parked car, heard a hissing opened bonnet and steam its pissin out coolant

the coolant is brown and sludgy (head gasket is fine, its been brown for a while just never flushed it out and cars driven fine and not overheaten) i cant pinpoint where its steaming but know the area

 

but the car cut out on me, it does start but after 30secs starts to steam up and would probs cut out

 

lots of coolant has got on the big fan at the front and the belts

 

its comin from here

 

when i say cut out, when i was slowing down to a crawls pace the steering became very stiff

 

not 100% sure if engine switched off

steering probably went heavy cos the power steering belt was probably slipping cos of the coolant on it.

 

There are 2 main water pipes in that area as well as the water pump, you need to check it out further to find the leak. Remember you have the PTU in that area too which would probably have caused your cut out when if it got wet.

 

Vijay

water pump was replaced a few months back

so it sounds like a pipe, i had a fiddle around the area and couldnt seem to find it, was dark tho

 

what is a ptu and is it easy to clean?

Number 5 here http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=26120 it'll be attched to the left hand timing belt cover so water could have easily got into the connections

would a pressure washer thing get rid of the coolant, the coolant is brown and sludgy

 

was thinkin of sprayin it on the problem area, then dry the ptu?

Personally I would never pressure wash a Z engine, too many connectors ;)

 

Have a look at the 2 pipes called the front by pass water pipes in this link http://www.courtesyparts.com/z32/oe_cooling.html chances are one has split ;)

any idea how i can get the coolant off it, its quite messy on the belts, i had a look and the belt beside the big fan was covered in it

 

also seems quite hard to get to with hands

not sure bud but I'm sure someone will know :)

had a look in the bright today, could spot any burst pipes (im sure it must be somewhere)

 

will the engine need to come out to do replace the pipe in the area circled or is it easy enof to do it with the engine in

 

also any ideas how to clean the coolant thats got onto the belts etc (too tight to get hands into) doesnt seem to be any electrical components where the coolant is so if i was to cover the electrical bits i should be able to pressure wash it?

All the coolant bits at the front can be done with engine in.

 

Check all the joints from the twin metal pipes on the front of the engine all the way to the radiator and back again.

if you take off the fan shroud then that will give you more room. prob wouldn't hurt to take out rad to flush out properly then you would have loads of room to clean the area. as said above the two small rubber pipes that go from the metal water pipes towards the block are the ones to check.

could re-fill system and let it tick over and look for leaks as the system pressurise's as it get's hotter.

As Scubie says, you need it to heat up and pressurize