Hi there,

I have a 2001 honda accord sedan, 159 thousand miles and a few weeks ago I was driving home from church and i discovered there was steam coming out from the raditor and the engine light was on. When I came home I opened up the hood and there wasn't any coolant in the raditor what could it be??

 

Your radiator may have developed a crack (quite common on the Honda radiators) and leaked out the coolant. If it has, the radiator would need to be replaced.

I hope you didn't drive the car long if the car overheated, as that may have resulted in a blown headgasket.

 

The engine lamp was most likely a result of the overheating condition.
If you take a flashlight, take off the radiator cap (before starting the car for the day) and peer into the radiator tank; you should be able to estimate the coolant level.
Now, keeping that measurement in mind; peer down between the radiator and A/C Condenser. You should see a green stain or an obvious wet spot from the evenings activities. If it's not readily apparent, you may need to refill it and apply system pressure with a radiator pressure tester. This has the advantage of forcing leaks to show up without those slight inconviencies like hot engines and scalding coolant.

P

 

Also be aware that while pumping up the system to 15 PSI, there may not be a leak. Sometimes the leak does not show itself until the pressure is lower, since the higher pressure helps push a water pump seal closed but the pump shaft will leak as the engine is cooling down while sitting in the driveway at say 10 PSI. This has been just an example but a factual one.

If nothing shows up on the ground right away, then adjust your pressure readings on your hand pump to different ranges and leave it at those ranges for some time to allow a small leak to show itself.

Still no visible signs of a leak, get ready to look for a bad head gasket, sorry to go there.