Gurgling noise when engine is shut off?

MICHELLE WHITE

MEMBER
2008 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER
144,000 MILES

My car started to make a make a gurgling noise when I shut it off this past Sunday. The car had been sitting for about twenty minutes with the engine and AC running so I just thought it was a little overheated (I live in Florida). So I let the car cool down for awhile and everything seemed fine. Since then I noticed that I could hear the gurgling noise every time I shut the car off. Called the mechanic that has worked on my car before and he was not overly worried since the car was not overheating. He suggested it needs a coolant flush. Well last night, after being stuck in crappy rush hour traffic for an hour which I am sure did not help, I noticed that my temperature gauge was going up anytime the car did not move. Even at stop lights. But the gauge would go back down to normal as soon as I started driving. The car has been feeling like it is running a little bit rougher the past few days but that could just be me feeling paranoid. I am dropping it off at the mechanic in the morning, but I am terrified that it is something major and I do not have two pennies to rub together. Any advice?

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,465 POSTS

Hello and welcome to 2CarPros.

Gurgling is 99% of the time a sign of low coolant and the sound is from the air in the coolant passing through the heater core. Same sound you hear in many movies/TV shows and such when they show divers under the water and you hear the gurgle as the air passes by.
First thing to do would be to check the coolant level with the engine cold. If it is low then it is very possible you have a small leak somewhere and it allowed it to draw in air. Repair the leak, pressure test the cooling system to be sure it's sealed and refill with new coolant.

Now not to alarm you but to give you a worst case situation. You say it is running a bit rough. That can be many things, one of them would be a small head gasket leak which is causing a slight misfire. That could also be the coolant leak. In that case the repair could be costly, but it is also a worst case scenario. A leaking hose or fitting is much more common, especially with some of the parts used on those engines.