My 2001 TL engine overheated with coolant leaking and I took it to the shop. They tested it and told me that the pressure is too high in the engine and it is a expensive repair (roughly $2K). Mechanic said, given the age and mileage of the car (170K), it might not worth it.

I filled the coolant and I don't see the overheating (drove few 15 - 20 minute trips). I see white foam in the radiator and the coolant is not clear green. Engine oil looks normal and no smoke from exhaust.

Is it safe to drive the car, mostly around 15 minutes short trips.

 

Pressure is too high in the engine? What does that mean? Compression? Coolant pressure? Maybe a clogged coolant channel? I'm confused.

 

i would at the very least see if the radiator has been clogged.
and the only way to do that is to uninstall the radiator, catch all the coolant that spills out, use garden hose to flush out radiator and see if blocked..if garden hose unclogs it, reinstall radiator and fill with coolant, and dont forget to burp it

the third gen TL's radiator fell in price from over $400 to 63 dollars. Check rockauto.com for a denso replacement for your 2nd gen. it's gotta be super cheap


also short drives as in 5-10 minutes. I wouldnt chance it driving it for 15 minutes or longer.

 

@losiglow: Mechanic said there is too much pressure from the engine and exhaust gases pushing coolant out, not really sure what that means.

@justnspace: I will have the radiator also checked. Meanwhile, is it ok to drive as long as the temperature stays in the normal range?

Thank you for the responses.

 

The f@ck is that mechanic smoking? Coolant and exhaust have nothing to do with each other... too much engine pressure sounds like what a clogged pcv valve would do and build up too much gas pressure in the crank case. Exhaust has nothing to do with coolant if he used a pressure test tool and it read too high then the rad might be pooched.

Get a second oppinion from a from a real mechanic.

 

This shows me there is no end to the endless hacks out there claiming to be mechanics. Not even sure its worth having him explain that further but im curious what he did a pressure test on to provide such a diagnosis.

So under what conditions did it overheat for you? You said later you didnt see any overheating after 15-20mins too

Hope this isnt your regular mechanic, if it is....SWITCH!

Justn - can you just disconnect upper and lower hoses and try the flush, do you really have to uninstall it? Just curious

 

Maybe the benefit of the doubt should be given to the mechanic and the OP just doesn't know enough about cars to relay the information provided to us properly?

It sounds like a bad game of telephone.. Honda coolant should be blue anyway so putting green stuff in there isn't all that great to begin with. I'd replace the radiator to start

 

I don't know much about cars. On the way to work saw the temp gauge going near red and I drove like that for 5 minutes. After it cooled down I drove to the mechanic (who is 2 miles away). After doing some tests he said the exact same thing I posted. He filled some coolant and after that I didn't see any overheating. But there is slight leak under radiator.

I bought Zerex asian vehicle coolant (blue) and filled the reservoir to the top mark. Also changed the radiator cap, old one was pretty bad. I am driving couple of 10 minutes trips for the past few days and don't see any issues (except for slight leak). This weekend I am planning to take it to another mechanic for second opinion.

 

Maybe your coolant was just low which resulted in some air being pulled into the engine coolant channels - although that doesn't usually happen unless it gets REALLY low since the coolant is drawn into the engine from the bottom of the radiator.

Either way, keep an eye on it and see if it reoccurs. And if possible, try to determine where the leak is coming from. If it's from a joint or weld on the radiator, or a crack in the plastic portion of the radiator, then you'll need a new one. Don't try to fix it. I've been there and it's really not a great idea. If it's just a connection between a hose and the radiator, then I'd recommend new hoses - or you could try new clamps and see if that works.

 

or could be sticking/failing thermostat. any ideas when last time system was serviced?

When going for second opinion have them write their diagnosis so its very clear. i found a written diagnosis forces them to have a modicum of honesty and support in their opinion

 

Engine overheating and coolant loosing usually hint to bad head or cylinder head gasket. Of course drive it more till you get more data. Would do cylinder compression test at my own. Tester is 25$.

 

The mechanics are telling you that you have a blown head gasket. You're driving on barrowed time. With a blown head gasket the engine compression and/or exhaust gasses can enter into the water jacket of the engine block. When that happens the cooling system is over whelm by the high pressures from the engine compression and cause the cooling system to leak.

There is no bandaid fix for a blown head gasket.

 

^^^ This above is good call. In 2007 I had acura legend 90 and when I would move radiator cap off with engine Cold and start car antifreeze would go out at slowly rate. Replaced front cylinder head and antifreeze was calm when start car. Notice in my case it was head not gasket. Those days it is more often head. If you do not see crack in gasket it is head. Therefore I recommend compression testing before all, so you can know if is front or rear cylinder problem.

 

Agree with 01acls - your mechanic is trying (very badly) to tell you that you have a blown head gasket. $2000 is a ridiculous price for a fix for this though.

 

^^^ Strange how people are unwilling to work at engine where it is actually routine job. If you know set timing you know take cylinder head off.