alrite guys I need your help on this one, my car has been overheating and i dont know what the problem is..it usually only happens when i have the A/C on but today it was diffrent I had the A/C on for about 15 mins or so, as I got out of the car I hear some sizzling happen I pop open the hood and I see coolant running out and dripping all over the place...What can be the problem? I need your help ASAP on this one because im at school right now and theres really nothing i can do i had to drive here with the heater blasted in like 90 degree weather so my engine wouldnt over heat

 

I would say it's your thermostat.

 

thermostat? doesnt that just determine how hot it is?

 

have you changed anything recently? maybe added too much coolant? soo as the car heats up the coolant boils out? thats the only thing i could thing of.

 

nope havent added anymore coolant the only thing i have changed recently was my oil and tranny oil nothing else..

 

First thing to do is STOP driving the car.

The thermostat (not in the car) controls the coolant flow in the motor. If its not working properly the car will over heat and not cool properly.

2nd did your radiator fan come on?

3rd are you low on coolant?

 

alrite well as of right now theres no way i can stop driving the car im at school and will have to drive home which is about a 20 min drive

to answer #2 yes it does come on even when the car is off it will stay on for a bit.

and 3 it does look like its low now i can barely see any coolant in the container because of all of it flowing out from before...

 

when the AC is on and its 100 outside- the compressor adds a lot of load to the engine
First things to check
with engine cold- radiator cold to the touch- open the radiator cap and make sure coolant is all the way to the very top- see the hole with the hose attached- that goes to the overflow bottle- coolant must be up to the top- nopt down an inch
Look at the rubber seal on the cap- if the seal is bad cracker torn mashed - it wont keep a sealed system and the overflow-resivour bottle wont be able to provide a place for the hot coolant to go on shutdown- then siphon itself back into the radiator when its cold in the morning.
Check the cap for the overflow bottle- there is a rubber hose that connects to the inside of the cap and fits down into the res bottle so the fluid transfer can occur- if that hose falls off- guess what doesnt happen!
Next:
radiator fans- the driver side is temp controlled and should go on and off as the engine runs at idle for a while or if you hold the revs at 2500 for 3 minutes- should trigger the main fan on.
The passenger side comes on for sure with the a/c- thats its primary job, and iirc, it will supplement the main cooling fan in a hi temp situation - dont quote me on that part!!
If the fans are working properly- the next thing to check is the thermostat- which is a metal device-spring and disc, that senses temp (~180F) and opens so that the coolant in the engine can circulate into the radiator and be cooled down. The system holds coolant in the engine block to keep it warm- then opens and closes, allowing hot fluid to push into the radiator and push cooled fluid from the radiator--- to flow into the engine as needed to maintain that perfect temp. It goes from the radiator to the water pump and thru the engine-to the thermostat and then radiator-
so next question is how many miles- wp due at 105k miles

When then engine is warm and running (watch your fingers) use the BACK of your hand to touch the upper hose- should be HOT- thats why you dont go in palm first and burn the bajeeebs out of your hand when the muscles do an involuntary reflex and contract!!!

Now check the LOWER hose- it should be much cooler- meaning the radiator is doing its job and flowing and cooling.
If the hoses are about the same temp- there is no flow- usual suspect- failed or failing thermostat. Easy DIY
Go check those things out and report back for further diagnosis

 

is the overflow bottle broken- leaking?? that would set up all the rest!
Your main fan is running for HOW LONG??? after shutdown?
Sometimes the fan temp sensor fails and the fan runs and runs or doesnt run when its supposed to
Thats normally located on the passenger side lower corner of radiator- look for a wire going to a sender unit- is the wire on good-tight and clean connection?

 

much thanks for all the info 01tl4tl ill go check when i have a break from this class and let you guys know

 

i dont think the bottle is broken or anything but that is where the leak was coming from earlier...and the fan usually stays on from 10-15 mins max after the cvar is turned off

 

alrite so i just checked rioght now i opened the radiator cap and it doesnt seem that the coolant is all the way to the top i can see some of it but i wouldnt really say its "full" the seal on the thing looks fine i dont see cracks or anything..next thing the hose for the res bottle is fine its on there tight and doesnt seem to be loose at all.

next i notice when i turn the car off the driver side fan is the only one on so i guess thats correct..

i am currently at 96k so i guess ill be needing to replace a couple of things soon

now to answer the final question i satarted the car and checked the hose the one on top is hotter than the one on the bottom so i guess its the thermostat...im kinda afraid to drive home now since i had to blast the heater just to get here and i wont be able to get the thermostat changed till wed probably...or should i just get this thing changed out asap and skip class tmr morning?

