Just wanted to share a rather tense moment from a trip home last night.

I was about 4 miles from my house, in a very bad storm (if you live in North Texas, you know what I am talking about). Out of the blue, I lost power, then my engine just died. I tried in vane to restart it and finally got it running.

My Low Fuel light was on, and the overhead display showed 0 miles to empty, so I figured I was out of gas. Got to a gas station, and it died while I was pulling in. I put twenty bucks in it, but it still wouldn't start.

I finally got it running again, and it died twice before I got it into the driveway.

This morning, I left for work, everything seemed fine. About a mile from the house, I noticed that the temp gague hadn't moved. I pulled over and looked under the hood, the upper raditor hose was completely detached.

I guess with all of the wind and rain, I didn't smell the antifreeze as it was being quickly pumped on to the ground. At least the on board computer did its job and shut down the engine before any damage was done.

I put the hose back on, filled it up with water and a gallon of antifreeze (yeah, I know its not the correct mixture of 50/50.) and its been running fine. I had to have the Service Engine Soon light reset (code 1299, I think) but it hasn't come back on.

There should be a screeming buzzer with a strobe light to warn the driver that he is dumping coolant.

Anyone want to help me flush the radiator on Sunday?

 

I'm curious as to what caused the hose to be detached. Was the hose worn out or the hose clamps bad?

 

No idea. I am keeping an eye on it, but I think it just worked loose over time.