eb122

Hey Fellow CL'rs. You all have helped me a ton and the fun continues.

I have noticed my temperature gauge getting a little too hot lately. I started noticing a burning smell after decent drives the last few weeks. Today I was driving home on a cold rainy day here in the ATL. I made it almost home about 35 minutes of driving and my tempature gauge went beyond red to the highest position possible. I then noticed some white smoke coming from the engine as I was driving but nothing too horrible as it was raining and hard to decipher. I came to a stop at a light and the car seemed to start losing it and died on me once. Just before and right after when I would hit the gas it would make some very strange sounds like a rattling almost. I was able to get the car started again and make it home around the corner. I let the car cool and opened the hood. I noticed it looked like something maybe exploded near the radiator cap right in the front. It feels a bit slimy and there was some fluid all over the place. As I said it was raining so was not sure what caused this but now I am thinking this came from the radiator or near it. Did I blow something? I am no expert on cars but have been able to get by thanks to alot of u. Is it safe to just add some water in the radiator and try to drive it to a shop near work tomorrow(40 minute drive)? Any and all suggestions would be huge!!!
Thanks,
Eb

5-speed

the stuff that thats all over is coolant. the cap will blow off pressure (along with coolant) if it gets too hot and boils. if its green and slimy, dont eat it. My guess is that your thermostat is gone. could also be your water pump i suppose. its very bad to drive your car when its overheated, you could lock up your engine = very bad. you may be better off towing the car if it is overheating and the shop is 40 minutes away. you can add some water to account for the coolant that was blown off, but dont add it directly into the radiator, put it in the reservoir.

agranado

Damn. Get that thing to a shop quick before any more damage is done. Good luck..

AznX TL

ouch, thats a blown head gasket along with the radiator.........this is going to be a pretty costly repair if there is more damage.

eb122

I went ahead and added some water as suggested. I turned the car on and let it sit. It seemed to start and run fine for a good few minutes while it was heating on up. A few minutes into it steam started coming from the radiator area. Of course it got worse as i left it on only for a few more minutes. It was making a whizzing sound like air was leaking but the smoke was not just coming from one place it seemed like it was just coming from the radiator all together. That is unless the leak is coming from below where i cant see. It defintly heated up pretty quick though and i shut it off before the temp gauge went any higher then middle way point. I am thinking I can maybe add a little more water in the morning and try to drive it to a local shop 10 minutes away or so. I do have AAA so if i stall i can tow it I guess. I am not sure how safe or smart this would be to do so any advice? Does the A/C trick work for this? What could I check or do to see or know that I did maybe blow a gasket or my radiator is dead. For some reason I had this feeling it was a thermostat problem and I have gotten that fixed in the past and hoping that is the problem now. Any other info would be great you guys rule...
EB
P.S. This is a '97 acura cl 3.0 143,000 miles

5-speed

I doubt you blew a head gasket, but i could be wrong. if it heats up like that just idling and you have AAA, just tow it. Its not really expensive with AAA is it?

eb122

WIth AAA I get one free tow I believe so it would not cost me a thing I do not think. I would just have to call and wait of course in the morning. I really want to try and make it but yeah within 5-10 minutes just idling it was steaming like crazy!!! I guess I will be calling AAA first thing in the AM unless I take the risk and drive it gulp!!! I am just getting so tried of having to fix something on this car every other month it seems lately. Just changed the alternator last month, the window regulator a few months back and a complete rotor and break job around the same time. I may give up if this is gonna cost too much to fix. How much more can i put into this thing as I really wanted to make it last another year or more. 144,000 miles and counting!!!
Thanks again,
Eb

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Sounds like thermostat is bad causing you to overheat, or you needa coolant change

zhouz

if the engine got as hot as you say it did, theres a decent chance of a crack somewhere on that radiator. also you could probably find leaks in your valve cover gasket as well as the distributor o-ring from the temperature just beginning to melt everything. those lil leaks may not show up too much now, but if you start losing your gas mileage and cant seem to get it back you'll know where to look.

eb122

You guys r great thanks. I am really hoping it is a thermostat prob as I have had that prob before and i do not recall it being too expensive to fix. Crossing fingers but like zhouz just mentioned it almost seems like there is a crack on the radiator causing all this but I really cannot tell. Anyone have an idea of what I can expect price wise for just the thermostat? And seperatly just the radiator? That is to have it done by a shop as I do not want to get ripped off. Also any other suggestions as to wether i should tow or just go for it? Approx drive 10-15minutes stop and go.
Again u guys r awesome,
Eb

AznX TL

if steam is coming out of the radiator im doubting its the thermostat, when i had a hole in my radiator and it would overheat similar to what he described. i had to replace the radiator, and i blew the headgasket and probably the oil rings.........ugh

Kamikazee

I agree.. Id say its probably the headgasket, if it is, reach deep down into your pocket.

Best of luck to you..

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

My rad is cracked and my car doesn't overheat, it just smokes. If you're letting off pressure from the cap, you've either blown the seal on the cap, or blew something else like your head gasket

Kamikazee

Haha, your rad is cracked? Did u try to seal it?

