Coolant coming from the radiator reservoir?

Tiny
RLHARRIS83
  • MEMBER
  • 2010 FORD EXPLORER
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 180,000 MILES
Yesterday I was coming home after an hour drive and the car started to overheat. I maintained a lower speed and it regulated the temperature. Got coolant and sealant for possible leak. Started driving and it seemed fine until driving about 120 km on the autobahn. I noticed a somewhat loud humming. When I stopped, I noticed coolant coming from the reservoir at the top. I'm not sure what it is at this point.
Wednesday, April 12th, 2023 AT 4:45 AM

2 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,443 POSTS
First thing is to never add a sealant to the cooling system, 99% of them cause more problems than they claim to solve because they have a bad habit of plugging coolant passages in the heater core and radiator. As to your issue, when you say it overheated, was it steaming and spraying coolant or had a light on saying it was hot? I assume you added coolant? Was it actually a cold engine and low coolant when you added it? Not sure what would cause a humming sound other than possibly the cooling fans.
My first thing would be to do a cooling system drain, flush and refill. On that vehicle Ford recommends you use a vacuum filling process though because you can get air pockets trapped in the engine using a conventional fill method. This will give you an idea of the basic process.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/coolant-flush-and-refill-all-cars

This video shows the vacuum filling process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WCRcuCZI50
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Thursday, April 13th, 2023 AT 8:56 AM
Tiny
BRENDON S
  • MECHANIC
  • 653 POSTS
Hello RLHARRIS83,

The absolute thing I would do first is a coolant pressure test. This will show if you are losing coolant externally or internally. I am adding an article for you to help aid in doing this test. I will also add a picture of the tester.

Here is the article:
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

When conducting this test, pump it up to what is on your radiator cap. Yours should be 16 psi. If you don't not see any external leaks, leave the test tester on for about a half an hour and come back and see if the needle has moved. If so, this could indicate an internal leak.

*Whatever you do please do not put any sealant in the cooling system. It will cause all types of issues and cause you to have to spend a lot of money replacing water pump, radiator, heater core. Please avoid using this.*

Also, if you can, try not to drive it as it can warp the heads or destroy the engine which will cause a costly repair as well.

Thank you,
Brendon
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Thursday, April 13th, 2023 AT 9:01 AM

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