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I am the exhausted owner of a 2003 Acura TL 3.2 base model. Okay so here's where it all started: My car had been getting really hot and we eventually figured out that we needed a new water pump. So we got the water pump replaced and when the old one was taken out, we learned that the fan blades on the water pump had completely disintegrated. We aren't sure if they got ground off into a small dust type substance (which we could easily flush out) or if they broke off in chunks and pieces and are now either inside my motor and/or clogging something up. We have recently replaced the radiator (because the old one was cracked and what i would call dry rotted looking and breaking off in pieces), water pump, top radiator hose(because it busted and split down the entire length of the hose), and several of the smaller water/vacuum hoses that run to and from the motor(because they too acted dry rotted and continue to keep busting), and the thermostat. But now my car still overheats significantly and we cant figure out why. What area could be clogged up or what other issues could be the cause of my steadily occurring complications. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance. I'm also including a photo of the small hoses that im talking about to be completely clear.
You mentioned flush: Did you replace flush with the proper coolant/distilled water ratio? (this could take a few refills)
Did you test the thermostat? A stuck thermostat will prevent coolant from circulating and keeping the system cool (there is a test in the manual for checking it) if your system was full of enough corrosion to kill your pump, could be some effect here too...
Does it overheat ALL the time? or just when sitting at a stop? This could indicate air in the cooling system possible due to improperly filling up when adding coolant (there's a process to doing it).
Does the cooling fan (the driver side fan) come on when the car is overheating?
if you need information on these items: links to threads that mention how to get to the service manuals:
Yes my husband refilled with the proper amount of water and antifreeze and made sure there was no air in the line. and one of my fans come on sometimes. And it gets hot as soon as its warmed up and it stays hot, instead of just being hot when i stop, so its always hot. and it gets so hot the fluid in my overflow tank is literally boiling at a significant rate.
My water pump impeller shredded earlier this season and I replaced it w/ no problem. After running the engine normally for a little while it began to overheat. I thought I just had a stuck thermostat so that was also replaced. When I replaced the thermostat I also backflushed the engine...... or I thought I did it properly. I am thinking that the pieces of the impeller are still stuck inside my engine and I am not entirely sure of how to properly backflush the motor to get them all out. Is this something that my husband can fix since he is mechanically inclined, or am I gonna have to put my car in the shop? What all areas could be clogged up that he possibly hasnt thought of?
Hi Ashley. I will reply to your other thread here (because that thread will most likely be merged here by the mods soon anyhow).
I doubt that you impeller blades corroded "off" and into the coolant passageways. for water to corrode "off" a bit of metal means that the blade is only partially exposed to water, whereas the system is closed and the entire surface of the blade would more likely be eaten away very slowly. I could be wrong, but every image I've encountered in google show otherwise.
You mentioned boiling over: have you replaced the radiator cap and confirmed that is keeping your system pressurized properly?
Last edited by whitetiger5; Mar 7, 2019 at 12:32 PM.
BIG TIME Cooling System PROBLEMS
