Okay, I got the radiator out and couldn't find any leaks. However, when I was cleaning it, there was a red liquid that was coming out. Is that normal?

That should be trans fluid

I'm lost. What engine did the 96 SSEi get. Was that the Series 1 or Series 2 L67?

I live in Boise.

So, I already had many of the parts off so I took out the radiator to inspect it. The only way at that point that I knew how to check for a leak was to run a hose through it, which I did, but no leaks from the radiator. Only from where it was supposed to.

I inspected the hoses and didn't see anything major, but I bought some from Shucks anyway. Hosers sold me the wrong ones, so I put the old ones back on, and hooked all the radiator stuff back up. I filled the reservoir with coolant, made sure everything was back on, including the throttle body (which I had checked for coolant, none) and started her up. Ran. Like. Crap.

I couldn't keep it running. I realized that I had forgotten to clip the piece that runs off of the air intake hose, but it was still crappy. The engine started smoking, and once again, the temp got way hot. Everything was smoking at this point.

In the end, I cleaned up and laid new paper down to see if there were any leaks I missed. I'm calling it a night.

It'* a series 2.

maybe its leaking through the heater core!!!

Passenger side carpet would be wet

What do you mean the engine started smoking? Was there smoke coming out of the engine bay, or out the tail pipe?

Shoot me a PM and I'll give you my cell number if you want me to walk you through what to check.

Alright, here'* the latest. I got the radiator back in and put coolant in the reservoir. Started the car up and when the temperature started to raise, smoke began to come out of the engine bay. More specifically, right from under the valve cover area. So, I figured I needed to change my gaskets, which I was going to buy from Shucks but they seemed overpriced.

This morning I put coolant directly into the radiator until it was full. As soon as I started the car, it sucked it down, so I put the cap back on and drove it around. The gauge bounced from 200* until the next major marker, but never past it. No more smoking from the valve cover area.

I checked my oil and transmission, and somehow were both incredibly low, so I filled them up. Oddly enough, after I filled my transmission fluid, and took it for a spin, I came back and checked it again, and there was smoke coming from that area.

I took it for a spin, and it'* shifting hard now, especially between 1st and 2nd. Also idling incredibly hard. Kind of a wa wa wa wa wa sound.

If your transmission and oil were both incredibly low, I wouldn't have driven the car around. If there'* smoke coming from around that area, your valve cover gaskets might be leaking.

You shouldn't have driven it after the coolant got sucked down. The proper procedure is to fill it up, turn the car on, let it suck it down, and continue filling it until it is topped off in order to get the air pockets out of the system. The reason why the gauge bounced was because you had air pockets in the cooling system. Not a good thing.

Verify that your engine oil is at the correct level, that is the correct color and not a creme-ish color, that the coolant is completely full, and let it idle like while watching the engine bay and the temp gauge for 10 minutes that to ensure that everything is alright. Your intake manifold gaskets could be blown.

Okay, thanks for the info. Live and learn, I guess. Wish I would have seen that part about your PM, but I'll do from here what you said.