I recently hit 105k and am dropping the car off for the timing belt service tmr. My mechanic recommended that I get a new radiator also.

I plan on getting an after market (Koyo). He also said i needed all the hoses/gaskets / thermostats...

Anyone done a replacement and has a shopping list for me?

 

Why did he recommend a new one? At 125,000 mine is pretty much perfect. It's not a common problem with the TL.

 

I keep having to refill my reservoir tank every few weeks and I almost went through 2 gallons, and it just sprays all over my engine bay

 

If I recall correctly, you drain the radiator every year - most people don't come close to that and in my opinion, Honda coolant is not really good for 5 years, much less 10 years.

While I would not say that radiator failure is common, the consequences of failure are *high*, and there are many threads on various Hondas with radiator failure around 8-10 years: Pilots, Oddysis (sp), Accords, etc.

The problem is also the trans cooler tank inside the radiator sometimes fails, and damages the trans. Or the trans cooler hose connections to the radiator fail.

The OP has an '06 TL based on his signature, and I don't know if the trans cooler/heater is inside the radiator, OR on top of the trans. If the latter, I would also suggest replacing that unit. JMO

 

if you just want to replace the radiator, that is all you will need. it would be a good time to do the hoses too but that's up to you. same with thermostat. none of these are very hard to change.

however, i do agree with ihatecars that its not a common problem. if you leak coolant, it could be as simple as a ripped hose or a failed hose clamp

 

the fuck. sounds like a retard of a mechanic.

"lets just throw parts at it and see if it fixes it. Im not paying for it, so i'll just ask him to get all hoses and minuscule clamps even tho i can reuse the clamps. hell, I aint paying for it."

 

From what I've read in the past, coolant actually does last a very long time. In fact, the factory fill coolant should be good until you have the 105K service done as it will need to be drained to install the water pump. The coolant when 'used up/worn' becomes acidic (not as acidic as you might think- it should have a pH of 9.5 or so, and when 'worn' the pH drops to ~ 8 or so). When this happens, it acts as an electrolyte- akin to a battery), and this is what causes wear to typically the rubber parts like hoses. It's true that radiators with good care (and assuming the existing coolant isn't rusted/ brown in appearance) should last the life of the car and is not a typically replaced part (unless there's a break in the coolant line or attachment point where the hose connects). I'd look for other sources of a leak before just replacing parts.

 

Exactly ... It sounds like once it gets up to temp/pressure its blowing it out of somewhere ... find out the "somewhere" and go from there.

 

+1 for the other comments on finding the source rather than throwing parts at it. Clean up your engine bay and look for the leak. If the leak isn't obvious, find a shop that will use a UV dye and light to find it.

 

even if it is a hole in the radiator a good shop can fix that for $100...

 

The transmission heat exchanger on the '06 is on the transmission, the radiator just supplies water to and from the heat exchanger.

The radiator is something I will let go for a while, assuming I'm not going out of town much or commuting for work. Just driving around town, you can smell coolant long before it can do any damage to the engine from overheating, assuming you take heed of the smell and investigate right away. From what little I can see, mine looks perfect on the inside as did the water pump and water pump cavity when I did the timing belt. I drain and refill the radiator every 2 years. I suggest everyone do an early drain and fill due to all of the sand I found in mine, probably left over from the casting process. I couldn't imagine sand circulating for 105,000 miles and 7 years.

I can't say if the Honda coolant is good for 10 years or not since I've never run it that long but I know we definitely don't have the horror stories of it eating intake manifold gaskets or gelling up inside the radiator and engine. It seems like a good coolant, the only factory fluid I still run. I do, however, run it diluted, using 2/3 50-50 factory fluid and 1/3 distilled water since it gets very hot in the summer and rarely hits freezing in the winter. I figure that's plenty of coolant for inhibiting corrosion and water pump lube but with improved coooling with the distilled water.

Most of the leaks are from the seal around the endtanks or a cracked end tank which are usually very cheap to fix if you take the radiator in yourself. I wonder if this guy's mechanic has pressured the system up to make it easier to find the leak.

