Car Overheating & Coolant Boiling in Reservoir
 

Hello Guys,
I have a peculiar problem with my 96 Acura 3.2TL. My car tends to overheat and I my coolant boils in the reservoir and overflows. I dont see any symptoms of blown head gaskets like white smoke from tail pipe or oil does not look frothy except for it failed the block test where the blue fluid turns yellow. I took it to many repair shops and none could figure out the problem. I noticed in the fuse box (next to the battery) there were certain fuses missing. My fan used to blow for a few minutes after I take out the ignition key and suddenly it stopped a few days ago and now my engine tends to over heat. If its a head gasket problem would the K&W block sealant work? Please advice as I am not in a postion to spend $1500 for the head gasket repair.


Thanks,
-V

:what:
Bad fan switch, bad sensor or something which has stopped your engine cooling fan(s) from running. :2cents:

Not trying to minimize your situation, but are you absolutely sure that the reservoir coolant is boiling? In many cases, it is just air managing to travel past the radiator cap and into the reservoir. It looks like it's boiling, but in fact it's just bubbling because of air being forced into the coolant.

As simple as it sounds, check your radiator cap. In fact, for the price of a new one I would simply replace it to see if it helps. You may have something as simple as air in the system, which will cause overheating. And as Will mentioned, check the obvious to make sure the coolant system in your car is working correctly. Again, it could merely be a fuse, sensor, or fan switch.

Does the cooling fan come on automatically if the air conditioning is switched on?


Terry

Hey Guys,
Thanks for the replies, I hear the hissing and bubbling sound from the reservoir and today I noticed that the coolant spilled and saw some white smoke come out from below the hood. One thing I noticed is that the temperature gauge goes over normal I whitched the AC and the gauge went back to normal. I drove on the highway for about 10 miles and I did not see the gauge go above normal. I replaced the fan switch but did not help. I think due to the fan not operating as it should. Any additional help much appreciated.

Thanks,
V

:blink:
Check the radiator cap as Terry mentioned-- make sure no coolant residue is around the neck of the radiator.
If the cap is not the problem, check the radiator hoses for cuts and leaks, and check the hose clamps for tightness.

Yes it immediately switches on. Is this a problem?

There are no external leaks, It might be a fuse or something as I assume that the fan does not operate normal.

to me it sounds like your radiator cap is broken. I had the same problem about 2 months ago and it was an easy fix. I couldn't understand why my reservoir was empty after a simple trip to the corner store and my gauge at the tip top and as soon as i replaced that it took care of the problem.

I had that problem with my old '94 Integra. For some reason it would overheat A LOT and the coolant was being used up very fast. Then one day I blew a head gasket, spent $1k+ to fix it and the problem went away. I swear I put as much $$$ into that car as I did buying it... but I still loved it.

Hey Guys, I replaced my Radiator cap and seems to me that it worked. I dont see the coolant hissing,bubbling and overflowing from the reservoir. Let me see for a couple of days and will confirm. I spent $500 just for diagnosis and them stupid repair shops could not fix it. Thanks for all the help else I would have had to spend $$$$ for the head gasket replacement.

-V

Nope. I was curious as to if it would, because most cars automatically activate the cooling fan once the a/c is operating. You mentioned that the car ran normal while doing so, which tells me the cooling system is probably working correctly.

As mentioned, replacing the rad cap is a good first step. The air is no longer able to travel past the cap and into the reservoir. If this doesn't seem to help, then I believe that some Honda products have a thermo-sensor near the thermostat housing which activates the fan. This may be contributing to the issue.

Keep seeing if the new rad cap works for now and let us know.


Terry

I just wanted to add that these cars all use a dual acting thermostat which closes the coolant bypass valve as it opens the regular valve from the engine to the top radiator hose. If the thermostat hasen't been changed for a while it can be faulty, but cause symtoms indicating a faulty fan switch (due to an improper flow of coolant to the switch). Also, any air in the system, can really screw things up. If you look around the bottom of the thermostat housing there should be a bleed valve to properly evacuate air. Also, when replacing the thermostat, the little pleed valve in it should be at twelve o'clock to keep air from getting trapped. I used to think that the air would come out if the engine was run for awhile, but not sure this is true if alot of fluid is drained, or comes out from a blown hose , or overheating

Don't ask what a pleed valve is, meant bleed valve

ahhh just in time...

2.5 year old topic. Pretty sure he has his answers by now considering the OP hasn't been on the forum since 3 days after he originally posted this :D