Hi,

Yes i know,what a dumb thing to do, i would be thinking the same thing.

Need help now PLZ.

As i said i forgot to put radiator cap back on and drove the car for arond 15 miles with no problems. When i got back into the car the tempreature gauge was hitting red. So opened the hood and slowly opened the radiator cap. Quite a bit of steams was coming out. Got some water from the garage and put it in whislt the car was running and also added some antifreeze.After about 15 minutes it went back to normal. After driving for about 5 mintues a lights came on the dashboard which seems to me like a radiator symbol.Pulled over again checked water and seemed fine symbol went away.Went to the movies came back after 2 hours and symbol light back on.Checked water and nothing there! Filled it up symbol light went. Got back home,and decided to check the car after another 2 hours and symbol light was back on and again watere was gone.
looked for leaks around pipes and on the floor and there is nothing.

Can anyone give me any ideas of what could be the problem here?

Any help will be appreciated.

Stuart

The question title and the statement, "So opened the hood and slowly opened the radiator cap." are at odds. If you mean that you failed to fully tighten the cap, that would make mores sense.

The cooling system will pressurize as the engine reaches operating temperature. If the cap is loose or defective that will allow coolant to escape and lead to an overheat. As the engine cools it may suck air back in, which needs to be bleed out. At this point you need to do a proper bleed of the cooling system and then see if things return to normal. If not there are other problems that will need to be diagnosed and fixed. The procedure I use to bleed the cooling system is:

1) Using ramps or a jack get the front of the car 1' or more higher than
the rear. That will make the radiator and bleed screw the highest point
on the engine and facilitate removal of air.

2) With the bleed screw open, add coolant until no more air comes out of
the bleed.

3) Leave the filler cap off, or at least loose, and set the heat for max
temp and fan speed. Leaving the cap loose will prevent air that's still
in the system from causing a "coolant fountain" once the engine heats
up. Start the engine and allow it to warm up to operating temp. As it
warms up occasionally crack the bleed screw to release any air and top
up the coolant as necessary.

4) Once the engine is at temp bring it up to 2000-2500 for a few seconds
several times. Then crack the bleed until no more air is released. At
this point the heater should be throwing lots of hot air, which
indicates that the heater core is filled with coolant. You may have to
repeat this a few times to get all the air out.

5) Drive the car a bit, allow it to cool back down, and recheck the
bleed for air. Over the next few days you may get very small amounts (a
few bubbles) of air out of the bleed screw.

Thanks for that, major help. Will do the five steps as you mentioned before. Just a bit worried that such a stupid mistake could cost a lot to repair. What is puzzling me is where all the water is going as there does not seem to be any leakage.
Once i do blled the the cooling system and still no success do you have any other ideas of what it may be.

Thanks again

P.S cap was on but not tightened

Lets see what happens after the cooling system is fully bled.

ive done some further checks and it seems it is not the head gasket as there is no milky substance mixed with the oil and the car does not seem to be producing white smoke from the exhaust.

Ok,,that sounds good

Followed you directions, just come back from the test drive in the highlands of Scotland. Very happy with the results, thank you for your time and advice.

Regards,


Stuart