Hi,

This morning I Jumped in the car to take my daughter to school. Typically after a few minutes of driving the heater kicks on and the interior temperature warms up. Today was particularly cold (13º). I made it all the way to her school 10 minutes away, and noticed the vehicle temp was going. I popped the hood and coolant overflow was going all over the place, and the coolant was boiling.

I let it cool down, and then headed to work (about a 5 mile drive from her school) I made it about 2 miles and pulled over, It was overheating. I Let it cool down for 10 minutes or so, then finished the drive to work, (stopping for a jug of coolant).

Anyway, This is the first time it has overheated, and I'm not sure where to begin diagnosing the culprit. My coolant reservoir has been a little low, but certainly not dry.

tl;dr: Cold Morning, Heater wasn't working, Car was overheating.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

Need to do a exhaust gas test. What color coolant are you using and have you done any maintenance or what?

 

Another possibility is coolant that is too diluted and froze enough to plug your heater core. You may have some ice in your radiator also. A check of the mix might be in order. They sell gauges for a few dollars that measure the specific gravity of the coolant to indicate the freeze point.

 

Don't drive it till you refill the coolant bottle to the lid, bleed it if you know how and limp to or tow it to your favorite shop before you toast that engine.

 

Coolant turned to slush because the ratio was not correct, to much coolant or to much water will cause this, you cant pump slush through the engine/radiator.
Bad water pump will also cause this.
I think if it was a blown head gasket you would still have had heat until the coolant was gone.
Thermostat not opening would cause this too.