Leaking Antifreeze/Overheating???

About a month and a half ago i was driving around and i noticed that my temp gauge was getting above 210, and it was hot as a mofo outside with no AC, so i pull over at wendys to get me a drink and antifreeze is just pouring from underneath my car. I pop the hood and i notice that its coming from the reserve spewing from underneath the cap. i let it sit and put new antifreeze in it and have it towed over to my buddys house. he looked it over and said that it ws just a bad mix and said that the radiator was fine and the hoses were fine and ever since its been doing great! no leaking no overheating. well me and some buddies headed to Uwharrie wednesday and while we were riding the trails smoke was coming from the passengers side and i pulled over and cut it off and it happened but this time it didnt leak all of the antifreeze out so i let it cool and filled it back up and drove it back to the campsite and it did it again. i drove it home (about a 90 min drive) having to pull over once on the highway and it spewed out again, still coming from underneath the cap on the reserve tank. i get it home and suprisingly it didnt leak. i woke up the next day and drove it to get my brother which was about a 15 min drive. (Another HOT day) and when i got to his house it leaked out again. i let it sit but i didnt need to add any antifreeze to it, the tank was still full, but yet it was still coming form underneath the cap still. so i drive it back home and it didnt leak at all.i havent drove it since and was wondering if the cap could be the prob or if putting too much antifreeze in the reserve could cause that or what? the funny thing is...since ive been back form uwharrie the temp guage has been below 210 which is normal. any help would be appreciated. Thanks

The turtle pressure tank and cap are always suspect, also one bad overheat can ruin a thermostat. The overheating on the hiway kind of rules out the fan clutch. Might want to consider an aluminum surge tank instead of the plastic one, the aluminum and steel ones take a normal radiator cap and have a provision for adding a plastic overflow bottle.
Your turtle is a pressure cap and they do go bad..alot.

i got a new cap form the jeep place yesterday and put it on but the wierd thing is...you go to tighten the cap and it will feel like its tight and then it will just kinda slip off the thread and start over again and you kinda have to guess where its as tight as it will go. but can too much antifreeze in the tank cause that? cause i know it expands and only way out is the cap..just wondering

Cherokeekid88 said:

i got a new cap form the jeep place yesterday and put it on but the wierd thing is...you go to tighten the cap and it will feel like its tight and then it will just kinda slip off the thread and start over again and you kinda have to guess where its as tight as it will go. but can too much antifreeze in the tank cause that? cause i know it expands and only way out is the cap..just wondering

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I had that very same problems. Turns out a bad thermostat caused it to overheat and ruined the cap. A good cap should go on snug. You will know when it's on tight.

look here too.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=92448

So the past 2 days its been doing good, no leaking not getting above 210 and its all been gravy. Well i drive it this morning over to my girlfriends house and was fine, no leaking no overheating. i got to drive home abd had a few stops to make and got almost home when it got above 210 and i pulled over and it started leaking again. this time it leaked from up underneath the cap and from the front but it really didnt look like it was coming from the radiator but it was def leaking from the front. so i let it sit and drove it home and parked it and no leaking!...so my buddy thinks im having a circulation prob but im not sure.

Search "burping" your problem could be air in the system. An air bubble in the wrong spot messes with the coolant flow, the coolant will eventually boil in the head and cause the surge tank cap gyser thing.
I fill my surge tank a little below half full, I could probably put a little more in there (maybe up to half or slightly above), but what I have is working well, so I leave it alone. As long as the bottom hole in the surge tank (turtle) is covered when the motor is cold you should be OK.
I've had mine boil over, because of an air bubble in the system after a thermostat replacement, because of a pin hole leak in the radiator, because of a cracked surge tank and because of a leak at the bottom radiator hose where it connects to the water pump. I'm guessing the leaks allowed enough coolant to leak out, that the bottom hole in the surge tank got uncovered when the motor cooled back down after being parked for awhile and then the system sucked some air, which messed with the flow and boiled me over the next time I drove it.
I often check the coolant level in the surge tank, before I start it up in the morning. I've had way to many surge tanks (and other places) spring leaks and cause me grief, not to keep a close eye on the coolant level.

you can get a new crown auto replacement tank for about $20. Do this. After I held up the new one to the old one I realized how distorted the old one was. I think that yout tank is distorted where the cap threads on.
THe tank should be filled to the top of the post, about half way.
If you drill some small holes at 6 and 12 o'clock on te flange of the thermostat it will self burp. Search for 5-90's posts on that, he's posted pictures.

Just make sure once you get it fixed finally you wash down the engine compartment good....especially where the coolant's been leaking...that stuff excellerates the rust on anything metal under there...namely the top of the radiator.

So if it's running hot on the trail but fine on the highway, the fan clutch is suspect?

RichP said:

The turtle pressure tank and cap are always suspect, also one bad overheat can ruin a thermostat. The overheating on the hiway kind of rules out the fan clutch. Might want to consider an aluminum surge tank instead of the plastic one, the aluminum and steel ones take a normal radiator cap and have a provision for adding a plastic overflow bottle.
Your turtle is a pressure cap and they do go bad..alot.

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So how do you get ahold of one of these metal surge tanks? my plastic one on my 89 Comanche 4.0 is always blowing coolant out of it and every time i get a new cap it slips when it starts to get tight.
Brandon

brandonmcnulty said:

So how do you get ahold of one of these metal surge tanks? my plastic one on my 89 Comanche 4.0 is always blowing coolant out of it and every time i get a new cap it slips when it starts to get tight.
Brandon

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Do a search on surge tanks, I posted a specific post just with links to them.