stupidasso15

i was driving my car and smelled the sweet smell of coolant and when i got home and popped the hood i saw the coolant was splashed on the inside of the hood and air box and even hit the cat.. i went to autozone and replaced the radiator cap because i thought that was the problem.. the first 2 days nothing happened and now when i drive it it happens again im not sure if its that top part that the cap actually screws onto or not but there are no overheating problems or anything (so far) it just worries me

Linked

check the level of your coolant in the overflow tank when its hot and cold

stupidasso15

i dont think its the level because this just started happening a few days ago and it looks as if it splashes from where the radiator cap is but i think its like that plastic type piece that sits on the actual radiator id post pictures but im not sure how to...

Linked

i wasn't concerned with if the overflow tank was leaking. i just want to be sure that you currently have the correct level of coolant while it is splashing out

stupidasso15

oh well then in that case its its in between min and max when its cool

Linked

you may need to do a visual inspection of the coolant leaking out

if you say its all over the hood and even made its way to the cat, then it may be a strong upwards spurt

you will need to run the car with you looking in the engine bay (have a bud monitor the temp gauge) until you see where it is coming from, then you'll find your problem

confirm that once the engine is at operating temp, that the fans turn on and that both the rad hoses are hot and warm

stupidasso15

alright ill try that thank you. i pray its only a hose or something ..

EsotericImage

iTrader: (8)

I was going to say a crack in the cheap shitty plastic OE radiators.. but i guess we'll see

KnightmareCS

What they said ^. Check rad for cracks/hoses for leaks/leaks in general. If no leak, do the next cheapest thing an replace the thermostat with the OE reccommend one.

Good luck.

EL Vap133

Yup, very common with the plastic radiators.

CivicxTree754

I had a similar problem. It turned out to be a small slit in a hose and its was just "misting" out when pressure was high. If at the least go to autozone or something and buy the dye kit its like 14$ and add it to ur coolant. Then clean everything off and drive then check. GL

stupidasso15

esotericimage is right its that shitty plastic part on top.. but its under a foam looking thing that is between that plastic and the radiator mounting bar.. and it just piles up on the foam and then the wind from the speed is what "SPLASHES" the coolant everywhere.. do i have to replace the whole radiator? or is there a way to replace or patch that crack in the plastic?

delsolo95

replace the whole radiator. its like 70 bucks or so at vatozone. make sure you bleed the system after you replace rad and coolant

motegicivic

simple way to check is to pressure check the system. Might be the top seam of the radiator.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

That plastic can crack right at the seam and if it's leaking behind the radiator support you might miss it for a while. Thas what happened on the hatch.

stupidasso15

it was that shitty plastic part.. thanks alot guys

millicon

And... that's why my 96 hatch just did. It's actually a leak right at the joint between the plastic top tank and the Al rad core. The symptom was what appeared to be coolant coming from the overflow bottle; but now it looks like it's a slow leak at the rad which does exactly what is described above.

Thanks for making me look at it closer.

stupidasso15

no problem glad you found out millicon

95civickilla

I have the same problem.replace the hoses,rad cap,rad,thermostat, and guess what nothong it was my headgasket its sending the pressure back to ur rad or reservoir

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Then it wasn't the same problem.

95civickilla

just saying ill recommend u check ur head gasket just check ur spark plugs if they are rusted

Frozen E

That has absolutely nothing to do with the OP's problem, or is even close to being related to the cause he found.