So I was replacing my TB shaft seals to fix a boost leak I had... I couldn't move the clamps on the coolant lines that went to the throttle body... I figured oh well I'll just get needle nose pliers later. So I did a boost leak test... everything was fine no boost leaks. Awesome!

So I take the 2 mile drive to my cousins place to grab some pliers... as I parked the car I noticed the coolant level was unusually high... got the pliers and started driving back to my house. Coolant level starts getting wayyyy too high... pretty much past the H... oil was at 70C too... turned the car off as soon as I got to the garage and noticed a cloud of smoke coming from my engine bay...

COOLANT SPILLED EVERYYYWHERE! Everything smells bad... and the engine bay is all covered in coolant

Just thought I'd post this for everyone to see... don't move your car when you know there are loose lines... it'll bite you in the

Anyways... anyone have a good way to clean up the engine bay? Should I just let the coolant burn off? Or maybe just hose it down with water?

 

Ok. You NEVER drive once the car has overheated. You pull over.

Engine cleaner, hose it down( cover alternator )

You may have blown your headgasket.

 

Well I was 25-30 seconds away from my house I figured I might as well keep driving there? But I get what you're saying. I don't think anything bad happened though. Wouldn't I notice if I blew my headgasket? Bad noise? Visible? Everything was normal just smoke coming from the coolant area (burning off) and the fan was on obviously because it was overheating

 

I bet you warped your head. Driving your car once you've blew a coolant hose is asking for trouble. Don't ask me how I know.

 

I dont quite understand which coolant lines came loose. Could you please clarify?

Using only water to clean off coolant dilutes it. Meaning you will need to use plenty of water to clean off the coolant. I always use a soapy towel to clean coolant spills and oil in the engine bay. Works for me.

 

He's probably talking about the lines shown in the attached picture.

If these lines were left loose coolant would leak out, and the car would overheat eventually. To the original poster - Is that what happened?

 

If the coolant lines to the throttle body were not leaking it could be as simple as a stuck/broken thermostat, or as bad as a blown head gasket.

The head gasket could be leaking combustion pressure into the cooling system. To check for this first loosen the radiator cap one notch to prevent the radiator from pressurizing. Then start the car and let it idle for a minute. Carefully remove the radiator cap and look for air bubbles. Once the thermostat opens, if the coolant starts to overflow a lot you probably have a blown head gasket. You can confirm this with a leak down test.

 

Those are vacuum ports. The coolant lines are under the throttle body. You can actually see one in the picture above

 

DUDE, I did the same exact thing!

Only, when I did a pull, the hose popped off, jetting coolant onto my TB and UICP and made it pop off with sound similar to a gunshot. I thought I blew something up.

I put it back on and drove it for about a mile before the heat spiked from the missing spilled coolant. I pulled over immediately. I let it cool, drove for another 1/4 mile to get into a safe area, and it spiked again just before I turned it off again.

I had a buddy bring some coolant and filled it up, but I did notice a problem after the big temp spikes....

When tuning with e85, my head gasket allowed pressure past on a misfire/boost spike, making my coolant spray out of my radiator cap all over my windshield!


Solution: Headstuds. Never had a problem since. good luck man, hope your damages aren't serious

 

Thanks - picture fixed.

 

Why would you drive around a car that you know has clamps missing/not installed correctly?

Especially boosting and driving it while its overheating.

 

I didn't think it would pop off! =/

I didn't go above 2k rpm when it was overheating... and I didn't drive for more than 2 minutes.

Anyways... I was able to get the hose back on and CLAMPED...

filled up the radiator tank with 6 - 16oz bottles of water, it filled to the top. I turned on the car and it started overflowing... I'm guessing that's because there was too much water.

 

Definitely learned my lesson...

UPDATE

I let the car idle for a few minutes... idle is a little different (no lope anymore) but that could be because I reset the battery? The idle is a little wack and the rpms keep ranging from 1k-1500. Oil pressure is fluctuating too... coolant temp is normal.

There's smoke coming from the radiator cap area... is that a bad sign? Or could it just be coolant burning off?

 

+1
You say your cousin lives 2 miles away. If you knew that the hoses weren't properly connected couldn't you have just walked over there to get the pliers?