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Coolant boiling or bubbling over in the reservoir tank: Causes & How to Fix It

If your vehicle is showing coolant boiling or bubbling over in the reservoir tank, here are the most likely causes and the parts you'll need to fix each one.

Most likely causes

Faulty Radiator or Reservoir Capaddress soon

The cap maintains system pressure to raise the boiling point of the coolant. If the spring weakens or the seal fails, the system loses pressure, causing the coolant to boil at a lower temperature and bubble into the reservoir.

Air Trapped in the Cooling Systemminor

If the cooling system was recently opened for maintenance and not properly bled, trapped air pockets will expand as the engine heats up, pushing coolant out and causing bubbling in the tank.

Stuck Closed Thermostaturgent

A thermostat that fails to open prevents hot coolant from flowing to the radiator to be cooled. The trapped coolant overheats and boils, forcing its way into the expansion tank.

Cooling Fan Failureurgent

If the radiator fan fails to engage, the engine cannot shed heat properly at idle or low speeds. This leads to overheating and boiling coolant.

Failing Water Pumpurgent

A water pump with a degraded impeller or slipping belt cannot circulate coolant effectively. The stagnant coolant inside the engine block boils and pushes into the reservoir.

Blown Head Gasketurgent

A breached head gasket allows high-pressure combustion gases from the cylinders to pump directly into the cooling system. This often looks like violent boiling in the reservoir even before the engine fully overheats.

Related problems

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