Hello everyone,
With the help of the site I recently had my son's 2002 TL Type S transmission replaced with a used Honda one. It took the shop longer then expected but the car runs and drove fine. A few days ago the car started puking radiator fluid out of the radiator cap as best I can tell. It is sprayed all over the front of the engine. Without the temp gauge ever reading more then half way. I cleaned it up and added more fluid. Next day when my son got home from work it did it again.
It was low on fluid and when he got home the fan stayed running to cool the engine (as it should), despite the temp gauge not reading above halfway. So I checked the fans after it cooled down. With A/C on both fans come on and run but with heat on idling at about 2k neither fan came on and the temp gauge raised from bottomed out to a little below halfway.
Next day it puked again. So I bought a new fan switch (at the thermostat), temp sending unit, radiator cap and a Honda Thermostat. I replaced those 4 and refilled and burped the system. Temp gauge seemed to work the same (it will go from 0 to just shy of half way). The car still puked again the next day.

So I am at a loss, I am thinking that I am missing a fan switch that controls low speed/ idle operations, and/or maybe the radiator is blocked? I'm just baffled why the car is not throwing any codes and the temp gauged is not ever going above halfway, even though the system is puking fluid?

Any ideas? I have looked over the service manual but my fans working with A/C and after shutdown does not match any of the listed results.

 

TLB, you hit the normal problem items for this type of thing. Usually Radiator Cap or stuck thermostat. Check around the water pump and see if there is excess weeping, you can have the same symptoms if the water pump locks or has leaks. I know, you should see it in the temp gauge but it is worth checking. Did anyone ever use a "radiator fix" in there? Also, is this happening as you crank the engine or after? If happening while cranking check the head gasket as it is the cylinder compression causing additional pressure in the system. Hope any of this helps.

 

Jon M, you are such a great addition to this forum; I have learned a lot from your responses. Thank you for helping us all out.

If the radiator has any movement from bad rubber bushings, then there could be a hairline crack in the plastic top from all the vibration.

 

Davius,
Thank you, that was very nice of you to say. I have learned a lot on these forums, there are many people here that know so much and are so helpful. I try to answer what I can think of in hopes it helps someone and someone will help me when I need help. Whitetiger5 recently helped me to understand a question about the transmission (through some PM's) and several of the moderators have been very helpful. Not all ideas are correct but they open up new paths to think about and may help someone else. Again, thank you.


TLB, please post what you find as it helps with everyone's knowledge.

 

I recommend you pressure test your cooling system. Any leak will bleed off pressure and can cause "boil over" where it then surges (pukes) past the cap.

Distilled water boils at 212F at sea level. 50/50 water/coolant boils at around 226F. At 16psi (the rating of the cap) it's 252F/267F respectively. So loss of pressure will lower the boiling point enough where the temp gauge may still read OK (hard to tell since there's no scale on the gauge). An IR thermometer can help determine the actual temp.

You can check at local auto parts store for tool loan programs, (Autozone has one).

 

I thank you for the help, I tried a few more things but it still happens. I gave up/ ran out of free time, so it is in a shop that I trust. I will let you know when I find out. I think it is the radiator but did not want my son to keep paying for parts on a hunch.

 

TLB, Please let us know what they find. Good Luck.