Almost Overheated
08-01-2014, 12:10 PM
#1
Almost Overheated
My '98 3.2 TL has had a seeping head gasket and a leaky water pump for years now, but I don't drive it much and always check the fluids before long trips. My mechanic added pellets to the coolant and that has made the water pump leak intermittent and may have temporarily stopped up the head gasket seepage because through the colder months there wasn't even pressure build-up in the system when checked while the engine was cold. In the summer, it seems to build up a lot more pressure to a point where the car can be completely cold and spew coolant out when the radiator cap is removed.
All summer long this year, every time I check the coolant level, it has had pressure build-up and spewed out coolant when checked cold, but I couldn't add more because the radiator would still be full. I figured there had to be air hiding deeper in the cooling system that was displacing the coolant. After several times of checking, a few days ago, I decided to get to the bottom of this and moved the car on an upward slant and ran it with the radiator cap off. The coolant level went way down even with the engine running. In fact, I added coolant to the radiator while it idled. Normally, as soon as the engine turns on, the coolant will expand and spill out if the radiator cap is off (I know from experience, lol, and I have stupidly opened the cap seconds after turning on the engine -- NEVER do that EVER because it will spray a little even when barely heated), so I was surprised to see that the level in the radiator kept going down even after I added more.
So I topped it off and went on my trip and after returning home and waiting overnight, I checked it again. I always park in my driveway facing in, which has the car nose down on the slight hill, but I decided to park facing up the driveway this time so any air in the cooling system could work its way out of the cooling jacket. I could smell antifreeze when I got out after parking, but I don't know if it was burning off of the outside of the system because I made a mess when I added coolant or if it was due to a leak in the system. Anyway, when I checked it today, the level in the radiator was down quite a bit and I had to add a bunch. I briefly checked the oil dipstick and it was the right color so that's a good sign. I haven't run the car yet, but I plan to tomorrow night. During the last trip, the heat worked fine and the temp gauge was normal.
I'm debating about whether or not to add more pellets or one of those awful head gasket in a can things. My dad, like many people who work on engines, is totally against it, but my mechanic is against changing the head gasket on a car as old and with as many miles as mine because of the load it will put on the rest of the engine. It seems silly to replace the entire engine for a gasket, of all things. My brother said that if I'm going to use a head gasket in a can product, now is the time, before it is completely broken. I'm not sure what I want to do yet because I don't want to put in the head gasket stuff and then wish I didn't. I know it is designed to block up leaks and ends up blocking up more than what you want it to block.
So yeah, I just wanted to share the latest update on my car situation and see if anyone had any comments. I feel very fortunate that I was able to catch the problem before it overheated. It did overheat years ago, which is why my head gasket seeps now, and it's too bad I didn't know anything about cars back then or cared as much as I do now because I could have prevented it. Now that I have learned a lot, I can watch out for these things, which is absolutely necessary as an owner of an old Acura. The '96-'98 3.2 TL engine requires more attention to detail and pampering than most other brands on the market at that time, I think, but it is a powerful and reliable engine otherwise. My dad used to say, "If you take care of your car, your car will take care of you," and that is pretty true.
All summer long this year, every time I check the coolant level, it has had pressure build-up and spewed out coolant when checked cold, but I couldn't add more because the radiator would still be full. I figured there had to be air hiding deeper in the cooling system that was displacing the coolant. After several times of checking, a few days ago, I decided to get to the bottom of this and moved the car on an upward slant and ran it with the radiator cap off. The coolant level went way down even with the engine running. In fact, I added coolant to the radiator while it idled. Normally, as soon as the engine turns on, the coolant will expand and spill out if the radiator cap is off (I know from experience, lol, and I have stupidly opened the cap seconds after turning on the engine -- NEVER do that EVER because it will spray a little even when barely heated), so I was surprised to see that the level in the radiator kept going down even after I added more.
So I topped it off and went on my trip and after returning home and waiting overnight, I checked it again. I always park in my driveway facing in, which has the car nose down on the slight hill, but I decided to park facing up the driveway this time so any air in the cooling system could work its way out of the cooling jacket. I could smell antifreeze when I got out after parking, but I don't know if it was burning off of the outside of the system because I made a mess when I added coolant or if it was due to a leak in the system. Anyway, when I checked it today, the level in the radiator was down quite a bit and I had to add a bunch. I briefly checked the oil dipstick and it was the right color so that's a good sign. I haven't run the car yet, but I plan to tomorrow night. During the last trip, the heat worked fine and the temp gauge was normal.
I'm debating about whether or not to add more pellets or one of those awful head gasket in a can things. My dad, like many people who work on engines, is totally against it, but my mechanic is against changing the head gasket on a car as old and with as many miles as mine because of the load it will put on the rest of the engine. It seems silly to replace the entire engine for a gasket, of all things. My brother said that if I'm going to use a head gasket in a can product, now is the time, before it is completely broken. I'm not sure what I want to do yet because I don't want to put in the head gasket stuff and then wish I didn't. I know it is designed to block up leaks and ends up blocking up more than what you want it to block.
So yeah, I just wanted to share the latest update on my car situation and see if anyone had any comments. I feel very fortunate that I was able to catch the problem before it overheated. It did overheat years ago, which is why my head gasket seeps now, and it's too bad I didn't know anything about cars back then or cared as much as I do now because I could have prevented it. Now that I have learned a lot, I can watch out for these things, which is absolutely necessary as an owner of an old Acura. The '96-'98 3.2 TL engine requires more attention to detail and pampering than most other brands on the market at that time, I think, but it is a powerful and reliable engine otherwise. My dad used to say, "If you take care of your car, your car will take care of you," and that is pretty true.
