so i'm driving back to college yesterday like usual and about 40 minutes into the drive i notice my temp gauge climbing, i'm thinking o_O its 40 degrees outside wtf? so i slow down and look for the next exit. unfortunately it was pretty desolate and so i was riding with the temp gauge all the way to the top for about 5 mins till i found an exit off the interstate.

as soon as i got into a gas station parking lot, the car started to smoke from under the hood and when i got into a parking spot the car just died. like it stalled out on me (im an AT btw). afterwards the car wouldn't start for a good hour or so. after popping the hood, and letting all the steam clear, i see the problem. the coolant hose i used when installing a cai was leaking and coolant was shooting all over my engine bay and i'm guessing none of it was going into the proper place causing overheating issues.

i basically cut the hose above the leak, reclamped and i was good to go refilled the radiator and resovoir with coolant and water and headed back onto the interstate.

on the remainder of the trip, the temp gauge was actually on average about 3 ticks from the C x_X is that normal? my guess was the 40 degree weather plus going 75mph was enough to keep that engine coldd lol and i also noticed when i got back all of my coolant was draineddd going to refill it later today.

i also noticed that my car seemed a bit sluggish afterwards. from 70, when i stomp to full throttle, it usually gets to 100 in 3rd before shifting, but last night it got to about 90 and shifted. i did reset my ecu and i did have a bit of extra weight in my car. so maybe that could be why? not sure.

just wondering if my car suffered any damages from overheating. anyone wanna chime in? thanks.

 

If coolant continues to 'dissapear' you're in a lot of trouble cus its leaking through a blown headgasket into the cylinders

First rule of driving, if that temp gauge hits the red Turn off the car immediately! and let it cool down

 

ouch

 

ooooooh..."Note to self, do not buy car from MobTownTL" hehehe

 

Could it be the cooling system just needs to be bled? I don't know if these cars are self-bleeding or not.

 

If you notice the temp gauge climbing, if you absolutly can't stop or shut off the car, turn the heat on the highest temp setting with the fan going full blast. It will help pull the temp down a little bit.

Check the thermostat if the car isn't getting up to temp anymore, it might be stuck open after the overheat. You could also have air in the system from removing the hose.

 

holy shite! blown head gasket? you're scaring the shit outta me right now! how could i have blown a head gasket? and wouldn't a CEL show up if i did?

as of now, i have no CEL, no overheating issues anymore. driving temp is normal.

i think brad-e is right tho, cuz my sister's boyfriend who is a good mechanic told me i might still overheat a bit after i fixed the problem and what not cuz the air pocket in the system caused by the leak, and that might explain where the coolant is going, just replacing the missing link.

but gah i hope i dont have a blown headgasket... would fucking SUCK!

im gonna go to autoparts store tommorrow and buy more coolant to refill the car with... any suggestions? brand? full or 50/50? thanks.

 

You need to bleed the air out of the system and then see if you're losing anymore coolant. Also, check your oil and see if it is milky. Any smoke out of the exhaust?

 

Should've pulled over. Aluminum headed engines are not very tolerant to heat and will warp. 5 minutes into the red is not good.

Even at 40 degrees, the engine is water cooled and has water jackets which sort of insulate it from outside air. Ambient temp does not make a huge difference except for oil temps. On the flip side, water temp is regulated by the thermostat so it should run the same temp regardless of outside air temperature.

Unless you're using a very good synthetic, the oil needs to be changed.

Check that it's not using any water. Add water with the heater running.

Check under the oil fill cap for any water into the oil.

The shift into 3rd is controlled by the computer, has nothing to do with the overheat unless the computer thinks it's not fully warmed up.

Like it was mentioned, the thermostat could be stuck partially open causing the gauge to register low or the sending unit for the gauge could be damaged from the overheat.

Also, once you get low enough on coolant, the temp gauge will start coming down because there's no water to heat it up even though the engine is cooking.

