Smoke / Steam from Oil Cap

[Carr]

Hi all,

I have noticed that my temp gauge has been getting a bit high (bit over half sometimes approaching 2/3) and my engine bay seemed to get rather hot. This problem started a few months back. I have had my water pump changed and a full coolant flush about 2 months back. After doing this the problem hadn't come back until about a week or 2 ago.

After parking one afternoon I could hear a hiss noise from under the bonnet, it was my coolant which appeared to be boiling. I also noticed a bit of oil around the oil cap (which I had cleaned the week before), so I took it off and there was steam or smoke coming out. I can't see any sign water/oil contamination, though it is hard to tell with the coolant as the mechanic used a blue one. The engine has also used about 1 litre of oil since christmas and it is reasonably dirty already after about 5,000km's. I haven't check my plugs yet, but will be doing another oil change next weekend so I will check them then.

Anyone have any ideas if there is something wrong?

Cheers
Chris

p.s. I did try to search, but couldn't get any topics up as the search words were too common.

[buddha102]

well, if the coolant is boiling then the cap for coolant is not working properly, get a new one. Cap should be holding pressure, if its not then the boiling point of cooling system is down instead of up by (example) 24 degrees Fahrenheit

U should told him to get green one instead of blue.... i mean wtf?

what color is coming out of tail pipe?

[Big Jeff]

well, if the coolant is boiling then the cap for coolant is not working properly, get a new one. Cap should be holding pressure, if its not then the boiling point of cooling system is down instead of up by (example) 24 degrees Fahrenheit

the seal could of gone

[Carr]

I didn't realise there was a different colour for coolant, I assumed they were all green. I will probably change it again in the coming weeks as I want to put in a new thermostat to see if that helps any, even if it doesn't it won't hurt. I did clean the cap when I did the service over christmas as there was a little bit of gunk build-up. I will look at a new cap to see if it helps too.

I don't have any smoke or liquid coming from the exhaust. There was a little black water when I revved it hard about 4 months ago but it only happened twice and hasn't happened again.

When my water pump was done, I had them check my oil pump too but it was all ok. I am not getting any warning lights on the dash and there are no leaks anywhere that I can see.

Cheers
Chris

[nubira88]

hey the smoke out of the oil cap is normal just after you have been running..... your boiling issue maybe your "cap" or your radiator needs servicing as its a "cross flow" design. it has been hot here this summer in australia. if your car performs normaly at night or on cool days and stays in the norm heat range its more likley your rad needs rodding out any good radiator shop should do this for $100 or so if you take it out and to them. try the thermostat it maybe locked shut i take it your nubi is a 2.0 i think we deleted the 1.6 after a short time here as its not adequite lol.. oh and change the coolant back to green or red blue is a weird color 1 litre of oil usage in 5000 kms is not to bad this could be because of the extra heat your engine is making.. myne uses a lil more oil than that i think i may have a shot ring rings my 1.6 does have to pushed to haul my cars ass around but im not going to waste my time with this engine im planing on swapping it to 2.0 an selling the redone head or complete engine as they are in high demand good luck

[buddha102]

try things that are not expensive, example: cap, thermostat then go to bigger things: radiator, etc.

[Carr]

Thanks for the replies.

I had another look at my coolant last night and it is actually green, just very dark green and looks blue under the torch I was using. The car seems to love the rainy weather but the temp will sometimes still rise to half and drop back to about 2/5ths while waiting for lights to change. I was driving around for a while with the air con on to make sure the fans were on, this seemed to stop the temp coming up but it did jump upto 2/3rds once. I know I need to replace the acc fan as it is very noisy but still works. The fans don't seem to switch on until it is fairly hot so I swapped the fast and slow fan relays to see if one was faulty but they seem to be fine, I haven't got around to checking the control relay yet but it is on the list of things to do.

I am glad to hear that the smoke from the oil cap is normal when the engine is hot. My top end is rather noisy so I was quite concerned. I think i am losing a bit of oil from the cap, but not a great deal but enough to put a thin layer around the 2 bolts either side of it (about 1inch either side). A new one is also on the to do list as is getting a stethascope (spelling?) with a needle point to track down all my engine noises.

Thanks again
Chris

[nubira88]

your engine sounds normal to me. mine is rather noisy and unrefined when pushed daewoo thing.. try a new thermostat first yes i gathered you would anyway i would see how things are but i think you will find your radiator may need a flush or reco had this problem with my camiras my woo hasnt needed this as yet but maybe it has always had coolent good servicing on the cooling system. replace the fan also secondhand one should be cheap maybe its not powering up enough or maybe the radiator can wait till next summer winter is on aproach though i understand qld still gets warmer than nsw good luck

[wolfsreign]

i have the same "problem" with my coolant boiling/bubbling....
a while back i was driving and my thermostat broke (more like split) apart.. and imo... thats the WORST idea for a thermostat.. the domestic cars in US allow you to take the housing apart to replace the stat.. as i wanted to do, i wanted to put like a 165F or 170F in there.. but came to realize.. once taken apart.. basically wont stay together, anyway
when i go driving and everything heats up, i park and i can hear my coolant in the reservoir bubble... and if i fill it up to the correct amount, it bubbles out when its hot. @.@

so you guys/girls say the cap is faulty?
ill take a look and bang it against the ground a few times and tie it on hella tight this time.

[buddha102]

the caps "job" is to put the pressure in cooling system to greater the boiling temperature. (ex: 170 the coolant boils, add 20 degrees F more then it boils at 190 which should never happen)

As I said, try the cap 1st, easy and cheap way to check, or do the "cap sealing/holding" pressure test, you pump it to the number that says it holds how much PSI (15 psi example, if it doesint then its bad, if it does than its good)

best thing to do its just to get it from Auto Zone, test the cap, and after u check the cap, return it back to them for refund, thats how i did it.