midookie

Hi, guys. I need tons of help!! First of all, my 2001 CL-S was having a radiator problem and leaked lots of coolant. Found the leak in the tube, got it fixed. Since that got fixed, I thought my raging temperture gauge will go down, and it did...untill some fool hit the right front side of my car, damaging the right corner of bumper, headlight, and the foglamp/light. Then the temperture started going way above the red again. After this incident, the coolant drains very weird. Sometimes I look and there's nothing. Sometimes I look and there's coolant overflowing in the reserve tank, but the other tank is dry. Whenever I refill, the temperture stays okay. While having these problems, my CL does the same weird thing alot of people are experiencing; VSA light comes on, and the malfunction indicator light came on at the same time VSA started popping out. And I do the same, turning the car off and on, then VSA light would go away. The malfunction indicator light dissapeared once or twice since then but it's normally on.

Three days ago, I just went to the local grocery store and came home, no problem. It started just fine, drove smoothly. The very next day, ready to go to work, And the Car wont start, it just cranks but wont turn, couple of times it started to turn but just fell out flat in 1-2secs. Theres No Clicking sound so i know its not the starter?? Any Ideas any help on where my coolant is going cause there is no leaks but i have to refill it at least 1 time every 2 weeks. And ideas on why it wont start...?? SOrry for the long post any help would be great thanks people!

phipark

Could be a head gasket. Better take it in to a shop/dealer asap.

midookie

Thanks for your response! Yeah, that's what we were thinking, but the whole time the car was over heating, there was no smoke or anything coming out from the hood. And we found no leak underneath the car either...do you think the coolant was going into the engine? I checked the oil stick and it was way over the dot, and looked like it was something else other than the oil on top of the oil.

How much is it usually to replace the head gasket? Is it possible to do a diy? Do I need to fluch all the fluids (radiator, transmission, etc and possiblly the engine flush) after replacing the gasket?
Thanks for your help!! I apreciate it.

celynka

it looks like head gasket to me also, have some shop check for coolant co2 contamination you may also notice white smoke from tailpipe or water inside tail pipe for abnormally long time - typical symptoms but not all of them apear at the same time, depends where the water goes. from my experience - air pockets are created inside engine from exhaust being pushed throug gasket , when large pocket gets to water pump you simply do not have water circulation any more and the needle goes up fast. i ve done it myself in my legend its a real b**ch it took me 27 hours to basically rebuilt entire overhead as head gasket kit contains about 150 various gaskets ( no kidding ) dealership wanted to charge $2300
but i do not want this scenario to be yours, have somebody who knows what he is doing do some checks

midookie

Wow...thanks guys for all your opinions. Sorry about taking so long to reply...At this moment, my CL is sitting in the property of my uncle's factory waiting for a diagnosis by his mechanic, but he is in Korea for business right now...Can't wait to hear what the problem is!! I can't stand taking bus/train and taxi anymore!!! I will hit you guys up for some updates though...please check back in a week or so...hopefully. Thank you!

rudeboyride

Check you CFI main relay. its is a relay under the stearing wheel. In the extreme heat the relay tends to fail after a year or so. Its a $67 relay. My car did the same thing ...fixed the problem

YeuEmMaiMai

best way to check to see if you have a blown gasket is to

1. pressure test cooling system
2. Check oil for abnormally high levels or discoloration

midookie

Okay, update on my CL...Got it fixed and WAS working fine for 1DAY!! The mechanic said that he just had to replace the "sensor" (Sorry, guys...he doesn't speak good English...) which I think was located behind the steering wheel like it was mentioned, but after 1 day...the car had problems starting again.

This time, though, I would give a little gas and the engine turned. Every time after that, when it was having a hard time starting, I would give a little gas and it worked. Of course, mulfanction light, VSA light came back on.

Then my boyfriend added some engine cleaning thing to the tank which helps clean up the filth in it, and after a while, mulfanction light, VSA light turned off by itself and had no problem starting the car anymore. THEN...sigh...one day, maybe a week or so later, the lights came back on again.

Although, I have a lot less problems starting the car now, it just runs so sluggish. Last night, the whole car was just vibrating pretty hard for a minute or two after starting the car.

I really think the car has a clog somewhere preventing either the air, or something to get through. I thought there might be a problem with fuel pump or sensor, but now, it just feel like that when I'm driving....What do you guys think?

midookie

Hello, guys. I've been gone for a good minute, but here's the update on my over heating CL-S. So I got the coolant flushed and poured new coolant, along with this transmission cooling pink stuff which made the car run reaaally good. I was happy for maybe 3 months. I thought the problem was fixed! Yet...and another one! Started over heating AGAIN. So I took my CL to the radiator guru guy, finally, and voila! He found what the problem with my radiator was all this time... It was...."A Cracked or Worn Out Radiator Top Where You Pour the Coolant In and Twist the Radiator Cap Onto" (Sorry, didn't know how else to explain what it was...) Yeah...So what was happening this whole time was that the radiator cap was never on tight enough because the lines on the radiator where you twist the cap onto was cracked. And the coolant kept spilling out or something like that...

So I'm getting a new radiator tomorrow and just thought I should let you guys know (if anyone was still wondering).

Thanks!!

p.s.
Anyone happen to know how to on performing an emergency fix on above problem, right...?