Scalding coolant erupts after man removes radiator cap - GIF

Scalding coolant erupts after man removes radiator cap.

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Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...936#post140628
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...128#post187935
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...125#post125967
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...932#post152872
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...6845#post84468

The engine is toast, and he is boiled. here is my explanation why what he did was a bad idea.
first and foremost it is not a risk of personal body injury it is a guarantee it is going to happen.
secondly if there was any coolant still in the system it is better to leave the system pressurized to cool down a proper mix of antifreeze and water will not boil under pressure until over 260°f but if there is steam already escaping from the cap it means it is well above that threshold of becoming superheated steam.
Once the pressure is released any cooling ability from what little coolant still in the engine is lost, and any possibility of salvaging the engine without further damage is greatly reduced.
Leave the cap in place slowly and carefully dribble water over the outside of the radiator a little at a time or simply waiting until it has cooled down naturally is the only chance of possibly salvaging the engine and even that chance is slim with the newer smaller aluminum engines

Every high school in the country should be required to teach a mandatory course (for both sexes) in common sense where they're forced to memorize such stuff as:

Never remove the cap from a radiator from which steam is escaping.

A teaching aid might include a clapped-out car the instructor could use to teach them which part is the radiator.

It's a good idea but I think we're already past the time when we could find instructors capable of teaching the course.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mklotz

Every high school in the country should be required to teach a mandatory course (for both sexes) in common sense where they're forced to memorize such stuff as:

Never remove the cap from a radiator from which steam is escaping.

A teaching aid might include a clapped-out car the instructor could use to teach them which part is the radiator.

It's a good idea but I think we're already past the time when we could find instructors capable of teaching the course.

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I'm in 100% agreement with you Marv. My personal belief is that less emphases should be placed on things like football, basketball and soccer to name a few and more placed on real world things the kids are going to face once they are out of school. As you said these things need to be taught to both male and females and every other drummed up imaginary gender they can dream up.
Everyone needs to at least know the basics of how to prepare food for themselves, and I don't mean just shoving it in a nuke to heat it up. Although even knowing the precautions of using those things is way beyond the knowledge of far too many in todays world.
They need to know how to create and maintain a weekly/ monthly/ yearly budget, and why the buy now pay later trap is not always a good thing. Credit cards are only good if you have the means to pay them off at will.
When it comes to knowing the basics of preventive maintenance on a vehicle, just knowing and understanding how to read the owners manual would go a long way.
Those things even have pictorials to guide them through the procedures, I'm pretty sure there is probably an app they can download to their phone for the more illiterates.

I can imagine his nightmares for the next several days - feeling all that pain and having his besties laughing at him - over and over and over all night long!

Latent heat is fun!

Just plainly an Idiot !!!

If you have an old vehicle you have one of these...
Attachment 40914

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mklotz

Every high school in the country should be required to teach a mandatory course (for both sexes) in common sense where they're forced to memorize such stuff as:

Never remove the cap from a radiator from which steam is escaping.

A teaching aid might include a clapped-out car the instructor could use to teach them which part is the radiator.

It's a good idea but I think we're already past the time when we could find instructors capable of teaching the course.

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The problem with that is you can't teach common sense, just like you can't fix stupid

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drivermark

The problem with that is you can't teach common sense, just like you can't fix stupid

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Well, you can if you appoint the stupid ones to demonstrate the stupid tricks you're teaching them to avoid. :-)

A hose came loose and I had a dry system.
Uncapping went well with no problems
BUT
when adding antifreeze it gurgled with signs of erupting so I attempted to cap the rad.
Fortunately I did so at arms length facing away and only suffered burns to my wrist, but what a mess.
That was 3500 kms ago and a year ago with engine still running just fine.