 

but if one of my heads were blown, wouldn't the car throw a CEL?

didnt have much time today to go buy more coolant, but i didnt drive my car today either...

should i buy full coolant and mix myself or will the 50/50 work too?

 

If a headgasket were blown due to a warped head, you would get a CEL if it caused a misfire. It can blow to the inside of the block and if not severe enough it won't cause a misfire.

Usually any problems with low compression due to a blown headgasket show up at idle such as a rough idle or a miss.

Buy the Acura premix since that's the only way you can get the Acura stuff.

It's funny you're in the Biloxi area. I was there just a few months ago and did not see a TL the entire time.

 

where would i find this acura premix?

im gonna fill the radiator and resoivoir again and drive around for a few days and see what happens. about how long would it take to completely drain all of that? if it goes missing sooner than usual, then ill definitely bring it in to see whats up.

and it depends, which month? and what part of biloxi did you stick too? im pretty sure i'm the only tl that has done more than aspec kit haha.

 

The Acura/Honda dealer is the only place I know of that has it. Unlike many of the other fluids you actually need to run the factory stuff.

It was longer than I thought since I was there, it was last fall. I partied in the Biloxi/D'Iberville area and of course the casinos and I stayed with family in Ocean Springs and Gautier. I did notice more Mercedes and BMWs than I remembered.

 

lol fall? i was most likely in college x_X haha

 

I'm glad I hate cars is helping you out, didn't mean to scare you

My only experience with headgasket are on my boat which is carbeurated and has no CEL's so I am can't offer anything more.
When I cracked the block open had about 2 liters of water in the cylinders

These cars have a scary amount of electronics in the engine

 

welp, replaced the coolant a few days ago and have driven a couple times the past few days and the engine isn't overhaeting nor has large masses of coolant gone missing.

today, however, i noticed a check engine light come on and i've noticed even with regular driving im getting like 12 mpg. =[[ after my class at 3 today im gonna go to autozone to pick up a spring compressor. im gonna ask them to do the CEL check for me and see whats up... hopefully its not too bad

making me really consider taking off the intake, =\ all its done is caused problems for the car.

 

Hopefully no misfire codes... You may have just hurt the CTS when it overheated.

You didn't say if you changed the oil or not but it's a good idea. Though at this point you might as well wait and see if you're going to be pulling the engine apart.

 

dont blame the intake blame whoever installed it things like this need to be installed correctly

 

yeahhh... im gonna go check it out tommorrow

 

sigh... just got back from advanced autoparts...


they told me i had misfires in 2,4,5 and another code saying random misfires.....



sooo what am i lookin at? should i be starting to ship off organs? =\


i am going to take it to an acura dealership abuot an hour away from me on monday because the local honda place has such a bad rating, i just dont wanna go to them with a problem like this.

any advice =[

 

Just keep in mind these dealerships and most mechanics now days don't have any sort of troubleshooting skills. They're going to replace very expensive parts at your cost to get to the problem.

It's worth your time to diagnose it yourself. Do a compression check. Look at your plugs. You might've just damaged them from the heat. If this turns up nothing, do a leakdown test or have someone do this test and only this test.

What you also need to do is look at live data, not just codes. Look at the LT fuel trim and ST fuel trim. Look at coolant temperature values. Look at 02 sensor readings. Check for knock reatard while driving the car. You would be surprised how many "techs" don't or can't do this.

Make sure there's no water in the oil.

If you're getting water into the combustion chambers, the sparkplugs of those cylinders will be perfectly clean.

Just do these simple tests to keep the dealer from screwing you. If you do all of this and still can't find the problem, take it in. But if they come back and say a compression test showed a few low cylinders you know they're BSing you.

 

Does the oil have a milky white color to it?

If it does, you've got coolant in the oil. Change the oil, even if it's not contaminated it probably took a beating during the overheat.

Do what IHC recommended. If it's a warped head, get ready for a very large bill.