08-05-2014, 01:09 AM
#2
Khmer Pride
My '98 3.2 TL has had a seeping head gasket and a leaky water pump for years now, but I don't drive it much and always check the fluids before long trips. My mechanic added pellets to the coolant and that has made the water pump leak intermittent and may have temporarily stopped up the head gasket seepage because through the colder months there wasn't even pressure build-up in the system when checked while the engine was cold. In the summer, it seems to build up a lot more pressure to a point where the car can be completely cold and spew coolant out when the radiator cap is removed.
All summer long this year, every time I check the coolant level, it has had pressure build-up and spewed out coolant when checked cold, but I couldn't add more because the radiator would still be full. I figured there had to be air hiding deeper in the cooling system that was displacing the coolant. After several times of checking, a few days ago, I decided to get to the bottom of this and moved the car on an upward slant and ran it with the radiator cap off. The coolant level went way down even with the engine running. In fact, I added coolant to the radiator while it idled. Normally, as soon as the engine turns on, the coolant will expand and spill out if the radiator cap is off (I know from experience, lol, and I have stupidly opened the cap seconds after turning on the engine -- NEVER do that EVER because it will spray a little even when barely heated), so I was surprised to see that the level in the radiator kept going down even after I added more.
So I topped it off and went on my trip and after returning home and waiting overnight, I checked it again. I always park in my driveway facing in, which has the car nose down on the slight hill, but I decided to park facing up the driveway this time so any air in the cooling system could work its way out of the cooling jacket. I could smell antifreeze when I got out after parking, but I don't know if it was burning off of the outside of the system because I made a mess when I added coolant or if it was due to a leak in the system. Anyway, when I checked it today, the level in the radiator was down quite a bit and I had to add a bunch. I briefly checked the oil dipstick and it was the right color so that's a good sign. I haven't run the car yet, but I plan to tomorrow night. During the last trip, the heat worked fine and the temp gauge was normal.
I'm debating about whether or not to add more pellets or one of those awful head gasket in a can things. My dad, like many people who work on engines, is totally against it, but my mechanic is against changing the head gasket on a car as old and with as many miles as mine because of the load it will put on the rest of the engine. It seems silly to replace the entire engine for a gasket, of all things. My brother said that if I'm going to use a head gasket in a can product, now is the time, before it is completely broken. I'm not sure what I want to do yet because I don't want to put in the head gasket stuff and then wish I didn't. I know it is designed to block up leaks and ends up blocking up more than what you want it to block.
So yeah, I just wanted to share the latest update on my car situation and see if anyone had any comments. I feel very fortunate that I was able to catch the problem before it overheated. It did overheat years ago, which is why my head gasket seeps now, and it's too bad I didn't know anything about cars back then or cared as much as I do now because I could have prevented it. Now that I have learned a lot, I can watch out for these things, which is absolutely necessary as an owner of an old Acura. The '96-'98 3.2 TL engine requires more attention to detail and pampering than most other brands on the market at that time, I think, but it is a powerful and reliable engine otherwise. My dad used to say, "If you take care of your car, your car will take care of you," and that is pretty true.
All summer long this year, every time I check the coolant level, it has had pressure build-up and spewed out coolant when checked cold, but I couldn't add more because the radiator would still be full. I figured there had to be air hiding deeper in the cooling system that was displacing the coolant. After several times of checking, a few days ago, I decided to get to the bottom of this and moved the car on an upward slant and ran it with the radiator cap off. The coolant level went way down even with the engine running. In fact, I added coolant to the radiator while it idled. Normally, as soon as the engine turns on, the coolant will expand and spill out if the radiator cap is off (I know from experience, lol, and I have stupidly opened the cap seconds after turning on the engine -- NEVER do that EVER because it will spray a little even when barely heated), so I was surprised to see that the level in the radiator kept going down even after I added more.
So I topped it off and went on my trip and after returning home and waiting overnight, I checked it again. I always park in my driveway facing in, which has the car nose down on the slight hill, but I decided to park facing up the driveway this time so any air in the cooling system could work its way out of the cooling jacket. I could smell antifreeze when I got out after parking, but I don't know if it was burning off of the outside of the system because I made a mess when I added coolant or if it was due to a leak in the system. Anyway, when I checked it today, the level in the radiator was down quite a bit and I had to add a bunch. I briefly checked the oil dipstick and it was the right color so that's a good sign. I haven't run the car yet, but I plan to tomorrow night. During the last trip, the heat worked fine and the temp gauge was normal.
I'm debating about whether or not to add more pellets or one of those awful head gasket in a can things. My dad, like many people who work on engines, is totally against it, but my mechanic is against changing the head gasket on a car as old and with as many miles as mine because of the load it will put on the rest of the engine. It seems silly to replace the entire engine for a gasket, of all things. My brother said that if I'm going to use a head gasket in a can product, now is the time, before it is completely broken. I'm not sure what I want to do yet because I don't want to put in the head gasket stuff and then wish I didn't. I know it is designed to block up leaks and ends up blocking up more than what you want it to block.
So yeah, I just wanted to share the latest update on my car situation and see if anyone had any comments. I feel very fortunate that I was able to catch the problem before it overheated. It did overheat years ago, which is why my head gasket seeps now, and it's too bad I didn't know anything about cars back then or cared as much as I do now because I could have prevented it. Now that I have learned a lot, I can watch out for these things, which is absolutely necessary as an owner of an old Acura. The '96-'98 3.2 TL engine requires more attention to detail and pampering than most other brands on the market at that time, I think, but it is a powerful and reliable engine otherwise. My dad used to say, "If you take care of your car, your car will take care of you," and that is pretty true.
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