Hi everyone. I have a quick question. My car bottomed out in some deep snow, I was digging a path for the tires to grip and revving it to get through it all. Basically the engine had a nice workout just now, so I decided to take a look under the hood - even though the temp gauge was fine.

I noticed my coolant level is now way above the max line and at the top of the cap. It's usually just under the line. Does this mean I have a blockage somewhere in the cooling system? Or could it be my water pump?

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

Honestly, unless the car starts to overheat or the heat doesn't work right, don't worry about it. It's better to have a little too much than not enough. Just give the radiator hoses a quick look to make sure they aren't crushed. You should be fine. The coolant is going to expand with heat so it's possible that you worked it to a higher temperature than normal without leaving the normal working range. The temp gauge doesn't read linearly for temperature so it could be anywhere in the running range. I don;t remember the actual numbers but the middle of the temp gauge can mean anywhere from 180-210 or something like that.

 

Oh ok. Sounds good. Thanks!

 

On my 850 in 110F heat and running the air con, my coolant level does not deviate to that extent in the reservoir!


I would pressure test the cooling system first, but I suspect you might need a new coolant reservoir cap.

 

What color is your coolant reservoir cap? Most of us have a green cap.

People need to be careful when getting a car out of a stuck snow situation. When straining the motor and transmission and the car is not moving, it's easy to overheat the transmission and motor (especially the transmission since we have no gauge on it). I have seen a few people burn up their transmissions trying to get their car unstuck.

As for your coolant raise, I'd check the cap first. If you are sure the cap is good check the level after driving 15 minutes or so. If it is still raising there is a chance that you have a minor head gasket issue.

 

Start checking it more frequently. As long as you don't start losing it and needing to add or showing signs of it overflowing it might just be it was hotter from trying to rock it out of the snow and was showing a little higher due to the strain.
Hope for the best

 

Thanks everyone. Yeah I do need a new reservoir cap. I keep forgetting to order one. Mine leaks. But I'll definitely keep any eye on the coolant level from now on