renyay

Hi All,

So, I bought a 2001 CRV recently. 220k, manual. I looked over all of the maintenance records from the gal I bought it from and saw some stuff that raised an eyebrow from a certian shop that charged her around $5000 for parts and service in under 4 years:

Back in 2013 they convinced her to swap out all her radiator hoses and thermostat - notes don't indicate a leak, just old hoses. 2 months later there is an invoice for a radiator, cap, and coolant - notes indicate the radiator had an irreparable leak. Later in Nov. 2016 the radiator was replaced again, under warranty for leaking again, but she was still charged for service. (As a side note I'm not sure if the new radiator was oem, and they also replaced front break rotors that another shop had replaced less than 2 years back.)

Ok, onto my issue: a few weeks ago I park at work, smell something seriously chemically, and look down to see coolant leaking all over the ground. Turns out it was the overflow tank - full to the brim and overflowing. This is about 6 months after the radiator warranty. I'm guessing this shop was inept aside from being out to bleed her dry, and didn't pay any attention to the overflow tank level when they warrantied the radiator and refilled the system. So maybe it just took on too much in the overflow? I emptied the overflow tank to the max fill line and put it back. I checked the coolant level and it is up to the top of the radiator. The issue is, I'm still smelling coolant - or what I think coolant is, often, especially on warm days. It's a little sweet smelling, like a chemical, but not like 'maple syrup'. I check the levels and they are still as they were when the overflow happened.

So my questions: Could I have an issue, or may the coolant overflow residue just be heating up on the engine and smelling? Should I demand this shop do some free work or at least a pressure test? What does a leak like this smell like?

Sorry for being long winded - thanks for any advice!

Smackin

i wouldn't take it to that shop again honestly. Free work or not, it seems like they're in the business of ripping people off.

If the overflow tank was overflowing I would guess it got overfilled by someone. Maybe with the intention of "topping off" all the fluids to sell it?
Or you could have a blockage in the cooling system which might cause an overflow situation.
Or a ton of air trapped in the cooling system. Which could be caused by a leak, I suppose.

You are probably smelling residual coolant burning off somewhere. But I'm not a professional smeller. I wouldn't worry about it unless you can smell it in the people box.

The big question is: do you have an overheating issue? Or does your coolant keep going low? If you have either of these, get it pressure tested. At a different shop.

renyay

All good advice, thank you.
By the 'people box' you mean inside of the car? No, I don't smell it in there.
I've been watching the temp gauge and it's consistently a bit below the middle mark. I've been checking the coolant and it's filled to the top of the radiator.

Am I remembering correctly that a CRV cooling system (not ac) needs to be pressurized? Or do you just pour coolant into the radiator until it's at the top?

Smackin

By people box, yes I mean inside the car. Hah.

You just pour coolant in through the top of radiator or the coolant resovoir until its full or at the "max" line. If it got too low, air might have entered the cooling system and you'll need to bleed the cooling system of air. Since you've indicated that there's no overheating you probably don't have this issue.

The cooling system pressurizes itself when the engine is running, there shouldn't be anything else you need to do.