I was driving home the other day and my car first shows "low coolant" light. Well I figured it needs a top up, which I will do at the earliest opportunity. I mean come on, it was freezing cold where I live this time of year and I am not just going to get out of the car, open the trunk grab the spare coolants and pop the hood and do all that responsible thing. Besides I have seen "low coolant" light before and most of the times it will go away. So anyway I kept driving and 20 minutes or so later the darn light is still on. I was very worried now, but only a short distance or so away from home, I decided to make a run for it. Well next thing I know the "temp" light came on. I knew this is big trouble and tried to pull over as soon as possible which is about 3 to 5 minutes later (after the temp light came on) when I found a nice parking lot to pull into.
I stopped and waited for about 30 minutes before pouring anything into the rad. as those books say u don't want to put any cold fluid into the engine when its hot.
Anyway, to my surprise, when I start pouring the antifreeze-water mix into the radiator, I heard a SPLASH on the ground. LOL. All the coolant poured into the rad went right onto the pavement below. I took a flashlight to have a look and you guessed it, the lower radiator hose has came off at the bottom pipe to the radiator, although it is still hooked on hte otherside to the engine.
By the way I just had a brand new Modine radiator put in by my mechanics a few weeks ago but I haven't driven the car very much lately, and had it parked in the garage for most of the time.
I had the car towed back to the mechanic shop and had him take a look at it again to see why the thing came off. He told me that the parts i brought him (all new Modine rad, upper and lower hose and clamps) is of low quality which is why the hose didn't stays on the rad properly. And by the way I was going to do it myself that's why I bought the parts, but its too cold here and I decided to have the mechanic do it instead.
Anyway he re-tightens the hoses and every thing, put new coolant in and I am driving my car again.
My BIGGEST concerns now though is whether or not the engine actually overheated and damage anything that I am not aware of.? Should I have it thoroughly checked? or can I take my chance and drive this thing without any worry? Its winter now in Canada and its cold, I don't want to be stuck on the highway in some far-flung corner of the province.
Should I go and buy a set of GM made radiator hoses from the dealer and have my mechanic replace with the ones currently in my car which although new was bought from Canadian Tire our discount parts store here? I had checked the hose to see that it stayed on after I come home every time now, just to be sure.
How quick will the engine overheat when the temp light comes on? Or does it overheat as soon as the "low coolant" light comes on?