 

you want the upper hose hotter than the lower- it wont be cold on the bottem hose- but less hot
that is good thing!
FILL the radiator to get home, and put the cap on it one click- not fully closed- now it wont make pressure but will allow circulation so if your spraying is a leak from the radiator itself- it wont go out as fast.

Note: The parts store will loan you a pressure tester for the cap and the radiator

Be ready to instantly turn the heater on full temp tonight-- thats extra coolant that is cold sitting in a mini radiator- so you dump some cool fluid into the hot and hope for the best
Of course- total disclaimer of liabilty on my part or acurazinres members or managers-0do all funky get home solutions at your own risk!~
Now to find where its leaking from
SKIP CLASS- fix immedialty or face an engine overheat- that will damage the head gasket, and if not today- in 6 months the head gasket will blow and hopefully the head isnt damaged-warped or 1200 for that baby!!!

 

what do you mean by fill the radiator to get home?

 

I think he is saying you should fill the radiator to the top with water..
Get home safe Thomas.

 

exactly- fill the radiator up as far as it will go- do not use the ac- and listen for the fan to come on- watch the guage

heck he is probably home by now

 

ahh i just got home no worries im safe and you guys were a lil late on the post haha but thanks though i had the heater blasted 90 all the way back

 

by the time i got home i heard the boiling water sound again popped the hood had some smoke not much ill upload the vid for you guys

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsWceH1jw_U
there it is with the engine on and i have one more of the engine off but its loading...damn youtube takes forever

 

heres the second one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTGl9u8UYHE the hissing is from the engine..

 

I had a similar problem w/mines. I wasn't fully overheating, but my temp gauge would float halfway to the top and then maybe a min or two later drop back down slowly to the middle. I went to my mechanic today and he checked everything like 01tl4tl suggested and come to find out......my temp gauge needed to be replaced.

 

yah ima go get it checked tmr but the thing is about mine is that the temp guage would go all 3/4 of the way there and would stay there...

 

anything higher than 1 or 2 lines below the halfway mark is TOO HOT!!

 

alrite guys quick question if the engine gets to hot are both fans suppose to come on or is it stil sujppose to be only the driver side fan

 

From the looks of your video my GUESS is that the radiator is cracked/leaking on the driverside. You may be lucky and just have a bad hose. When the car is cool jack it up, or put it on ramps and look at all the visable hoses. Squeeze them. Also, as 01tl4tl stated rent/borrow a pressure tester from autozone. Once you find out what is wrong, and fix it be sure to head to your local honda/acura dealer and re-fill with OEM Honda coolant.

 

had similar problem with my grandpa's sienna few years ago, but we were putting freon, and the shop didnt put it correctly, and ended up taking the car to dealer. The dealer guy said there were air inside the engine, and what he did is sux out all the air and put coolant in again.

 

most heating problems occur with failed thermostats but I'd recommend pressure testing your radiator and radiator cap also

 

alrite well guys got back from the shop and it was a # of things right when i got there my car started to heat up again and smoke was coming out so i guess i got there just on time well anyways they lifted my car up and there was coolant all over the place! down to my strut brace...they cleaned everything off and found a leak and fixed that then it was to the thermostat that had failed also so another reason i overheated next was my radiator one of the fans did not turn on for somereason so one fan was doing double the work...and they fixed that..and they gave me a new radiator cap to make sure things would be okay it cost me a total of 270 for everything thanks alot for all the help guys!

 

good deal- better than a blown engine

To the poster that thinks they SUCK air out of the engine- thats not quite it-
you BURP the air out thru the cap opening-- like a baby--
by running the engine and doing certain rpm for x time and a few things- if air bubble is in there it will be clearewd out then, leave some air in and it will mess it up

 

exactly what parts they replaced and work performed should be on the receipt
fan sensor, thermostate etc

 

YOUR ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES. Mine was doing a similar thing, the water was being backflown into the resevoir and overflowing from there. Blown Head Gasket . Luckily I was able to get it into my mechanics shop as soon as I noticed the problem, before warping any heads. He replaced both gaskets and fixed an oil leak I had behind my oil pump for $900. Had it back in 3 days. Knowing a mechanic is one of the greatest things . Glad you got it fixed though, our engines do not fair well to high temps.

 

Another way to check your thermostat that is more certain is to take it out (not sure if that is hard or not on our cars, it's usually easy though) and put it in a pot of water and boil it. You should see the thing pop when the water gets pretty hot.

ironsurfer129 was probably talking about the refrigerant for the AC. Refrigerant and Oxygen DON'T mix. The dealership had to suck out all the refrigerant and oxygen and redo it.

 

When replacing the thermostat, does it require a gasket or seal of some sort? Isn't it immersed in engine coolant? In another thread a poster said it was easy to access and only 2 bolts to get to.

