Hello everyone! Please help! I'm quite worried as something unusual happened this morning. I have a 1999 Eclipse GS manual. It was raining not too heavily and I just returned from a drive. As soon as I parked the car, there was smoke from under the hood, a nasty burning-rubberish smell and the underside of the hood was leaking a translucent green fluid on the road (I read about it and washed it 4 times with water, then it rained and rained, so I think the animals are safe). I opened the hood and saw that a small flat plastic snap-type cap (shaped like a trapezium, kinda like the back of your TV remote control), with the letters "LH" inscribed on its inside, was laying loose over my radiator fan bracket. I was not able to trace where the green liquid was leaking from because of the strong smell, but it looked like it was dripping onto the hot parts (intake? manifold?) and smoking. Since it has been raining since, I haven't had a chance to look carefully enough to figure out where this lid popped out from. I did take a look at the radiator, but I can't seem to find the cap. I'm going to look again and I don't know how to go under the hood to take a look, so what would you suggest? I'm planning to call a local store to ask if they have a Haynes/Chilton for my car, but if not, I'd appreciate your suggestions because I don't know if I should pay to get it towed (haven't tried starting, don't want to overheat engine if it has lost all the coolant) and then to get the hoses checked and coolant fluid refilled. How do I make sure it's not something more serious? Thanks again!!! :unsure: :unsure:

WOW.... I would say that is is coolant... but couldnt tell you from where and dont know what little part you are talking about. It could be anything: Radiator, headgasket, waterpump, or any of the coolant hoses running around your car. I would say to rinse down the car good and let it dry than start the car and let it heat up (just dont let it overheat, watch it) and see where the fluid is coming from. Than go from there.

take a pic of the cap if you can. it might be to the overflow jug?

your radiator doesn't have a cap, it's sealed

@psycho2003: I haven't tried starting her up yet, because frankly I'm afraid if the temperature sensing/gauge isn't working properly and/or I'm completely out of coolant, I might cause serious damage to the engine.

@pwee05: Thanks! That saves me time looking for the radiator cap that's non-existent! I got the pictures AND I got a Haynes manual - it says there's a small white twist knob at the lower corner of the radiator that I couldn't locate, but I'm guessing that's the drain valve that I don't want to open right now, so I let that be.

I took pictures of the cap and the underside (extended my hand in with my camera). Looks like a lot of rust :( :( serves me right for keeping her outside in the Upstate Nwe York winter!

Since the files totaled 6.9MB, I put them on my Flickr stream. The link is here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scribbleink/s...157600482032244

Thanks again guys!! I think I'm considering driving a friend's car to the mechanic/dealer close by and asking what to do, although I wouldn't be surprised if they asked me to get it towed to their place :(

From the pictures I think it is your radiator, but that could be fluid flung from another part of the engine. The plastic cover is a fuse panel cover. Couldnt tell you were it goes exactly, but thats what it is. Usually the ones that look like that belong on the inside of your car. Or its an access cover to other components around your car... reguardless.... not important.

yea, based on the pictures you provided, i think its yer radiator that is leaking. was there coolant on any other part of yer engine?

Your "radiator" cap is actually on the thermostat housing. If you look at your upper hose its right on the end bolted to your engine.

When I opened the hood to have a look at what was smoking, there was the green fluid dripping onto the part at the center, bottom of the front of the car, which is right below everything, between the engine and the radiator fans. It's looks like a horizontal metal column. It was close enough to the radiator base, so I assumed the fluid from there was pouring out onto the (hot?) part and smoking.

I think I'm going to try to start her up today! Wish me luck!!!

:liebe011: And THANKS for all the pointers guys! This is an awesome forum!

- Nik

PS: Btw, there are other problems with the car, which I will post later, for example the K-9 alarm system (installed by prev owner) and the cigarette lighter circuit don't work. Actually I'm going to post it right now on a different topic :thumbsup:

:o

Alright, as psycho2003 had said, I started her up again. After running a little, the temperature started to go up to the usual just-below-the-midway-mark-between-H-and-C level. By now the radiator fans were in full swing and everything looked good...

Then I got the smell.....the unsettling metal-rubber-hot-burning kind of smell :( the temperature gauge slowly started going up above the midway mark and I turned her off. I turned the key back to the electricals on position to see if it would use the radiator fans to cool off....but no luck there. The gauge dropped below midway though and she's off now, trying to cool down with the temps 84 F outside and her body all colored black :/

This time, there was no fluid anywhere, but the bad smell was still there, although it went away as soon as I turned the engine off.

I need to find out what caused the closed-coolant system to spill out all the fluid. I also need to drive VERY CAREFULLY to the mechanic's store 0.5 miles away to get all the hosings (and possibly the engine?) checked on Monday.

When she cools this evening, I'll try to look for the radiator cap and the coolant reservoir so I can get an idea for the actual fluid level.

