rock05

Hello All,
I am fairly new to this forum. Anyways, straight to the point. Back in March of this year, I had purchased my first car, a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox LT; had it inspected before purchasing it. Everything was good for a while. Recently found out my upper radiator hose has a leak. Wasn't financially fit (at the time of discovering it) to properly tend to it. Anyways, time goes on. Just yesterday I was out running errands, then noticed smoke coming out from my hood. Immediately put my car into park, hazardous lights on, and shut it off. Got out to see what was going on, saw that something that had already started to gush out, turns out it was my coolant. Ended up parking my car at home, right before my reservoir tank ran out of coolant. It has a temporary fix on it, but even on that it still has a small leak. I'm at a complete loss of what to do, I mean of course buy a new upper radiator hose. But from reading threads regarding other Equinox's sounds like I need to do more than that. I guess I'm looking for more of a directive lead - again, my first car so many firsts of everything. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

oilcanhenry

An overheated motor can cause lots of damage. Sounds like you have a bad head or intake gasket, without looking over the specifications for your motor.

One trick is to leave the radiator cap, if you have one, off, or in a cracked to half position, else this damage will continue, as it will relieve some pressure from the leaking gasket, which is what I think you have. Carry plain water, not coolant to refill it. Coolant destroys bearings faster than water will.

And make sure your motor oil is not milky looking. If it is, then you can damage bearings real easily, if there is any coolant left. What motor does your Equinox have? 3.4 liter V-6 ?

Update: Your 2005 Chevy Equinox 3.4 Liter engine seems to have major issues with head gasket failures, as I suspected. That is heating up your coolant. If that is the case, you are looking at $1500 bucks or more at a shop. I hope I am mistaken, but you did ask for advice. I would advise against driving it until repaired. With enough pressure, you could also damage your heater core, and that is located under the dash, which is a very labor-intensive proposition/expense to repair.

2001 chevy silverado

> It has a temporary fix on it,

that won't work. don't even bother. don't drive it until you replace the hose.

don't work while it's hot - you may get burned by fluid rushing out

check what holds the hose on (what kind of pliers you need)

if it's an old hose you need a soft slender (metal) tool to slip around the hose end to help loosen the hose before pulling it off without scratching the metal - not a screwdriver with "scratchy edges"

that being said - if you just have a leaky connection and carefully loosened your pipe without damaging you might be able to clean it and put it back on with a better / new hose clamp: but probably you need a new hose and clamp.

OTHER equinoxes? Have no idea. You can put water in your car, start it, let it idel if you want to see if anything has gone wrong. But it's better to wait until you replace that hose. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT until you run your car with fluid.

You should watch a youtube video to insure you GET THE AIR OUT OF THE SYSTEM before getting the car hot (which can happen quickly and not show up on the temp guage - so don't go by only that).

rock05

Thank you both for your replies. I found out the correct term for my hose that cracked is called a Bypass Hose, nothing of radiator or anything like that. Got that fixed and no more leaking.
Still keeping a watchful eye on things under my hood.

oilcanhenry

Glad to hear it. Bypass hoses have been around since I was a young man. A cheap and easy fix thankfully.