Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultramaroon
High pressure maintained by a properly sealed system allows the coolant to reach higher temperature without simmering/boiling in the hot spots. The temperature variation is not a function of pressure.
What does change when the cap has a pinhole leak is the temperature at which the coolant begins to simmer. Those little bubbles travel to the high points in the system, one of which is the leaky radiator cap so "bloop bloop," while you're driving the bubbles invisibly escape right through the coolant reservoir. Then, when the engine cools down, the remaining internal bubbles, which are pure water vapor, condense and the entire space is taken up by liquid from the reservoir.
The boiling rate is a function of the heat input and the flow rate of the leak.
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I recently started experiencing coolant issues, but my car is 150k miles in. Some shop stated they saw "collapsed" coolant hoses. Although there has been a lot of Stop-Go traffic in my route (can't wait for Winter vacation), I'm not experiencing any coolant boiling over marks. Seems cheap, so I will start by checking/replacing for a leaky radiator cap to ensure it is not the cause of the problem.
I know this is not my topic, but might still be a good place to add my findings for people having issues OVER @20k miles.