Bad news. Very bad news :( :( :(

Symptoms: Radiator leak, coolant spill.

Mechanic's job: Replaced 10 year old corroded, rusted, dust-filled radiator. Ran coolant through the system to check for possible engine damage.

Further issues: DO NOT drive your car with a bad radiator even if you refill the anti-freeze mixture. Don't even idle the engine. If you get a bad rubber-metal burning smell, be worried, very worried that it's the sealing gasket from inside the engine!

New problem: Overheating resulted in bad head gasket. With the new radiator fixed and the hoses checked as alright, the engine is now consuming coolant. With the radiator cap open and the engine running, there is a steady stream of bubbles bubbling up to the surface. The reasoning is that the head gasket (between the engine head and the base) has gone bad thanks to overheating. As a result, the coolant is going into the cylinders where it's not supposed to and probably getting burnt up and exhausted.

I know the mechanic and trust him. He gave me a quote for a new 420A head gasket as USD 1026 + charges for removing the engine head and taking it to a machine shop to make sure it's not warped + reinstallation and labor, for a total of USD 2000 (he dropped some of the labor charges to give me the best deal he could).

I'm disappointed with my car now and quite inconsolable. Just wanted to update this thread. Thanks again for the help and pointers guys!

Hopefully I will get my car up and running soon for about 2 grand more because the cost in the current condition (not drivable, bad engine) is not more than 500 bucks :(

what are those charges again? $1026 + $2000 = a $3026 head gasket job with machining??????!!! I hope not!

Nope, sorry if that was misleading. $1026 for just the head gasket part. $2000 overall, which is $1026 plus labor. Do you think I can get the part for cheaper?

oh god yes!!!

click me for a $129 heagasket set.

you will need new head bolts too but don't fear even with ARP studs that will never break (click me) you are still WAY under $1026

My mistake, mostly out of panic :unsure:

Thanks! I got a printout from him for the quote. Most of the cost is labor. Here is the breakup:

Cylinger head gasket: 178.00
Replace 420A ( B ) :
(i) Labor at 85/hr, Time 12.5 units, Total 1062.50
(ii) Misc 350.00
(iii) Miss 250.00 (yes, that's two 's' letters!)
Total: Labor 1062.50 + Parts: 778.00 + 8% tax = 1987.74 USD

Need to ask him for a better break-up esp parts (ii) and (iii). From his explanation, it might be the cost for taking the engine head to the machining to check for warps. I'm also going to get the quote from another mechanic to make sure that labor on engine repairs is actually that expensive.

Thanks though pwee05! :) Sorry again for the misinformation :imsorry:

haha it's no big deal. just didn't seem right.

it still seems like he's overcharging for parts. you can get your own for cheaper if he lets you. unless there are bent valves or some other damage I don't know about. his labor is also padded. a head gasket should only be 8hours at the MOST.

is he including the radiator in that misc section and into the labor?

Thanks. I'm not sure how to tell this to him. I'll probably ask him if I can arrange for the parts myself and he charge me labor only, but asking him to reduce 12.5 to 8 sounds like a task :)

No, the radiator is separate for 390 bucks, but that's something I can't bargain on now because he had to do it to check on the engine and I took the decision on the spot.

some advice in this situation is,,,most mechanics, even good mechanics, don't really know that much about 4 cyl engines. especially the quirks that the DSM (turbo and non turbo) engines have. They quote unusually high thinking that the customer won't take the job. if the customer happens to take the job they have extra money just in case they do something wrong.

so, in the end,,, my advice and i'm sure everyone will back me up on this.....

take your car to a DSM mechanic. i'm sure your guy is a good man and has a great reputation. it's just that these cars need "special" attention from an experienced person.

where exactly are you located, we can help find you a shop

Cool, thanks! That's nice of you.

I'm at Troy, NY 12180.

Alright friends. Here's the deal. The engine is consuming antifreeze and the cost of replacing everything is quite expensive. After that I'd have to get the brakes fixed and do some servicing. Thanks to my financial situation, I've decided not to do any repairs on the car, just sell it for whatever money I can get. Then I plan to get a new car, undecided about what and when and where.

What do you think would be a reasonable price for my car? Here are the specs:

1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS (2D coupe)
Manual 5-speed, 91.6K miles
Exterior: Black, scratches, broken power antenna, dents in the hood and left fender
Interior: Grey fabric, clean and no rips
Engine: 420A, overheated, possible head gasket issue, uncertain about further damage
Timing belt: Replaced at 80K
Brake issue: Pulsates, possible warp, not checked
Aftermarket parts/performance: none

:( :( This is heartbreaking, but it's a decision that will benefit me in the long run.

:crying: She was a good car.

Dang someone selling their car for a bad head gasket almost makes me want to go up there and fix it for him.