"think" i have a heating problem,please help

[red_spider]

hey guys
i have a problem that i "think" is a heating problem
today on the way to work i had the A/C on and was driving and heard a belt slipping noise.
turned the A/C off as i was close to work and made it my goal to just get there.
pop the hood,everything was fine.it was heard around 2000 rpm till 2300-2400 rpm

i go home from work and the slipping noise is gone thinking great.i have the A/C.about half way home,i hear a large bang and think ive just gone over something,i didnt see anything on the road but it was night.not long after this my car beeps at me and i see HOT on my dash window.now i had just looked at the temp gauge a second ago and it was normal.now it was in the red.i pull over and pop the hood,everything seems fine and i let it cool down.

i drive home (it was only a few minutes,also with the A/C off) and discover that my radiator is bone dry,i filled it with some water to just do a few tests.

no leaks were found,it holds correct pressure also,so far so good you would think.
when i started the car the radiator fans didnt turn on...is this normal?
i let it idle a little and still no fans on.
i then turned the A/C on and only the passenger side fan started.
through all of this the temp gauge seemed normal...or only a little bit over

i know ive written a long post but thought giving every detail might help if anyone has any ideas.thanks guys

[bundy_boy]

first of all you need to find the reason why your radiator was empty, there must be a leak somewhere.

coolant can leak from lots of different places, radiator, hoses, water pump, head gasket, heater hoses.

i dont have much experience with commodore water pumps, but a water pump i had on a holden apollo was failing, it was only leaking when the sytem had completley cooled and had been sitting for a few hours, when i was driving, there were no leaks because of the pressure build up.

[rockstar09]

Ive.. replaced 2 heater taps on my mums VX.. Id check there also
It's on the drivers side almost on the firewall..

[strgas]

try bleeding the cooling system correctly then recheck for leaks as air can be compressed and the cooling system wont reach its operating pressure correctly . is the car on gas ? Is there coolant in your system or just water??

[red_spider]

the car isn't on gas.there was coolant in the radiator but i havnt got any around the house so for now just water.the water pump was replaced just after last Christmas.nothing has leaked onto the floor,if id did i have cream floor under the car so i would see it easily.but its leaking somewhere because the water i put in last night wasn't there this morning.hopefully it just a hose...its getting a full check over tomorrow.could the radiator need replacing?

[bundy_boy]

have you checked your oil to see if coolant/water getting in ?

[red_spider]

have you checked your oil to see if coolant/water getting in ?

yeah,checked after it happened,which means i dont have a blown head gasket.

so far verdict is need a new radiator