My Car Broke Down Again

I think it's plastic parts are turning brittle and cracking.
When I got in my car to go to class, it said "Check Coolant."
There was hardly any left! It had dripped out sometime last night or this morning.

What worries me is that it dripped right next to where I feed my ferals.
I really hope that none of them licked any of it up.
I am worried sick!

Well, my car is still dead, but I'm so happy because I just saw my kittens alive and well.

Good news about the ferals, bad news about the car.
Do you thnk the coolant dripped out or did the car overheat & it blew out?

I'm so glad to hear your ferals are okay.

As for the car, I can sympathize. (DH just got our older car home from the mechanic's) If you have some fluid, it might be worthwhile to put a pail under where the leak went and pour some in, just to see where it's leaking. If it's just a tube, or a cracked seal, that's not too bad to fix.

you might want to check the radiator as sometimes they do corrode at the seems and corners a slow leak can turn into a fast leak quickly, also check all your pipes to the radiator.

Do you have air con because aircon does leak water to and will bring on a coolant light on a car

what type of a car do you have. just because slowly topping up the water wont nessaserally show you where a leak is coming from as there might be a hairline crack in a pipe that will only open up once a car is started and moving

right service adviser cap off now hehe

Originally Posted by libby74

Good news about the ferals, bad news about the car.
Do you thnk the coolant dripped out or did the car overheat & it blew out?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure, I hadn't driven since yesterday, and nothing was coming out when I set their food down. This morning, it was dripping when I moved the car to my assigned spot (I've been parking in guest parking to make sort of a cover for the cats). I would guess that it leaked out.

I'm not sad about the car... it's 13 years old, and has lost coolant from different parts several times in the past year (including the heater core... I didn't think the heater was worth saving!).

ETA: It's a Ford Escort. I wouldn't doubt that it's parts are cracking!

could be cylinder head gasket to water goes quite quickly then

If you're really, really lucky, it could be what we truckers call a "cold water leak." What that means is that it leaks only when the engine gets cold. This is almost always at a place like a hose clamp or some such thing. When it's hot, it expands and everything is tight. When it cools off, you lose coolant. Very common on trucks.

So, have someone check to be sure all the hose clamps are tight. These days, most manufacturers use odd clamps that you might have to replace them to tighten them.