Overheating problem. People with car Knowledge needed.

[zMaN]

My car overheated in traffic today. I pulled over to find antifreeze dripping onto the ground. I looked inside the engine bay and the hose the comes from the bottom of the Coolant resoviour(sp?) had popped off. At first I though that was the problem so I replaced the hose, which had no clamp(should it?). After replacing the hose I filled the resoviour(sp?) and waited for the car to cool. I opened the pressure screw(?) to let the vapor out of the radiator so coolant could flow in but the resoviour only went down about an inch. Once the car had cooled I restarted the car and looked to see if the coolant in the resovior emptied into the radiator but it didn't. I drove the car about 50 blocks and it overheated again. While I was waiting for the car to cool I called information and learned that the closest Toyota dealer was only 15 blocks away. I let the car cool completely again and drove it to the dealership. The cars temp was gettingn high near the end but I made it before it overheated. I checked all the belts and they are all on. I looked at the water pump and it is still turning. If the water pump was bad would it still turn? I am wondering if it might be the thermostat. I tried turning on the car's heater to full while I was driving hoping to pull some heat off the engine and even with with car's temp being very hot the air that came out the vents was not hot.

Those of you who know cars out there have any ideas of what could be the problem?

I have been getting a rattling type sound sometimes when the engine is at 3500 to 4000 rpm's. I took it to Toyota a month ago and they said nothing was wrong. They didn't hear anything. The sound did not happen all the time so that is not surprising.

[Bling]

That hose isn't supposed to be connected to anything. Its for overflow.

[zMaN]

no, not the hose on top. I know that is overflow. If you read my post you will notice I said the hose on the BOTTOM of the resovior. Not trying to be rude, just clear. Facing the open engin bay from the front of the car if you look at the bottom of the resovior there is a hose coming out of the left side, underneath where the overflow comes out, that goes to the engine. This is not the overflow hose hanging from the top.

[ghostface]

hey man this sucks but before i had my celica i had a ford explorer and during the winter i had noticed that my car wasnt really getting that hot and i would turn the heat all the way up and it wouldnt get that hot at all...it was almiost cold....i finally found out that it was my thermostat.....all we did was replace it and it was an easy fix...then the car ran normal temp again and i had heat.....as for my car not gettin warm i think it depends on how the thermostat broke..if it is stuck open or stcuk closed....im pretty sure that could be your problem..hope this helps...good luck

[zMaN]

Thx Ghostface, That is a relief. If it is just the thermostat I may get it fixed fast. I have been on vaction in New York and tomorrow is my last day off work. If I can't get this fixed fast I will either have to leave it and rent a car or miss time from work. Since I teach at a small school missing work would put a LOT of strain on my fellow teachers.

If anyone has any other ideas of what might be the problem please feel free to let me know. Thx in advance.

[oldster]

If you are not getting any heat from the vents then it is normally one of two things, bad thermostat or no coolant.