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This one is driving me mad. Towards the end of last summer my wife was driving the 07 RDX (89k miles) and it all the sudden overheated on her. I drove to see her down the road and there wasn’t any coolant on the ground and it appeared she was really low on coolant as there was nothing in the overflow. I Waited for it to cool off and quickly drove It a mile to my house.
I flushed the coolant and filled it to the top and I’ve been driving it since but I keep noticing that the coolant is low and I have gone through about 2 gallons of coolant in the past few months with no overheating but it’s been pretty damn cold out this year.
I finally had some time today and when I changed the oil I noticed a bunch of dried up coolant underneath the car, all over the water pump housing, oil tray, and all the coolant hoses. I looked a little closer and there was a tiny bit of coolant pooled in the bottom of the radiator fins as well.
I went to Advanced auto and rented s pressure tester. Filled the pressure up to 1.1 bar and instantly heard air and the pressure was dropping at a steady pace. It sounds as though it’s coming from the top of the radiator toward the drivers side but I cannot for the life of me see the leak. I sprayed soapy water everywhere and nothing is bubbling up. I suspect that the crack is not visible and I’m just gonna need to go out on a win and buy a new one. Pretty surprised that this happened with only 89k miles on the odometer.
The plastic endcap is notorious for leaks over time you may need a radiator. Looks like the fluid is moving around so it's definitely a nice leak. Only thing you could do for certain is clean all the old coolant off and put a die in the radiator and that would help you locate the leak a little easier with a blue light.
The video is also very helpful as you can head the pressure coming out replace the radiator and while your at it do the thermostat and water pump saves your a headache in case the water pump is bad or on it's way out.
I bought a new radiator and I degreased the engine bay to give me a clean slate. Went to replace the radiator this morning and noticed a second leak that looks like its coming from the water pump as well. Does this mean I need to replace the water pump or is there just a gasket that needs to be replaced?
Radiator was a piece of cake to remove, but Jesus I cannot for the life of me get the Water Pump out. I bought a Clutch Holding Tool similar to this Robinair 10204 Adjustable Clutch Plate Spanner Wrench but theres no way to fit it in between the frame and the pulley.I cant even get one of my thinnest sockets to fit between the pulley bolt and the frame. Anyone have a tricks to get this damn pulley off?
Ok, now I am confused.... So the leak doesn't looks like its coming from the water pump. Is this the AC Compressor? How would coolant be leaking from there??
Yeah I tried that tool but it wouldn't fit no matter how I tried doing it. I finally got it off using a long flathead to keep the pulley still and used a 10mm wrench with a lot of muscle. Now I am trying to figure out how to remove the pulley without undoing the crank pulley as there isn't enough space to pull it out from the bottom. Another option looks like you can remove the alternator, might try that...
So definitely a lot easier to pull off the alternator which gives you a little more access to the water pump. Of course once I had the alternator off I noticed a squeal when turning the pulley (I originally thought the squeal was coming from the water pump) so I ended up replacing the alternator which I had already replaced a year ago (re-manufactured parts suck). Acura gives you barely and I mean barely enough clearance to remove the pulley from the water pump.
Once I got the pulley off the swap was simple. Got the water pump on, pulley back on, replaced the alternator, new serp belt, and hooked the radiator back up. Wham-o no more coolant leak but low and behold a transmission fluid leak from the radiator flare nut which is supposed to be tightened from factory. Took the fans back out and tightened the flare nut and everything is good to go! Took me about 10 hours all said and done, but could now probably do it in 2-3 hours....
I bought the radiator from PartsGeek. Not sure if its a reman Denso but it was a perfect fit and identical to the OEM. for $153 you can't beat it. Hopefully it lasts....
03-10-2018, 11:17 AM
