BoriTL

So wifey had the car the other day and came home talking about it didnt want to start for a little bit while she was at the bank, she was getting her check from work which is like 10 mins away. i've been checking my radiator pretty often since i was still smelling coolant after replacing all the heater and coolant hoses, so when she got home i walk out and my fans are running both of them constantly for a little more than 5 mins, i go to squeeze the radiator hoses and didn't feel full like it normally did. The only thing that i am aware of that i didn't change were the o-ring gaskets/seals whatever there called for the black metal heater hose that runs from across the engine. Could that be the corporate of the coolant smell and causing a leak that wont allow it to hold pressure in the cooling system??

also can someone explain a little on the process of changing the head gaskets out if it overheated to much. like once you start tearing things down what are you looking for? how do you know if your valves are ok?? what are signs that something additional needs to be done, resurfacing heads, etc.... Little lost in this section.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I hope you can clear some things up for me.

is the radiator coolant reservoir holding coolant at the full line?
is there any leaks or drips on the garage floor?

if no drips or leaks, maybe you didnt burp the coolant correctly.

MrMoAcuraPar

Head gaskets are the least of your worries if she truly melted down. Head warpage is the main concern, requiring milling or all out replacement if things got really bad. Best way to check for that is to inspect the oil. If it looks like chocolate milkshake mixed with a full diaper, I'd consider new/remanufactured heads

BoriTL

Burped a million times with heater on full blast, waited for fan to cycle two times.

Other than what happened recently has been running fine, the only things i know for sure i didn't change in the cooling system was the seals that go to that black metal pipe. Other than that all coolant, heater hoses, and radiator were changed as well as OEM thermostat from Honda. Also when overheated bad wouldn't i have a boil over out of the reservoir tank cause thats never happened.

BoriTL

No milk shake, just looks like regular used oil, has about 3-4k miles on the oil change. Coolant looks normal green and i water pump is working as you see it swirling around once the thermostat opens up.

MrMoAcuraPar

then I would have to agree with justn's post, could be something minor like an air pocket in the system somewhere

fsttyms1

All levels are full?
Take the 2 brackets that hold the radiator in place up top and pull the radiator away from the condenser and see if its clogged or really dirty in there. Take a hose and wash out the condenser and radiator to make sure air is flowing thru the fins.

BoriTL

Radiator is brand new, but once i get the seals for that black heater pipe i was gonna flush everything anyway just in case. Will be a good time to replace the two lower IM gaskets i had bought on accident a couple months ago since it has to be pulled to change the pipe seals.

Would those seals be able to cause overheating issues?? thats the only thing i can think of that i havent replaced for the cooling system. both heater hoses, thermostat, bypassed the mini radiator with new hoses, both top and bottom radiator hoses, all of the coolant sensors and fan switch. anything else coolant related i'm missing??

Skirmich

What makes you think your car overheated too much? I constantly travel to Arizona in the Summer at Full 120°F Outside with my A/C Blasting On, Keep in mind my car is Serviced like it was brand new..
And when I get to my destination the car does keep the Fans on for a good time! I believe this is a self preservation system for the car if the Temp range hovers above mid way of the gauge so when the car starts up again the A/F is a little cooler before entering the engine, Nothing to be worry about!.


What makes you think the car got to the RED Level? Did you saw the gauge? Fans will come on if the Gauge crosses mid way < This doesn't mean your engine is damaged in any way. Only way to damage its if you stayed in the RED Area of the Gauge for too long, Fans on for 5 Minutes doesn't mean anything.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^agreed.

different car, but applies the same.
I had a '99 malibu that the temp gauge would reach the red.

as long as you shut it down, the heads wouldnt warp.
I then sold it and told the buyer about it.
the buyer a female friend, didnt take caution to what i said and let it run in the red constantly. (no coolant)

I fixed water pump free of charge, but she constantly kept it in the red and eventually warped heads.

fsttyms1

Radiator could be new but it wouldnt make much of a difference if the condenser in front of it was plugged. Air couldnt pass thru it to get to the radiator to cool it.
If the seals were bad it would be leaking coolant

BoriTL

the only reason i brought up the head gasket was it being a 99. this is the 2nd time its problem gotta that hot since i've had the car, i got it at 90k and now has around 116k with a fresh rebuild on the tranny less than 10k on rebuild. but since rebuild was always having idle issue even after IACV was replaced, and was always still smelling the faint smell of coolant everytime i stopped after a decent amount of driving.

correct me if i'm wrong but wouldnt i have started issues or issues with the car turning off if it did mess up the head??

just trying to get the cooling system issue resolved than move on to the idle issue, cause if i have problems with the cooling could effect my idle.

