From storage to the repair shop in record time

[Mr Dark]

So I pull the car out of storage on Wednesday night (it's been stored since October) and bring it home. This morning I drive it to work and when I park it I see smoke coming from under the hood. When I lift the hood, I see a small stream of antifreeze shooting out of a fitting on the passenger side near the firewall. This fitting almost looks like a tire valve, so it's got to be some kind of pressure release or something. So anyway, it's already at the shop and it's only been out for two days...

 

[taegdh]

clarification

The "tire valve" you mention on the passenger side, is this on the top of an aluminum pipe on the top of the engine?

If so, that shouldn't have been anti freeze.

 

[Mr Dark]

Yeah, it was in that vicinity. It was definitely antifreeze - it had that unique smell and sticky consistency (and it was hot).

 

[Mart]

Sounds like you have the infamous early C4 intake leak. I,m working on mine now.

Right at the back pass side, maybe a little coolant on top of the intake. Common issue.

Search here for intake leak, you'll find that they are all early C4's

The tire valve you mention is the fuel rail preasure relief.

Mart

 

[LD85]

My rubber cap leaked just like you stated too, I just put another piece of hose onto the fitting with a hsoe clamp and plugged the end, fixed for @ $2,,,

 

[Mr Dark]

I got called from the dealership and they said that the car's fixed. He didn't know the exact name of the piece, but he says it's discontinued so they just replaced it with a piece of hose. The guy I talked to wasn't the mechanic, so I'll get more details after lunch when I pick up the car and post what I've learned. Thanks to all who responded!

 

[taegdh]

Just be glad that the schrader valve on the fuel rail didn't fail, because that would be disasterous. (Like making a cat sound like a dog).

There are a number of hoses that carry coolant near the manifold and through that part of the engine compartment, which could give the impression it came from in that area.

 

[Mr Dark]

Yeah, it is close to the "fender" (maybe a foot in) on the passenger side of the car up towards the firewall. What it was originally supposed to do I have no idea. I tried doing some searches on Google to see if I could get a clear picture of that part of the C4 engine compartment, but there weren't any. When I get home, I'm gonna look in some of my books to see what it's called and what its function is/was. I'm thinking this summer might be the summer to replace all of the hoses...