I have an Infiniti QX4 (1997). Belts, tires & battery aall less than a year old. Due for an inspection & oil change (I do use Royal Purple, though, which I've heard buys a little extra time...). Anyway, it overheated on my way to work last Friday, though I made it to the parking garage. My dad, who races & knows quite a bit about cars, diagnosed the problem as a gash in the upper radiator hose (& also noticed that one of the belts was rubbing right against the hose. All the fluids had leaked out. I got a mobile mechanic to come out and replace the hose & adjust the belt so it would no longer rub against the hose. He repaired it yesterday, & the first time I drove it was home from the office this afternoon (about a 15 min drive w/ the occasional red light). Not sure if this makes a difference with anything, but I stopped for gas on the way home, & due to some technical glitches, the only kind of gas available, was super unleaded. Well, I needed gas very desperately, & got a tankful of this super unleaded at a Valero station. Usually, all I use in reg unlead. Had to blast the heater/windows down, for the last 5 minutes of my journey & needle was pushing the danger zone when I pulled up to my house.
I decided to let it cool down for a little while before a much needed trip to the grocery store. I put water in it, though it really didn't seem to need any, & the needle was almost vertical when I got to the store 5 minutes later. I had read that I shouldn't turn the car off while its overheated, & instead, to put it in park, windows down, heat & fan on full blast until the needle calms back down, which it did after about 5 minutes or so in park.
HOWEVER, I got about one minute away from my house w/ a truck-full of groceries, when it slowly, and then very quickly, overheated (needle in the danger zone & the smell of an engine starting to burn up on me), and I pulled over. The liquid dripping (or rather streaming) from my engine, was steaming as it hit the cooler ground & appeared to be a slightly green tint--and there was a lot of it!
I'm very badly broke right right now (though if you know what's wrong & how much it will probably cost me, please don't sugarcoat it...), so, any info, advice, tips (I'm pretty damn mechanically inclined "for a girl"....
Will I have to suck it up & pay for a tow, or, if I fill it up real quick, could I get one minute down the road to the gas station, at least???
I have an Infiniti QX4 (1997). Belts, tires & battery aall less than a year old. Due for an inspection & oil change (I do use Royal Purple, though, which I've heard buys a little extra time...). Anyway, it overheated on my way to work last Friday, though I made it to the parking garage. My dad, who races & knows quite a bit about cars, diagnosed the problem as a gash in the upper radiator hose (& also noticed that one of the belts was rubbing right against the hose. All the fluids had leaked out. I got a mobile mechanic to come out and replace the hose & adjust the belt so it would no longer rub against the hose. He repaired it yesterday, & the first time I drove it was home from the office this afternoon (about a 15 min drive w/ the occasional red light). Not sure if this makes a difference with anything, but I stopped for gas on the way home, & due to some technical glitches, the only kind of gas available, was super unleaded. Well, I needed gas very desperately, & got a tankful of this super unleaded at a Valero station. Usually, all I use in reg unlead. Had to blast the heater/windows down, for the last 5 minutes of my journey & needle was pushing the danger zone when I pulled up to my house.
I decided to let it cool down for a little while before a much needed trip to the grocery store. I put water in it, though it really didn't seem to need any, & the needle was almost vertical when I got to the store 5 minutes later. I had read that I shouldn't turn the car off while its overheated, & instead, to put it in park, windows down, heat & fan on full blast until the needle calms back down, which it did after about 5 minutes or so in park.
HOWEVER, I got about one minute away from my house w/ a truck-full of groceries, when it slowly, and then very quickly, overheated (needle in the danger zone & the smell of an engine starting to burn up on me), and I pulled over. The liquid dripping (or rather streaming) from my engine, was steaming as it hit the cooler ground & appeared to be a slightly green tint--and there was a lot of it!
I'm very badly broke right right now (though if you know what's wrong & how much it will probably cost me, please don't sugarcoat it...), so, any info, advice, tips (I'm pretty damn mechanically inclined "for a girl"....
Will I have to suck it up & pay for a tow, or, if I fill it up real quick, could I get one minute down the road to the gas station, at least???
Thanks in advance!!
- Lauren B., Houston, TX, US