Monotremata

Back in december when I joined this site, I ran into my radiator fan not coming on and my car overheating all the time.. Thanks to this forum, I replaced my thermostat and all started working just fine again.

Just yesterday Im on the way home from dropping the fiance off at work when all of a sudden the radiator decided to spit coolant everywhere and the temp gauge immediately shot all the way up. While running the car in the parking lot I was stuck in, of course the radiator fan isnt coming on.

I jumped the power to the fan and the fan is working just fine so I decided to take it for a drive with the cooling fan always on to see if the car was still overheating or not.. Not even five minutes from my house the temp went right back up. It just took me almost 20 minutes to drive 2 blocks back to my house from me pulling over constantly to shut the car off to get it to cool down.

Now heres the weird problem.. Last time when it was my thermostat that was the problem, we could keep the car somewhat cool by running the heater wide open (luckily we didnt have our lovely desert weather at the time like we do now).. I tried this while driving home and there is absolutely NO heat coming out of the vents at all, it was like I had my A/C on the whole time.

So Im guessing the ECT switch is still good, and Id like to think my brand new thermostat is still good.. What can I look for now? I find it odd that there is no heat coming out of the heater.. Did a hose come off somewhere?? Radiator blocked up?? Bad water pump??

Cant think of any other important details. I dont think the radiator is leaking or anything cause yesterday I refilled it with water to get me home (which I had to call a tow anyways) and I didnt see anything leaking out in my driveway, not to mention the reservoir is pretty much still at the same level it was yesterday morning when I put water into it.. Maybe theres nothing flowing through the radiator??

Figured I would ask here before giving in and taking it to a mechanic.. I cant imagine how much money I saved last time finding out it was just my thermo and how easy it was to replace..

Bartman201

fan switch get it at autozone for $19.99 i just got one today same problem..

Monotremata

Yeah thats actually why I decided to jump the radiator fan and go for a drive and see if it still overheated or not..
Im not so sure its the switch though because of the heater issue.
Just got off the phone with the guy that did my engine for me a few months back and he was stumped and the only thing he could think of is the water pump which doesnt sound like its something I can replace myself easily..

Monotremata

Ok one last thing to add.. I just fired it up and was letting it idle in the driveway.
I had the hood open and was just looking for anything when I noticed bubbles coming out of the radiator..

You know the big strips of foam that are on the tops of the radiators in between the radiator and the body?? I noticed the area where the coolant spit out yesterday was still soaked with coolant and on top of that the foam had started to come off the radiator.. I peeled back the little area that was soaked and watched the radiator for a bit while it was idling.. Right where the foam was attached to the radiator top I can see little teeeny tiny bubbles of coolant/water coming out.. Im guess my radiator is cracked??? They are VERY VERY tiny little bubbles but it looks to be right where all the coolant came out yesterday (I matched it up with the stains still on my grill and bumper haha).

So could THIS be my problem?? Would a hole or crack in the radiator cause my heater to not spit out heat on top of not circulating coolant??

Im really hoping its something that simple, my buddy wants about $600 to replace my water pump, if thats whats wrong, but me being unemployed Id like to fix it myself haha.

mechanix619

It sound like your radiator is bad or at the very least the radiator cap.

And $600 to replace a water pump is insane; not a very good friend. A Honda dealership charges about $700 to replace a timing belt and water pump. A timing belt is about $35 and a water pump from Honda or Car Quest is about $125. So your "friend" would be charging about $500 in labor.

Also, if your coolant isn't circulating properly then yes that will cause your heater not to function properly.

Monotremata

Coolio thanks for the tips guys! Just picked up a new Spectra Radiator at Autozone just got it installed.. Now time to flush it and refill it and see if that was it.

Yeah after finding a water pump at Autozone for like $60 after my friend (its actually my dad's step son and his friends shop) told me it was like $100 or so for the part I said nada.

That and he lives about an hour and a half away and it would probably cost me just as much to tow it to his house as he would charge me for the labor! I know where the pump is if I have to Ill just deal with it myself and learn how to change something else out while Im at it! :D

mechanix619

Cool. I hope that does the trick.

Not sure where you live but if you have a Car Quest in the area they are the best for parts.

Monotremata

Couple days later annnnnd..

Yep radiator was it! Took me about 20 mins to remove and replace the old one, and then spent about an hour flushing the system.. While I was idling the car during the flushing I turned on the heater and they got hot again almost instantly. Temp gauge never moved past just below the halfway point. Took it for a drive when I was done and its back to normal!

Im out in Coachella nowadays so I usually just run to the Autozone which is a few blocks up the street.. Ill have to see if we even have a Car Quest out here. I always went to the one right across the street from my place when I lived in Ventura but Im not so sure we have one way out here in the desert.. Were kinda lucky to have an Autozone so close here in Coachella haha!