Hi everybody.
My car is Dodge stratus R/T 2002 with 3.0 v engine.when I started the
car yesterday I noticed the '' service engine soon '' light.so I
checked all the fluid levels and everything seemed fine.but when I
opened the antifreeze cap and started the car,I couldn't see the
antifreeze moving and after a while when the car started to get hot,the
antifreeze started coming out the cap.
I'm not sure what exactly could cause this to happen, and I wish somebody can help me fix this problem.
thank you !!
First the "service engine soon" light is a manufacturer installed reminder for you to get an oil change or other pre-determined maintenance service done. It is different than the "check engine" light which indicates a sensor malfunction. Secondly, when the engine is cold the thermostat is closed and the antifreeze or coolant is not circulating. The cooling system is a closed system and the tank that the cap is on is not an overflow tank but rather an expansion tank. This tank allows for the expanding coolant that is now hot to leave the engine coolant jackets, that won't expand, into a tank that can expand slightly. When your engine got to normal operating temp., aka.. hot, the thermostat opened allowing coolant to circulate and fill the expansion tank probably over flowing with the cap off. This is a normal operation for your car.
That's normal that anti-freeze comes out when the cap is off. As the anti-freeze starts getting hot it will over flow until the thermostat opens to let the anti-freeze start flowing. Nothing wrong at all. The light could be a lot of different things. If you have a auto zone parts store in your area they will check it for free. The light comes on automatically thou when the car reaches a certain millage on most cars to have you take it in and get a check up at the dealer.
Done
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the radiator cap was off when the coolant came out but I don't think it's supposed to do that even when the cap is off.
was he cap on or off when coolant came out ?
That is normal for coolant to come out as its getting hot. The thermostat isn't open yet so the water as it gets hot will rise and come out until the thermostat opens. The coolant won't move also until the thermostat is open cause it has no where to go. As for your light it could be a bunch of things including something as simple as your gas cap isn't tight or went bad or you could have a part going bad somewhere and its telling you this. Go to any Checker/O'reilly auto parts store or Autozone and they will check the code for you for free and tell you what you need.
the antifreeze looks like gunk
Also smelling antifreeze
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