ekcivic9

hey guys

a few months back i posted a thread about my check engine light coming on. i reset the ecu then, and didnt think of it much, but today it came back!

when i put my car in reverse, i felt the rpms drop and come backup, drop and come back up... sorta like it was pulsating. (exact same thing / problem a few months ago)

so i drove my car home, popped the hood... and i checked my fluids. i popped my hood up, and my hands felt something damp / wet.



somehow coolant is everywhere. i dont know where its coming from? it looks like theres some at the bottom of the radiator, but that wouldnt explain why its on the underside of my hood.

also, would the car throw a CEL if there isnt enough engine oil?

any help would be great

thanks

EJ1_203

the oil light would flash if it was low on oil and your vtec wount really engage

RCautoworks

Check your cap , or the hose running to the over flow bottle.

ekcivic9

has anybody experienced the whole pulsating thing? when the car was at a stop light, i thought it was going to die.

tomorrow morning im going to put some engine oil in it and reset the ECU.

RCautoworks

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ekcivic9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">has anybody experienced the whole pulsating thing? when the car was at a stop light, i thought it was going to die.

tomorrow morning im going to put some engine oil in it and reset the ECU.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Air in the coolant or low coolant will cause a car to pulsate like that.

ekcivic9

well... i guess that solves both of my problems thx 90blackcrx.

SIRIUS EJ8

my car is pulsating alot...I took off the valve cover, and painted it...and i put it back on...drove it about 10 minutes into my drive...feels like my chasis is rigid...and bout to fall apart or cut off...then i pop the hood..thinking it might be the debree from the paint gettin into the air filter..but nope...the oil is seeping from the valve cover...the gasket wasn't all the way down....so did the oil thing work?

puffsef

Depending on year - low coolant will mess with the iac and the fast idle valve and couse it to pulsate. Filler up and it should take care of it.

ismellskunk

what about air pockets in the coolant?

ekcivic9

ok heres what i did this morning:

1) cleaned up all the coolant
2) filled the coolant back up
3) filled engine oil to acceptable levels
4) reset ecu

then i started the car, and all was well... CEL gone, car idled fine.

then i went for a drive, and i noticed that there was smoke coming out from where my radiator was. it was seeping through my grill. the smoke wasnt very obvious, but it was there.

when i got home, i popped the hood and it was deja vu all over again.

it doesnt seem like any of the hoses are cracked / leaking. coolant was everywhere, hood, under the intake filter, on the bottom rock deflector plate thingy... everywhere.

help !

JeffBro

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Air in the coolant or low coolant will cause a car to pulsate like that. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I disagree. A sensor failure would cause the idle to surge but not low coolant. Maybe if he overheated the engine extremly bad then yes but the engine would prob already be toast.

ekcivic9

i drove 6 miles... i think thats far from overheating the engine.

JeffBro

So the temp guage peaked out?

ekcivic9

nope the temp gauge is below the middle.

i really dont know whats wrong

.Ry

You could just have a busted radiator. Go to the parts store, and buy/rent a Coolant System Pressure Tester. This will allow you to check for leaks while simulating driving. Clean up all the antifreeze, and do the test. If the radiator is leaking you should see it leak.

ekcivic9

how expensive is this tester?

if my rad is busted, but im not over heating... can i still make it to school and back everyday for maybe 2-3 weeks? its probably 10 miles at the most?

EMJAY

did you get the air pockets out of the coolant? after a coolant job i usually run the motor with the radiator cap off for 3-5 mins. if i were you i would just run the motor in park and find out where its leaking.

ekcivic9

well i didnt touch anything on my car before this started to happen. so i dont know how effective leaving the rad cap off will be... but i can give it a go.

something tells me the coolant only spews out when the temps rise... dont know if it will happen during idle

JeffBro

Just get the coolant leak fixed first. The ecu deal and the coolant leak are probably unrelated problems. Rent a pressure tester for a honda first then find out where the coolant leak is coming from. It kind of looks like its coming from the radiator. New radiator on these will run you at least 100. Oem replacement is like 300. I just bought a koyo racing one for 300 and it cools better and looks good.

.Ry

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ekcivic9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how expensive is this tester?

if my rad is busted, but im not over heating... can i still make it to school and back everyday for maybe 2-3 weeks? its probably 10 miles at the most?</TD></TR></TABLE> The tester is around $30 or so but you should be able to rent it. It just screws onto where the rad cap sits and you pump it to build pressure. It does look like the radiaitor is bad, because my did the same damn thing. The reason its all over the top of your hood is because when the fan kicks in it throws the fluid everywhere. If it does turn out to be your raditaor, I would replace that, all the hoses, new T-stat because your halfway there. Another note: Take off your oil cap and make sure there is no milky color in there. I doubt you blew a headgasket, but better to be safe than sorry. Anything else PM me man.

ekcivic9

alright thanks for all the info... should i buy a new radiator online from like radiatorbarn or something? or will my local autoparts store be ok?

turner: thx for mentioning the headgasket, ill give that a look.

hybridtech

check your coolant level again, and start the car and let it sit idle. Wait till your fan comes on and check under the hood for leaks. It looks like it is coming from the top hose on the radiator. Maybe the clamp wore a hole in the hose.

If it ends up being the radiator, there is something you can put inside the radiator that will seal small leaks. (good for a temp fix until you can replace it)

.Ry

For my 95 DX I bought my radiator from Autozone for $109. It was put in almost a year ago, and no problems at all. I replaced all the parts I mentioned above, never leaked, never got hot. Its really easy to replace that stuff to so dont worry about that.

2000EM1

Did you ever stop by an autozone and have them check the code by chance?

.Ry

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hybridtech &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
If it ends up being the radiator, there is something you can put inside the radiator that will seal small leaks. (good for a temp fix until you can replace it)</TD></TR></TABLE> That crap is ok for a bit like you stated, but if you leave it in to long it expands to much, cloggs **** up and makes more leaks. Learn from my expericne lol