So I was driving and when I got off the freeway, I started to smell radiator fluid and could see the steam rising from the engine bay. The temp gauge started to rise, and then fell again. Opened the hood, and there is radiator fluid all over. So I left the car off, filled up the resevoir with water, and tried to see if I could find a leak or something. Couldn't find anything.

I'm wondering, does this sound like small leak somewhere? Or something else? Could it somehow be from the coolant running bone dry? I don't know how it would get everywhere if that were the case. Thoughts?

 

if it was dry it wouldn't be leaking. most likely you have a crack/leak in one or more of the hoses, where the thermostat is, or the radiator itself. check all this and you will most likely need a new thermostat if it went past halfway. its not that expensive to fix unless you need a new radiator. but i doubt that. goodluck

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kellindal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Opened the hood, and there is radiator fluid all over.

I'm wondering, does this sound like small leak somewhere? </TD></TR></TABLE>
It's not a little leak. You have a pretty big problem, and with winter coming, I wouldn't want to be driving that thing around until I figured out what's wrong. Go to a service shop and have them pressurize your coolant system. That will reveal where you're losing coolant.

Edit: Didn't see your residence until after my post...

 

Go to autozone and rent the radiator leak finder, its a tool you put on the radiator cap and pressurize the system, coolant will run out if you have a leak somewhere. Good luck

 

With the autozone leak finder, will i be able to notice where the leak is, i.e. which hose is cracked? Or will I just end up running out of coolant without knowing where the leak is?

 

Tell them you want to rent the radiator adaptor tool or kit for hondas, theres a domestic one and an import one. It pressurizes the system so if there is a small hole in a hose you will see it leaking, therefore its easier to find if you ad some uv dye to your coolant before you do this