Weird radiator/cooling problem

[Mrpeabody]

Long-time lurker, first-time caller...

Had a strange thing happen with my P5 last weekend on the NJ Turnpike. I'm on there for about 15 minutes, when I notice smoke coming out of the hood, the thermostat is pinned, and the battery light is on. I pull off, pop the hood, and half the engine compartment is covered in coolant, including the battery (hence the light coming on). Not only is the coolant reservoir bone dry, but it has apparently been blown apart, as the top part came off in my hands. I put some coolant and water in the radiator and saw lots of dripping in different spots. There were cracks on the top and bottom of the radiator. The hoses were probably also shot, although I couldn't tell.

Apparently, sometime within the 15 minutes I was on the highway, the thermostat died, the reservoir blew apart, the engine overheated, the radiator pretty much cracked everywhere, and almost all the coolant was gone from the car. I've never heard of all that happening in such a short time span. There was no previous indication of a problem at all.

Anyone have a clue as to why/how this could have happened? I'm being supremely screwed by the repair fees. So any recommendations at this stage (if possible) would be much appreciated.

 

[CheeseHelmet]

My theory: bad radiator cap. But that would be too perfect, eh?

Sorry to hear about your car troubles, I'm glad you're getting it fixed.

 

[Prote]

Ive had something like that happen to me when i had my 04 grand cherokee,"something"(still dont know what it was)got clogged around my thermostat causing it to become contorted(not joking it was mangled) and it caused enough back pressure to explode my radiator.

 

[P-Funk!]

Once you have it all cleaned up, serviced (just water until you know what is bad) and running again - tell us what leaks!

 

[Mrpeabody]

So, $800+ later, I have some answers. And a story to go with it.

Repair shop said this was all likely due to a blockage of some kind in the cooling system which needed to be flushed out. It caused a backup, which in turn, caused the overflow tank to break apart, among some other problems. They replaced the radiator (which was leaking everywhere), the cap, the hoses, the thermostat, the overflow tank, etc. flushed everything out, cleaned the battery, and sent me away with the car today.

Driving away from the shop, 10 minutes on the NJ Turnpike, same thing happens again -- thermostat is pinned, battery light comes on, no smoke yet, but coolant is everywhere. I called for a tow back to the shop. The tow guy pops the hood and within 20 seconds says "Here's your problem!" and rips out a shredded water pump belt. Fortunately, the pump hadn't seized and nothing else was damaged. But these grease monkeys hadn't tested this repair job at all, or even checked the belts. What a shock.

With the belt changed, the coolant replaced, and the engine tested, everything came back normally. I'm sure my breathing down their necks while they did it didn't hurt either.

 

[BRIAN_MP5T]

$800.00 is nothing... consider ourself lucky that it didn't kill the motor..

 

[Mrpeabody]

$800.00 is nothing... consider ourself lucky that it didn't kill the motor..

Believe me man, when that guy pulled that shredded belt out, a whole lot more zeroes went flashing before my eyes. The battery dying on the Turnpike was a blessing in disguise.

 

[BRIAN_MP5T]

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