Steam/smoke from radiator near cap?

[Fuzzylogic]

'93 2.3L 5-speed coupe.

So I overheated the other day, and I've replaced the tstat. The tstat I believe was stuck open, as before (stupid me, I thought the temp gauge was inop) my temp gauge barely read any temp, until I overheated. So I've replaced the tstat and the temp gauge works fine now.

I'm not getting anything mixed with my oil or white smoke, so I haven't checked the compression yet, but near the radiator cap, upper left of the radiator, as the engine warms I'm getting a decent amount of steam or light smoke. My upper radiator hose which I understand is supposed to be hot, is VERY hot.

I have yet to see my fan turn on, I don't know if it did when I was overheating. So I'm not sure if it's a bad radiator, water pump, or...?

Any thoughts/ideas or things to check would be appreciated, I'm doing all this for the first time so it's a little daunting. Your help is so appreciated.

Thanks, gents!

 

[Red_LX]

If there's steam coming off the radiator, you've got a leak. Should be easy to spot because it will be wet around the area of the leak.

And the upper hose is supposed to be very hot...the coolant coming off the engine will be about 200 degrees.

Also the stock fan doesn't come on until a very high temp...very close to overheating.

 

[Fuzzylogic]

You guys here are so awesome with fast replies and good info.

I can definitely see where it's leaking, and my fan is kicking on and keep the temp down now.

So should I hunt down a replacement radiator, or contact a repair shop? I might be going with a 2.3T in the future, if that changes anything?

 

[Red_LX]

Well...it's up to you. If the hole looks small, you can try running some of that radiator sealer stuff they sell in the bottles, but it can be bad about gunking up your radiator (it clogged up the tube to the overflow tank on my mustang). You could also take it to a repair shop but it'll cost you, or if it's a really minor leak...you could just leave it.

BTW the radiator you have now is the same one the V8 got...so it'll be fine for a 2.3 Turbo.

 

[GT40 2]

My car overheated and boiled over today, I dont know whats causing it. I already replaced the thermostat.