Have had this '01 for a couple years now and haven't had any problems with it untill last Friday (except for changing belts and whatnot). Was going on a short (1hr) road trip and made sure the fluids were filled. About 5 miles from my house I noticed that the water temp was pegged on HOT and the check engine light came on. I pulled over popped the hood and all I could see was what looked like the radiator reservoir had overflowed.
I didn't see any signs of blown hoses or anything leaking from the engine gasket areas. I did notice that the reservoir was completely empty before I started it and I honestly have never noticed that one before that's why I filled it up. Are you supposed to get it warmed up first before you add antifreeze or should it have been sitting in there. I guess I should be checking that routinely but I assumed that the people at the shop would top that off during an oil change (or at least they're supposed to).
I want to think that it's the thermostat (since that's a cheap fix) but not sure if there's a sure-fire or tell-tale way to tell when a thermostat is bad. Would suck if the water pump was bad, but for what I got the car for it's not really that big of a problem. Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated!
Sorry for the novel,
Anthony