may cause the engine temperature to fluctuate erratically or in some cases just remain hot. You may also have a water pump that is beginning to fail. Water pumps often times will begin to produce a bit of a whining sound when they are starting to fail. A common problem also associated with this is the water pump may begin to leak around the water pump shaft due to the seal being damaged. In addition to leaking around the pump, you may have a leak elsewhere in the cooling system coming from one of the hoses going to or from the radiator. By the car overheating, this can cause the coolant to be put under extreme pressure causing it to spew out of the breather hole as you describe. I would suggest having an expert from Your Mechanic come to your home to diagnose your cooling system.

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