Water Loss

[gordy310]

Filled radiator, when car was sitting no leaks.Drove for about 2 miles the temp gauage started to rise and steam came from reservoir overflow pipe. Can't be fan clutch replaced recently. Also alot of what looked to be steam from exhaust. Could it be thermostat or leaking in to head how would i resolve this if going in to the head.

[Harry Morgan]

Gordy

What year; howmany miles... etc, etc.

There was a re-call on the 2002 for the fan clutch (it craps out and runs ALL of the time), but this sounds like the opposite problem.

Harry

[gordy310]

96 kia sportage 2.0 16V 145,000miles

[Harry Morgan]

Gordy

My take: you could try replacing the thermostat and maybe dumping in some stopleak stuff and see what happens, but it sounds to me like it might be too late for that, given that you see steam from the exhaust... not a good sign, since that implys that you may have a head-gasket leak, which further implys (depending on the miles driven under these conditions) that you may have coated the cylinder walls & piston rings with anti-freeze -- one of the quicker ways to lockup an engine.

My advice at this point is to go to the dealer and get the thermostat and the gasket (the aftermarket guys normally don't have the gasket); get a can of stopleak; buy a PowerBall QuikPick... and hope for the best.

Harry

[WA2YNE]

CarQuest does have, or can get, the gaskets for the Kia Sportage. At least for the 2002, which is what I have.
Other auto parts places may or may not carry the gaskets.
I flushed the cooling system in mine as the coolant looked rust color, and have had problems ever since. Mainly, it wants to overheat, and I have to keep a close watch on the temp guage.
I am thinking of pulling my radiator and using hose to try and back flush it. I have a second new thermostat on hand, as well as a few other related parts. The thermostat that was in it was stuck open when I pulled it out, freed up, but don't want to use it. Almost tempted to try it without thermostat like we did years ago. I specifically bought the 180 degree version.
May also try a new fan clutch, if I can get one reasonable. Another thought is getting an electric fan with more blades and better air flow than the one it has, and wiring it so I can turn it on full time from a switch as needed.
I had virtually no problems with an 82 Honda when I flushed and changed the coolant for the same reason, rust colored crap instead of good antifreeze.

[titolongo]

When I first bought my sporty 2 yearas ago I notice the same rusty red-brownish colour coming out from the rad, flush it and after a couple of month later found the same rusty colour inside the radiator. A couple of weeks ago removed the cylinder head for rapairs (anoying valve rattle sound) and found out that the inside engine was the culprit of this rust. I think this is cause by small air pocket forming inside the engine due to overheating or by lack of water that implodes when it hits any metal parts causing deformation inside the engines surface and causing this rust.
Will have to do a complet engine cleaning job to remove this rust soon.
Look very close to the water jackets.

[Basu]

I have experience that I always refill my water coolant but when I went for a few kilometers the water gone down in the rad, and when I started as if water is in the cylinder when we removed the head we found out that their is a crack between two pairs ot valves, I replaced the heads and it ok overheating gone