I had one and it had a fine mist spraying all over my once clean engine. Was a b*tch trying to clean it.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Nah, I just bought a new Koyo Aluminum rad instead, workin on rippin my front end apart to put it in, haven't had much time to do so, it's coming along though. I cracked the lower lip where the hose meets, and there's a nice puddle of green coolant chillin in the lip now. I cracked mine draggin frame on my lowered ass car over my nicely repaved street that I now can't pull out onto

Kamikazee

So sad.. Whered you get the radiator?

eb122

Well, I got the car towed to my local shop and initial results are a cracked radiator as a few of you mentioned above. They said they will need to put the new radiator and all the parts back in to test the rest of the system. Too bad they could not get a radiator right away so I had to rent a cheap car to not miss another day of work. Anyways the guy mentioned he thinks it is probably just the radiator but they wont know for sure until the new one is in and they can run some tests. I just have this gut feeling the gasket is blown as well but I am hoping for the best. Any ideas on how much they may charge for a blown head gasket? I got the radiator, parts, labor and an oil change for around $400 which is what I expected. I just kind of think my thermostat or gasket is also blown but I will find out later today one way or another. Good times and as always your alls help is very appreciated.
Peace,
Eb

Kamikazee

EB, you could have done the radiator yourself.. 150 bucks for radiator, 1 hour tops of labor and a 15 mintue oil change and saved yourself the 250 bucks for the "possible" cracked headgasket.

AznX TL

i got my new radiator off ebay for $100 shipped
and it only took 1 day for it to come in

Kamikazee

I bought mines at http://radiatorbarn.com/

Theyre pretty cheap and shipping was fast.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Mine was $80 shipped off ebay

eb122

Yeah I seriously considered doing the radiator myself and it looks easy enough. But I had no way to get any parts and was basically stuck in a rut so to say. I did not want to miss another day of work as I did last month to change my alternator which saved me a pretty penny. So I gave in and took the dive this time to have the shop do it so I could make it here to work and not waste a whole day or deal with the hastle. I also could not properly diagnose it and once my car got towed to the shop I figured let it ride. So I am can deal with the extra $$ to not miss work and deal with changing it this time. I am just praying it is not anything else as I feel the gasket may be blown too. Something I just remembered, during the summer I started noticing my A/C starting to blow hot air when i would come to a stop or if the car was not moving at a good speed. Would this be fixed from a new radiator or could that be a sign of something else bad? Any info on the whole Gasket issue would be great. Man I love these forums.
Eb

AznX TL

hmm blown gasket would be any of these white smoke coming out muffler, oil around the gasket, and foam under the oil cap

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

That def sounds like a thermostat

Kamikazee

Lets hope! Theres a huge cost difference between thermostat and headgasket.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Fo sho

ajtcl

The thermostat will take all of 20 minutes to change. It is no big deal and a local or "freind" might do it for $20 or so. A head gasket on the other hand, is a big pain in the ass that will cost you a couple of hundred. If the shop is good, it won't take longer than a couple of hours. But it is an involved proceedure that requires a lot of removal and assemble.

Best of luck, and if you have AAA, have the car towed.

eb122

You aint kidding. I tried pricing a gasket online and it got ugly quick!! I have already gotten one thermostat changed and it was not expensive at all. So we will keep the fingers crossed and I will update you guys on my journey later today. I hate to say it but I am actually enjoying dealing with this stuff thanks to you guys lol. Like i said I have learned more about cars the last year then I ever wanted too but have saved alot of money thanks to you all. Did I mention some shop tried to charge me almost a grand to change my o2 sensors!!! I LMAO as I bought both online from oxygensensors.com for $150 delivered and installed them pretty easily although that front one is a biatch to get to. I have not gone back to that place for sure and used all the forums help to make it an easier job. Add that with the alternator and the infamous window regulator and we are rolling. Thanks again peeps and more to come later today.

Eb

Kamikazee

We're here to help!

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

eb122

Ok just got off the phone with the shop. They have been real helpful and even drove me to the rental place "Rent a Wreck." Solid!! Anyways they finished the radiator and they said it does not look like anything else is leaking or is wrong so we are good to go. They mentioned to keep an eye on the temp gauge as the thermostat is fine however there still could be a small problem with the gasket. So that scared me a bit but they could not find any big problems, which means there could be a small issue but not a deal breaker. I am pretty stoked it was only the radiator but something tells me there may be more to this. I will keep an eye on my coolant and watch for any overheating. The weird thing to me is that the guy said I was almost out of oil and I just got my oil changed maybe 3,500 miles ago. So there may be something else going on thats burning my oil as there are no leaks. So I gotta keep an eye on that too. It sounds to me like I gotta keep an eye on buying a new car soon =). Anyways that is it for this episode of AS EB'S CAR TURNS!!!! Stay tuned for future episodes and feel free to hit me up anytime.
Peace,
eb

Kamikazee

Grats on it not being such a BIG DEAL!

AznX TL

im glad thats all you had to get fixed.

ricardo95

Yo, eb122 and all, I have had a similar problem. My car was overheating few weeks back week and I noticed the bottom hose was very cool but the top was immensely hot but with no fluid. I pulled the thermostat out thinking it wasn’t opening, and right on the highway at that- word to the wise amigos, always carry a portable flashlight that u don’t have to hold- I love the spelunker kind. Anyhow, waited til the weekend and changed and replaced the radiator cap and coolant. Boom, overheating a few weeks later in traffic. U know what? It was those blasted gummy silicone hoses the previous guy had. They look cool but would leak and rip from the clamp pressure.
Now the car is fine but it still hovers close to the mid point on the temp gauge, as opposed to a bit lower when I got her (my lady in red CL) in the summer.
I’m thinking I may need to bleed the system through that bleeder valve on the thermostat housing. This sound about right?
My only mods are a cold air intake and a Unorthodox Racing pulley- which I highly recommend on manual transmissions.
Much appreciated and hope all your Acs are running solid.