 

the problem with doing all that is i'm an unexperienced with being a mechanic, i'm on a college student's schedule and i have a trip back home for easter this weekend x_X

i really think my best bet is taking it into the dealer ship and at least seeing what they have to say.

 

scheduled an appointment for tommorrow with honda. do they charge just for a diagnostic?


but today after not driving the car for awhile, the CEL dissappeared but i still kind of get a rough idle on start up. but i can notice it going away mroe and more every time i start the car.

maybe its not as bad as we thought?

still getting crappy gas mileage however. i think it was like avg 12 in the city?

 

Hows the coolant level?

 

They may. If it's under warranty, they probably can get out of paying it since you continued to drive it during an overheat.

 

car

 

hmm ill try not telling them i rode the car overheating.


coolant level has stayed the same for a week. the coolant is fine...

 

Did you ever look at the engine oil? Or at least change it?

Most charge for a diagnostic but will waive if the car is under warranty.

 

I'm pretty much having the same exact problems and had it diagnosed as a bad engine, they say that I need a new engine and are charging me 108 for the diagnostic so far.

I literally am in the same situation as you:
rough idle, misfires, bad mpg, etc etc

did you buy it used? and how many miles/years ago?

 

They'll figure out you did if the head is warped.

 

yeah they're gonna check the oil today. and i bought the car brand new... its 07 with 34.5k so i think it might still be under warranty

 

your are covered untill 50k miles

 

sigh. yep. looks like im fucked...

found compression leak in the 4th cylinder and told me oil is shooting straight into cooling system...best part.... they blamed it on the aftermarket hose on the cai so warranty is voided.... told me i can either let them break it down and see what it is that needs to be fixed and at minimum i might be looking at 2gs.... but they recommended to get a whole new engine entirely... prices they gave me... 5,000 for the new engine and about 2300 for the labor... sigh... fuck my life...

i guess... any suggestions...

 

Well, unless they can prove any aftermarket part was the cause of the failure, they can't void your warranty, by law. The problem is going to be you continued to drive the car while it overheated, so they can always claim it was "abuse" that caused the issue, and they'd likely win on that claim.

If you go with a new engine, you can get a used one with low miles for much cheaper. Since they aren't going to cover anything, I'd find a local Honda/Acura shop and have them take a look at it.

 

Excuse my language but fuck them. They can't deny the warranty due to a CAI. That has nothing to do with a blown headgasket. Oil can get into the cooling system via a blown headgasket. Ask them to explain how that little hose caused a loss in compression and oil into the water. I would love to hear the answer to this. Don't give up, this thing will get covered under warranty.

All that has happened is you warped the head from the heat causing the gasket to blow. It's as simple as decking the heads you have to make them flat or buy blanks and transfer over all the valvetrain stuff. If they can machine your existing heads you're only looking at $150 in parts and a good bit of labor.

 

^ They're right, get a lawyer if you have too
Or go to another dealer and don't tell them anything that you already know, its like a second opinion

 

Come to think of it, I will be in the Biloxi area in May. If this has not been settled by then I would love to pinpoint the problem and nail the dealer on it. I've been through this before and I can talk so far above the mechanics' heads that I promise you they will reconsider.

 

yeah. i dont know... i was just kinda in shock earlier when they started throwing numbers i didnt have... but they specifaclly said they can't honor the warranty because their was obviously a leak apparently even though i told them the coolant in the engine bay was from installing the cai when i pulled the original coolant hose and since its an aftermarket hose its not their fault apparently and they knew the car was being ran hot. im not sure how much i can argue with that...

 

few questions... going to have to go home this weekend regardless... its about a 3 hour and 30 minute drive.... will my car make it if i drive very very cautiously? under speedlimit, and what not? anything i can do to make sure the car will be alright?


going to get a second opinion at the dealership in my home town...

but what should i say this time? what if they bring up the coolant leak in the engine bay? there isn't a leak right now, so can i say they have to prove that the hose is what caused the overheating?