jayzeno

ok so i am driving home from work the other day and it is cold and raining out. i have the window defroster going and im on the freeway doing about 8omph. i drop off my passenger at thier home, drive down the street to get back on the freeway when i notice white steam/smoke coming from the front of my car. it was a little at first but after about 2 mins my whole car was covered in smoke and the steam or smoke was even coming thru my vents inside the car! i pull over and see that the top radiator hose has been shot off the radiator somehow and i check my radiator and it is practically empty. i let it cool off in the rain and put a full bottle of 50/50 anti freeze in the radiator and fill the rest with water but once i start my car the smoke/steam is coming from somewhere in the bottom of my radiator i think? it was so cold out that it appeared to be steaming out everywhere. i let my car sit for 2 days then i start it up and drive for 5 mins and again the steam is coming out like crazy but my radiator didnt seem to have lost any fluid while it sat for 2 days. the upper hose feels hot and the bottom radiator hose is warm. i was thinking blown head gasket or heater core, but my heat works perfectly still and no steam has come thru my vents since the first time. i drove the car and mashed the pedal and it had the same power that it always had and got up to 80 mph very quick so i doubt it is a head gasket... what could cause my car to steam antifreeze after 5 mins in the cold? the longer i drive the more smoke/ steam that comes out and i am cluesless on where to begin. i am going to replace the thermostat and radiatior cap tommarow and see if it helps. has anyone had a simliar problem with thier honda accord? i need to fix it asap... thanks

jayzeno

i drove the car today and took video of it, after about 10 mins of driving the front radiator begins to steam and my tail lights and turn signals stopped working all of a sudden!? i also notice a differet sound under the hood near the battery, almost like an old school dial tone for house phones left off the hook. is this a sign of water pump failure? the fans are not coming on either..


link to the video of my car with sound:

http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/...igjayzizzle84/

GhostAccord

That sound you hear is the resonance from your cold air intake. The water pump is on the other side of the engine bay. As for the steam coming off your rad, was it raining or was there moisture on the rad. Because the rad will get hot enough to cause any moisture on the outer fins to boil/steam off. Ether that or you could have a pin hole in your rad.

If the cooling fan is not coming on that is a sign that one of the engine coolant temperature switches could be bad. There are two of them; A & B.

Here is the test procedure;


Here is where the two switches are located;


Switch A = thermostat housing
Switch B = upper rad hose housing (water outlet housing)

GhostAccord

Here is my version of the dial tone sound. It is more pronounced after I blip the throttle.

jayzeno

ok thanks for the diagrams, the steam coming from the rad is a continuous stream coming from both sided of my rad. both the upper and lower rad hose r extremly hot and rad is hot to the touch as well. so first step looks like i need to buy both senors and just replace them? what about the tail, turn signal and headlights all of a sudden not working? im thinking that when i drove it today the steam built up so much under the hood that it may have shorted out some wires or fuses connected to my lights? should i change the thermostat along with the sensors too? i have no garage and i am currently renting a room out of a house otherwise i would pull it apart and go to work on it, i may have to pay a shop a ton of money to do it just because i have no work space and it has been raining everyday.. if i replace the above parts and it still is steaming would that be a bad rad or bad water pump?? can i change the water pump in front of a house with basic tools? or do i need an impact wrench and the whole 9? i appreciate the help im stressin over here bro! road trip for me and my lady planned for thurs once i get back from coaching a wrestling tournement this week and my car dies 3 days before christmas! talk about timing!

GhostAccord

You should definitely keep an eye on the temp gauge until you can get the rad fan issue fixed. Hope you haven't been overheating it!

As for the water pump when was the last time you had the timing belts and water pump replaced? It's not something that is easily done without air tools but it can be done. However, you are going to need a few special tools. Basic tools won't work to get the crank pulley off. You will also require metric tools if you don't have them... I think there may be a few places that may rent/lend the crank pulley holding tool?????? There is a step by step DIY in the FAQ's for the timing belts that covers water pump replacement.

As for your lights that is a whole other ball game if all of them went out at once. It could be the switch on the column or something as simple as a fuse.

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