water shooting out of radiator when cold

[deceiver]

strangest thing I have ever seen..

had a problem with over heating and boiling the water out of the radiator, so I go to replace the thermestat, it's too easy not to try first.. well there isn't one, so I put the new one in there... now when I crank the engine the cap on the resevour blows off and sprays coolant like a water hose.. I opened up the radiator cap to see wth was going on.. crank the motor.. I get a gieser on my front bumper.. never seen anything like it.

engine is cold, I just had the head resurfaced (blown gasket). this is just cranking the motor.. any ideas?

[mechanicaldj]

the most likely cause is a blown head gasket or cracked head or block. did you just buy it?

[deceiver]

so you think the compression from the piston is pushing water.. the thing is that there is no smoke when it is running and it runs pretty smooth considering the age (180k miles).. Like I said I just changed the head gasket on it, and it sealed up good.. the head checked out ok for cracks as I had it proper checked before putting it back on to avoid any such mess.

I was thinking waterpump, but I really can't imagine how it would push that much water just turning the key. I've got a spare stiva that I can pull the motor from, but I'd rather not for obvious reasons... need more ideas.

[Festiva_newbie]

Re: water shooting out of radiator when cold

I get a gieser on my front bumper..

Neato. I agree. Never heard anything like it. Sounds entertaining though. I'd probably do it over and over again cause it sounds pretty hilarious. But that's just me, cause some dude told me to be more serious, quit joking around, cause I need to grow up. That's fine, I can grow up all I want and mature a little more, but I'd still want a gieser on my front bumper!

[mechanicaldj]

and did you have the block decked too?

how did you blow an head gasket in the first place?

maybe after blowing the head gasket you cracked the block.

how reputable is your machine shop?

[deceiver]

I think I found the problem, have not gotten out to the car to check, but I think it is the small hose on the thermastat housing, which got torn when we pulled the head off, so I replaced it with what I had - fuel line which pinched when tightened down.. I'm going to replace it today and see if that fixes the problem. if not I'll pull spark plugs until I don't get the water shooting effect which would prove the block is cracked, or head, or whatever.

[deceiver]

that didn't fix the problem, removed the plugs one at a time, shoots water out if any one of them are in, and it fine when they are all removed.. definatly a big problem.. I guess I'll be pulling the motor out. sucks as I just got this one registered and already started paying insurance on it.

At least now I have an excuse to get a BP and put it in my other festiva.