 

My mech, will be doing a diagnostics run on the car soon. He just recommended I do it. What happened a while back was the cap on the reservoir tank cracked open and spewed out coolant for God knows how long... I only noticed when the temp gauge would skyrocket whenever i came to to a full stop. My friend told me to top off and squeeze the hoses to let out the air and see how it act after.

The temp gauge is at a constant read now, but the only thing is that it still guzzles coolant and occasionally sprays out from the reservoir cap

 

If it's spraying from the reservoir cap, you have a bad radiator cap. Very simple fix. The only other cause would be a blown headgasket but just replace the radiator cap and it should be fine.

 

At $100 you can replace the radiator with a new denso unit (same as OEM).

Radiator cap, overflow tank seals & hoses & thermostat should be done with the 105k service anyhow IMO, you have the coolant out already so it just makes sense to get the thermostat while the water pump is being done and the other parts are inexpensive and easy to replace.

 

For the part...not for parts + labor...OP isn't doing the work himself.

 

Can't imagine that costing much it literally takes about 30 minutes to swap it out in this car its so simple.

If OP were to the coolant is already being drained as well that's about a $50 cost in coolant anyhow.

 

I can't believe the OP hasn't replaced the radiator cap and instead drives the car around spewing coolant. If it's spewing from the overflow, it can only be the radiator cap or something is pressuring up the system, either a blown headgasket or it's overheating from an unrelated issue. If the cap is bad, it can cause coolant boiling and overheating even without the coolant being low.

 

^+1

 

The cap has been replaced, but it still sprays out from the reservoir cap area...

 

The radiator cap or the overflow cap?

 

I think OP is referring to the overflow tank.

Just buy a new overflow tank cap, seal, hose to go down into the reservoir and hose to go from the tank to the radiator.

It's cheap and takes 5 minutes to install, I replaced all of these items just prior to doing my timing belt.

By chance you're not overfilling the overflow tank are you?

Here:

#2, 3, 4, 5 & 6





http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...All&vinsrch=no

 

it shouldnt be this hard to solve leaking coolant from the top. theres only a hose, cap, and reservoir. if you want to be safe, replace them all, they dont cost very much anyways

 

I replaced all those parts already but over spray persists.

 

Thermostat might do the trick if it's not opening all of the way.

A guy I worked with had a seized T-stat in his car and it blew out the gasket by it from the coolant getting too hot. Shops told him it was a head gasket that he had blown but it was just his thermostat seized.

T-stat was removed from his mustang and it ran just fine.

Thats my guess, if everything else is ok, it should be done with the 105k service anyhow.

Any coolant leaking from near the thermostat? It's behind the EGR solenoid in the water passage on the block (right under the throttle body).

 

Well my car is ready and I will be picking it up tmr morning so I'll see what my mech concluded.

 

How's the car? Just curious.

 

^+1

 

Sorry for the late reply....

So after he did my water pump and refilled the radiator, he saw that the radiator cap broke again and some pieces fell into the radiator. He replaced the cap with a new one (1.1) and told me to drive it for a while to see if any over spray continues.

 

any updates? just 2 days ago I popped my hood and found coolant had leaked from the reservoir cap, it sprayed some on the engine cover and surroundings. It's not too much, probably like just a couple small splashes. It was dried by the time I checked, but I had popped my hood last week and it wasn't there so I know it's recent. My car drove perfectly fine though, in fact I had just gotten back from a trip to San francisco and it drove perfectly that whole 1000 mile trip. No overheats, nothing. My reservoir cap is only couple months old, and all the hoses are in very good shape.

The only thing that I suspected was the radiator cap, as that's the original one, and my car is now hitting 145k miles. I'll probably replace it with an oem one tomorrow and see if it happens again.

 

You might want to look at the area around the small hose coming from the radiator to the reservoir. I had a similar leak a couple months ago and found a small hairline crack in the plastic elbow that attaches to the reservoir cap connecting that small hose to the radiator.

 

Most likely the inside of the radiator cap broke off into the radiator. swap em out and there shouldnt be any spray left, at least that was what my problem was

 

i'll go ahead and replace the radiator cap and report back in a week or so