Skirmich

^^ "gotta that hot" what part of the Temp Gauge does that fit?
Does it go to RED and stay there? or just 3/4th of the way?

3.2TLc

First thing to check is the coolant's level within the rad. How does the coolant appear in color ?
Check the oil.....does it appear milky ? Has the cooling system been pressure checked for potential leaks ? You've already verified that both fans are operational.

Top off rad and reservoir after properly purging any residual air which may be trapped within the cooling system. I'd suggest having a compression leakdown test of the cylinders if ya suspect internal issues.

01tl4tl

since OP states oil and coolant look good and good flow in rad, fully burped correctly etc
I would run a system pressure test at rad cap opening and find out where the leak really is
Ck the rad cap too,,sometimes its the simple things~
Engine poor running with coolant loss can be head gasket spraying water into a cylinder

Leak can be in the heater core or those seals OP mentioned. oring seals tend to be important
No leak from water pump- drip hole on bottom?

temp on TL should NEVER go above the 1-2 lines below half it always reads- dead steady regardless of situation
redline it a few times and blow a head gasket, a few more and its replace heads time at which point its better to replace the motor- no kidding

01tl4tl

Fans- driver fan is the engine off cooling fan and should run less than 5 minutes
If passenger fan is running too, you have a bad Fan Temp Sensor A
99s located at thermostat, later years lower pass corner of rad

its failure will cause fans to NOT run when needed, result in overheating in town and then fan runs when you don't want it!

fsttyms1

There is also one near and under the PS pump on some models. Could also be a faulty or bad thermostat.

BoriTL

Going to replace the O-rings for that metal pipe and pressure check system. what is cheapest means of getting a pressure check??

Also where is the heater core located and how would i know if its an issue??

was it a compression test that would tell me if the head gasket needs to be replaced???

3.2TLc

Was a genuine Honda OEM 2 stage thermostat used to replace the old one ? How hot did the motor get ?
Was this over-heating a one time deal ? Has the rad been running low in coolant ?

If ya suspect serious overheating, it may be time to swallow your pride and check in with a trustworthy local repair shop for a complete checkup of the cooling system. This potentially could be a serious matter and needs addressed as such. The shop will have the proper equipment and skills to tell ya if your motor is cooked or not.

BoriTL

thermostat came from Honda directly, has happened one other time but not anything for a extended period of time. Coolant wasn't low until that happened recently so not sure exactly how it got burned off or whatever cause i was checking it constantly since i have still been smelling coolant after changing all of the heater hoses\radiator hoses.

01tl4tl

heater core is at passengers feet
does intensity of coolant smell change with heater to Hot? that opens a valve allowing coolant to flow thru it. Pinhole leaks can occur, rust etc eats at it- its a mini radiator

you can borrow a pressure tester at auto parts store (refundable security deposit) ck cap and rad hold 14-16 steady
Sounds like to have the experience to do that without blowing up the system by pumping to 20psi~

01tl4tl

a standard cylinder compression test will usually reveal blown head gasket
water spurting from removed spark plug hole a good indicator too

compression tester cheap at harbor freight tools or can borrow from parts store
Worth keeping one at home

BoriTL

no same faint smell everytime i get out of the car, passenger feet as in inside the car??? wouldn't put it past it being rusty, previous owner or owners didn't maintain well.

Will try the pressure test once i replace those orings.

BoriTL

Will definitely get one and test it out, what psi should the cylinders be at?? if this passes can i assume my head is perfectly fine and is a cooling system issue?

TLer trash

Personally, I think a compression tester would be a waste of time and money in your case. There are 4 good ways that I know of to check for a blown head gasket, and none of them involve a compression tester. The first, and easiest one we use is to pressurize the cooling system to 4 psi, disable the ignition, and crank the engine for 30 seconds or so.(this is a long time to crank an engine)The cooling system pressure gauge should hold rock steady. If it increases at all, you've got a blown head gasket. (or warped head, cracked head, warped block, cracked block, porous block, porous head.... you get the drift. You can use a tool that pulls the air in the top of the radiator through a chemical that changes color if you have a combustion leak. You can use an exhaust gas analyzer to do the same thing. You can pull the plugs and apply compressed air to each cylinder, while watching for bubbles in the radiator. The first 3 tests are quick and easy, the last one is the most accurate, but really slow, so it's usually a last resort. If you can smell coolant under the hood, just have someone do a cooling system pressure check, overnight if necessary.

