I bought my 97 2.2 a while ago and the stupid thing has been drinking the coolant like a lonely alcoholic drinks whiskey. I just had my mechanic pressure check it and there are no visible leaks in the system, and the oil isn't cloudy. I have to fill it up every few weeks or so, and that doesn't seem normal.

Also, I just took a 4 hour trip from MD to PA and when I got off the pike my car started overheating. I'm thinking that it might just be the thermostat so I am going to replace that and the radiator cap in hopes that it will squash that issue.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also, I was just looking at the coolant reservoir and there's a sludge covering the inside of the tank. What could that be from?

 

Could be your headgasket, but if the pressure check passes, that may not be the case. The cap and thermostat are a good place to start, both cheap easy fixes. I cracked my radiator, and could see where the fluid was leaking out at the bottom seal of the rad, try to visually inspect for leaks, or wetspots, you can't miss coolant it's bright green. All else fails, replace the rad, I got a new one off ebay for cheap

I also had sludge in my reservoir, I think it's just dirt and crap that accumulates over time, our cars are over a decade old after all, you can dump that out and rinse it, just do it safely and away from any animals

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm gonna put the new thermostat in today so hopefully that will fix the problem.

GO PENS!!!!

 

lol...why a new thermostat?

That is a pain to remove. Are you sure that your radiator is not bad?

I have replaced my radiator 2 times and never had to replace that thermostat.

 

i agreee with blackack..
i know im new..but i have experience workin with cars..that really does sound like a badd head gasket leak..
doubt just the thermostat will work..
just my 2 cents

 

BlackAck what does he know

 

I replaced the thermostat and flushed the system. The pressure check showed no leaks. A guy who was helping me checked all the cylinders and said that they were all within what they should be. . . . and said that he is almost positive that it isn't the head gasket. He said that it might be something in the radiator, or possibly a temperature sending unit. I'm stumped.

I drove the car about 2 1/2 hours and as soon as I got off the highway it started to overheat. It's fine as long as I'm moving, but if I'm not, it goes up very quickly. I drove it around a bunch today and it was ok all day until I was driving it home from the golf course. I was stopped at a light for a few minutes and the gauge started to go up. Luckily it turned and I was able to go so it only climbed a little over halfway. I"m just extremely worried because I have to drive in traffic to work. Is it possible that it's the radiator, even though there aren't any leaks?

And BlackAck. . . . 3 words. . . . CITY OF CHAMPIONS!!!!

 

NOT a fix but good to know...if you have to keep driving it and your car is overheating turn you heat all the way up and keep it on and your temp should start to drop a little bit.

 

Is your coolant still low?

Check you fan to see if it's running when the car is heated up. It sounds like you're burning up coolant, not losing it. If your fan is running as it's supposed to, replace the radiator, could be blockage in it, causing the coolant to just sit in there and heat up vs. flowing and cooling your engine.

 

 

So I was driving home from work today and it's a pretty hot day (mid 90's) and the temp started to rise when I was at a stop light. I turned on my heat and that seemed to help until I got rolling again. When I got home I left the car running and turned the heat off and when it started to climb I checked to see if the fans were running. Neither of them were, but as soon as I turned my car off, one of them turned on and ran for a while. Could it be my fan that is bad? I was also reading about some fan timing control part that is located behind the glove box. Could that be it? I need to get this fixed because it just keeps getting hotter and hotter. Thanks for all the help so far!

 

How much coolant is being lost?

Coolant leak into the engine will cause white smoke and sometimes engine miss, particularly on a hot engine restart. If neither of these symptoms, the coolant is leaking out somewhere, and its your job to find it. Look for cracked hose near end clamp, split radiator, weeping water pump, leaking heater hose, or leaking coolant line to throttle body, or coolant return to bypass pipe. Some of these are hard to spot and may require elevating the car on ramps to find the leak.

No mystery here, but some hard inspection and diagnostics.

good luck

 

My car definitely has trouble starting up when I've driven it around a little. There is no white smoke though, and my engine oil isn't cloudy. I'm getting extremely frustrated with this whole thing now. I just don't know what to do. Is it even worth getting a new head gasket if that's what it is? I've already put a good amount of money into this thing since I bought it in August. I don't want to continue to buy things and install them if it's just going to be something else, because that's exactly what I've done so far.

 

Try replacing the main cooling fan. I just had a similar problem. My car was fine on the highways. In traffic, my temp gauge would nearly top out. Once traffic started moving again, the temp would go back down. Turns out the smaller A/C cooling fan was working but the main cooling fan(the bigger of the 2 fans) was not. I checked the main cooling fan wire harness plug for power which checked out ok. Then I plugged the main cooling fan into the the wire harness plug for the A/C cooling fan; side note:both plugs are the same, and turned on the A/C to see if it worked. Turns out the cooling fan motor was no good.
I replaced the fan with an aftermarket cooling $70 fan assembly made by Hayden part#3690 because the replacement fan motor from Acura is about $240 . You actually have to remove the old motor and re-use the fan assembly. Don't waste your time buying an aftermarket fan motor from NAPA that is supposedly OEM fit, it does not fit at all. The Hayden fan assembly fits perfectly between the the end tanks of the radiator top to bottom and lines up perfectly side to side from the edge of the radiator to the A/C fan

 

The Hayden fan assembly fits perfectly between the the end tanks of the radiator top to bottom and lines up perfectly side to side from the edge of the radiator to the A/C fan. Drove it in yesterdays heat and the temp gauge didn't even reach the middle all day. My A/C was also more cold probably because there are 2 fans cooling the A/C condensor now.

 

sweet sounds like my problem

 

Turn on your A/C to double check if the main cooling fan works. Both fans should turn on when the A/C is on.

 

ok. i am getting from my mechanic that i have a bad head gasket. He says the reason why my car starts sputtering when its warm from driving a bit is a bad head gasket.

When cold the car starts fine. No cel light on whatso ever. The engine feels fine no lag or rough idle when stopped.

I have yet to change the thermostat cause this mechanic says that is not it but read all of here that it might be.


anyway ill change the t-STAT THIS WEEKEND