 

Yes, it comes with a new gasket, and a thin bead of Hondabond should be used as well.

 

Thanks Chris.

Is there a DIY for replacing the thermostat? I recall a poster saying it could be replaced without draining the coolant.

I think I had a minor coolant leak fixed around 60K miles and I'm now around 90K on my 2000 TL. Then and now, in 90 degree weather if I idle long enough my temperature gauge gets dangerously high. A couple of times it got high enough that the air conditioner stopped blowing cold.

Today I went and looked under the hood. The coolant in the overflow is just a bit in the bottom. I took off the radiator cap an I could see that the coolant didn't cover the hole to the overflow.

I could also see green build up from evaporated coolant on the radiator cap.

I'm guessing that perhaps I have a bad thermostat which allows excessive heating, and perhaps a poor cap seal that allowed some of the fluid to escape and then evaporate.

If that is true, all I need to do is replace the thermostat, get a new radiator cap, and top off the coolant. Correct?

 

Use this thread as a DIY, post number 10. The thing is honda/acura thermostats are designed to fail open (car takes longer to warm up, runs cooler) to prevent this problem. Although anything is possible.

Have you had the timing belt/waterpump replaced? You are at the mileage. The pump (heart) may not be pumping coolant enough to keep the car at operating temp. Check that both fans work as well. Top off coolant in the rad, and reserve and keep an eye on the level. If it goes down, you have a leak somewhere. You can rent/buy a pressure tester for this.

And yes, I would replace the rad cap as preventive maintence as well. Has the coolant ever been flushed?

 

Thanks for the response. I'm at 90K and was expecting to go to 105K before water pump and timing belt.

Do yo mean post number 8 for DIY? That is for diagnosis but doesn't describe the details of replacing the thermostat.

I did get a new radiator cap today but they didn't have Honda approved fluid. at Schucks. They said they have one kind and its all the same with Ethylene Glycol so I didn't get it.

When I do get the fluid and top off do I need to burp the system, or is that only after a flush. I did get a flush, or at least a change when I had that earlier leak fixed near 60K or whenever that was.

Do I add coolant directly to the radiator, to the overflow compartment, or both?

 

Add to both when the car is cool. Let it idle with the cap off until it starts to warm up. Once any air bubbles stop it will be bled. Age and mileage wears parts, so your water pump may very well be weak. Honeslty i'd have it looked at to see why exactly it's overheating. Then if it's just the thermostat you can DIY. Hopefully you just need fluid. Pick up a gallon at your local Honda/Acura dealership.

 

While a failed thermostat can cause the engine to overheat or run too cold, usually overheating the engine will also kill a thermostat. It was probably originally a fan problem which turned into a leak which killed the thermostat.

On a side note, don't run without a radiator cap ever. The pressure in the system is to keep the water from boiling. With no pressure the water boils at normal operating temps. Once the water boils, it can no longer cool the engine and you just compounded the problem.

 

many of you have mentioned the thermostat, but a couple have mentioned a fan temp sensor . . .

I noticed I was having a similar problem today. I was sitting in park with the engine running. All was well. Then, I saw the engine temp needle launching itself up near the H! I immediately turned off the car and let it sit for awhile. After a few minutes, I turned the car back on and the engine temp was normal (between 1/2 and 1/3). I watched the needle as I drove home to see if it happened again. Sure enough, the needle started inching up (usually when stopped at a light or waiting for a turn) it would move up in increments, move up and pause, move up some more and pause . . I made it home without the needle getting much above half way. I sat in my driveway with the engine idling again to see what would happen. Windows rolled down (to listen for the fan). After a minuted or two, the needle started going up again, bit by bit. I noticed the fan was not on (the extra fan) after the needle got about 3/4 of the way up, the fan finally came on and the engine temp went back down to normal.

So, it seems the fan(s) are working (I checked and they BOTH come on). So, it seems the fan is coming on, but IT'S COMING ON LATER THAN IT SHOULD.
Is this a thermostat problem or a fan temp sensor problem?
Which part should I get? Where should I get it? Online or AutoZone/Pepboys/Oreilys? Can anybody give me a part number???

The engine never made it past about 3/4 and it was never that high for more than a few seconds so I don't think there was any damage done.
When the fan DID come on the engine cooled off.
I checked the coolant levels a few days ago, but I'll check again in the morning.
I'll warm up the engine and check the upper and lower hoses to make sure the top is hot and bottom is cooler.

Help? I just got this car a few months ago!

How would I determine if it's the water pump? I never heard any screeeeeching. Don't waterpumps always make that screeeching sound for a while when they're going bad? I HOPE it's not the water pump . . I'm only at 72,000 miles.