Skirmich

I'm feeling ignored here... Am I the only one curious to know where did the Temp Gauge reached? Its like pretty important to know since Fans turning on doesn't mean anything.

I cannot even count the times my fans turn on while the car is shut off in my trips to Arizona in Summer and my Heads and Gaskets are perfectly fine.

MarcDavidoff

Honda thermostats are designed to fail open but still could be suspect.
What is your coolant mixture? 50/50 or something else

ErickUa5

You may have a bad radiator cap after so many over heats.
Watch this video from start to finish and try not to replace any seals if theres no leaks.

BoriTL

The radiator cap is brand new, came with the radiator when i replaced it two months ago. Sorry about the slow reply no internet at home so very limited in my access to site.

Unfortunately the idiot that had my car before stuffed paper behind the temp guage and it stays stuck at half way, i moved two months ago so haven't had a chance to open the cluster up and pull it out see if its actually broken or if they stuffed it to avoid the up and down temps when a sensor is bad. so hopefully it still works, i normally drive my car and you guys know when its are baby we can sense when something is wrong, unfortunately the wife was driving it this time and was unavoidable what happen.

01tl4tl

please clarify- the temp gauge NEVER EVER moves
or does it start at cold in the morning and go to halfway?

If all is well: the gauge will rise to just under half within 2-5 minutes of slow driving and stay there all the time, regardless of ac use (that's what makes pass side fan turn on in normal operation) or hills or 100 degrees out or 40F out

Im old and used to the special tools of the shop- the exhaust sniffer at rad cap opening, the special tube that changed color for co2 detected etc
Several good alternatives suggested by one of our gurus- Trash, and skirm and eric are good finding vids to help you

get the pressure tester at parts store- free use with refundable deposit so you bring it back~
do NOT open rad cap when hot- SEVERE burn hazard to upper chest and face,,happened to a pro mechanic buddy who knew better but thought they could get away with it
Safety First!! If that means a shop makes 50 bucks off you and finds the problem, so be it

BoriTL

Temp guage is just stuck at halfway doesnt move at all, has always been that way since i got the car, a couple months ago for some reason never noticed it before noticed a piece of paper stuffed behind it. So not sure if its broken or if they had a sensor issue and were trying to avoid someone seeing it go up and down just haven't had the chance to open up the cluster.

I appreciate the help everyone. I'm going to get the two orings and replace them this weekend that way thats out of the way, i also had the lower IM gasket sitting around so replacing that as well. Soon as i put the orings in i'll get a pressure test to make sure its holding pressure fine. Going to take off one of the timing covers too, make sure water pump seal isn't leaking or anything.

ErickUa5

An OBDII scanner would be handy in this situation since the temp gauge is basically not giving correct information.
Best investment I ever made to chase down almost any engine issue.

3.2TLc

Ya got a can of worms, don't blame your dear beloved wife !!!

01tl4tl

the water pump drip hole is on bottom of pump, visible from under the car looking up (on ramps)

BoriTL

nada, would definitely be noticeable.

01tl4tl

not always, a crusty trail or whiteish stain trail may be all you see indicating the wp seal is failing

how much coolant are you losing?
res bottle only or rad only loss of fluid?
the hose attached to inside of res cap likes to slip off and no transfer can occur!

I agree with you replace the orings on anything you disturbed or are just plain old
when you remove pressure from an oring it deforms slightly
if its old and dry it wont reseal properly
kind of like using a new gasket on certain parts, the old one wont reseal correctly

03blackbeast

This sounds to me like you're thinking way too far into this. Sounds like the fans were on and you're assuming it overheated. My fans stay on every day in the summer sometimes they turn off and back on. It's a nice safety feature if you ask me. Not really a big deal. I wouldn't be worried unless one of the red flags listed above was actually found. If your level is good, there was no boil over, and you don't have any water in the system/white smoke, then you're good. I would definitely look at getting the temp gauge looked at though.

3.2TLc

^^^ Yeah man, totally agree !!!
If indeed your coolant level is being maintained.....don't sweat it.
Otherwise, if you're actually losing coolant ...... get the system pressure checked.

However, being the "devil's advocate" ..... there's a reason that the previous owner disabled the gage.

Skirmich

I mean that's what I been saying since my first Comment...

01tl4tl

do you guys normally smell coolant from your TL after driving?
I don't
and the only puddle is from AC vent drain hose, thats supposed to happen

has OP mentioned actual fluid loss and from where? res bottle or rad itself?

Note to all- that hose inside res cap likes to slip off and screws up the whole system.
secure with small ziptie or new hose if yours is loose fitting