Hello,
I'm new here and am not sure if I'm posting in the right place but am having a major overheating issue. For the past couple of weeks my car has been displaying low engine coolant on the dash so everyday before I drive it I'd be sure to check the coolant levels which appear to be quite full. I did notice around one area of the engine there were white dried spots or splashes as if fluid had been seeping out. Occasionally after driving the car 20-30 mins on the highway coming to my destination, I would smell the coolant from the car and hear the fan running but there was no leak under the car and the temperature gauge inside always remained in the center. After checking the coolant level and adding more needed I drove from Riverside to L.A. on the freeway about an hour drive, i did so i noticed the temperature gauge was slightly above half. Once i got off the freeway and was stopped at a red light the temp gauge began to climb quickly. I immediately pulled over and turned the car off in an attempt to hault the heating process. After 20 mins i proceeded to my destination which was 3 blocks away from the freeway exit and as i parked the car the gauge had gone from the center and into the red zone. I turned the car off abs could smell the coolant and hear the fan at a high speed again and there was no smoking of the car or anything. After being at my destination for about an hour and a half allowing the car cool off, i attempted to drive to a nearby gas station to put water in the vehicle,before i could get there I noticed the car smoking so i pulled over again and popped the hood. To my surprise i saw that some sort of cap appeared to be broken off the top front of the engine and all the coolant had come or. I will attempt to post a picture of the engine in hopes that someone could tell me what the past is and how to fix it. To make matters worse this happened last night,Christmas eve, and most places are closed today. Please help.
Thanks.

 

That would be the thermostat housing or otherwise known as the thermostat riser. It actually looks like you may have a replacement aluminum housing, but if noit, you probably lost the cap due to the plastic breaking down. There appears to be a crack at the front lip, I think. Anyway, there are several archived threads about the way to replace the riser without removing the intake manifold, which is the way the book says to do it. My advice is to get an aftermarket aluminum thermostat housing online, along with a new thermostat, then break thge old plastic one apart with some pliers so you can get to the rear bolts (actually hex head screws). Replace the screws with socket head cap screws so you can get the wrench to them. I\The parts are about $ 125. for the housing and thermostat online, and one hour of labor should put it together.
Merry Christmas!

 

The hose from the cross over pipe to the thermostat housing is also showing signs of too much pressure. I suspect that unless all have been changed sometime in the last half dozen years it would be a very good idea to replace everything from the radiator to the engine. That would include the upper and lower hoses, the cross over pipe and certainly the distended short piece of hose in addition to the thermostat and housing. Probably time for a good coolant system flush also.

I would suggest that you paint the bright aluminum housing black or it will stand out on the otherwise all black engine.

SNG Barratts had the best price on the aluminum housing a month ago and just lowered the price on the cross over pipe to be the best on the net. They give forum members a discount but check their listings on eBay for comparison.

 

Be very careful of driving around with an aluminum engine that's overheating as it wouldn't take much at all for that power plant to seize.