Afraid of the answer.....

[911monty]

Ok. Good. Is that coolant leaking from the seam?

[robdelorenzo]

I need to go check that next and will report back.

[robdelorenzo]

ok. Thanks for your patience. Here are a few photos and what I just did this afternoon and what happened:









I had the rear of the car lifted overnight with the bleeder valve open. I started the car and ran it until the cooling fans came on. I looked in the drain hole and did not see any fluid moving, but I did stick a dry screwdriver in it and it came out wet.

I do not see any obvious cracks or leaks in or around the coolant tank.
It did start leaking from the overflow as soon as I started the car.
I felt the hose coming from the engine and it was warm. The hose coming from the thermostat was not, even once the cooling fans came on. If the thermostat is stuck closed would this cause the coolant in the engine to heat up enough to where it then is spit back into the overflow? It's a low temp thermostat from Pelican that was put in about 3 months ago that may have been damaged by the meltdown. What would the symptoms be? The temp gauge rises to 180 or so very rapidly and didn't used to do that before the meltdown. If the water pump impeller is melted or missing, would I have these same symptoms as well?

What I simply have not understood yet is why it starts dumping coolant from the overflow as soon as I start the engine from dead cold. In this case it sat all evening.
The new oil does have it purring as it should, so now I just need to understand what's needed to keep it cool.

I appreciate the help. It's not Tuesday yet and I really believe that with your help and experience I can get to the culprit logically and without going broke?

Thank you!

[911monty]

Wow. Good job hanging in there! What a mystery. To answer your question regarding the cooling system hoses, well this is where a bunch of engineers got together and decided to redesign the wheel. So unlike american iron, the thermostat on these engines controls the coolant as it returns from the radiators not to the radiators. So it should be cooler than the coolant from the engine block which is the hot side to the radiators. Confused? Yeah they also designed the IMSB. I think their reason was so that coolant is always circulating through the oil cooler.

The coolant leaking from the overflow is still a question, unbelievable. The last thing I can suggest is this. In your pictures of the hoses on the coolant tank the one with no clamp is the drain hose. Can you remove it preferably at the manifold connection so you can put it in a container? Then start your engine and observe for leak? It has to have a source. I do not believe in magic.

[robdelorenzo]

I can certainly try that.
I don't know where it goes from the other side of the firewall.
It's not the one that goes into the top of the oil cooler, is it?
I'll look for a diagram now before I try that.
I'll be standing by in the mean time.
This car is a Rubik's Cube.
I don't believe in magic either, gremlins are another story though.

[911monty]

Well it's certainly not supposed to be the hose from the top of the oil cooler, but at this point....... If you look at your picture you see the hose with no clamp. It has a short hose that goes to the manifold at the front of the trunk where they pass into the engine compartment.

[robdelorenzo]

Ok. I think I got it. Will go unplug it and put it into a container and start engine and see what happens.

[911monty]

Originally Posted by 911monty

Ok. Good. Is that coolant leaking from the seam?

This was post #84.