so i bought my 90 ex bout a month ago and i noticed that the radiator started to smoke after driving it a little so i put coolant in and thought nothing of it. well it happened the next day and luckily i had some coolant but i didnt know why it was doing this. i also noticed that the radiator cap isnt the original, i put my 1990 civic lx cap on there but it still smoked. i understand that the most of the caps are around the 13 psi so any ideas on wat it may be?
sorry for the essay but any help appreciated. thanks

 

Your radiator might have a small crack in it, which is common for an accord. You should get it checked out before it becomes a bigger problem. You might eventually have to get the radiator replaced.

 

i agree you have a crack and radiator more then likely needs to be replaced. happened on my 96 accord

 

fill rad up with water only first and pressure test it ,, or maybe you can see a leak at the top tank once it is full

if you need to replace it

http://www.hondaaccordforum.co...m.htm

 

thanks guys
well i dont know what u mean by pressure testing? im still learning can someone please explain?
and every time i go out i have to fill her up, and it gets annoying

oh and one more thing, in the morning when its cold the idles jumps between 500 and 1500 and when it gets hot it stops? TPS Sensor maybe?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Desiss &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your radiator might have a small crack in it, which is common for an accord. You should get it checked out before it becomes a bigger problem. You might eventually have to get the radiator replaced.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Most likely;y... this also happened to me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by accord_2dr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thanks guys
well i dont know what u mean by pressure testing? im still learning can someone please explain?
and every time i go out i have to fill her up, and it gets annoying

oh and one more thing, in the morning when its cold the idles jumps between 500 and 1500 and when it gets hot it stops? TPS Sensor maybe?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Look along the top of the radiator and see if there is green fluid or crystals on it. Look at the point where the plastic top part "the tank" meets the metal finned part "the core". It is very common for those Accords to have the tank start separating from the core or the tank crack.

As far as the idle fluctuation it is most likely being caused by an air pocket at the coolant temperature sensor. Repair the coolant leak and properly bleed the air out of the system before worrying about the driveability problem. It will most likely take care of itself once the cooling system has been bled.