OK so i'm driving to work today and i smell burning...I pop my hood when I get to work and I forgot to put my radiator coolant overflow tank back and it melted against my header...there is a huge hole in the tank. Is it ok if I drive like this until I can get a replacement? Or should I not even start the car again?

 

I would go get a replacement right away. you dont want a blown head gasket due to low coolant. You can always make one yourself, do it ghetto style with soda bottle for a quick fix, but only for quick while not long term.

 

DIY overflow tank ftw lol.
just do that until you can get a new one, but yeh deffinally get it fixed.
junk yard should be filled with them.

 

I advise you get it fixed as soon as possible.You don't want to risk your car over heating.There are universal overflow tanks at Kragens or at your local auto part store, but I'm not sure if it will fit.It might just be a temporary fix.It's easier to just order one from ebay or go to your local honda dealership to buy one.Ask for the overflow tank also know as the reservoir tank.It might be a bit expensive at the dealership though just to let you know.

 

Overflow tank don't make your car overheat. Hint "overflow tank" overflow tank serves only one purpose to catch overflow and keep it from being deposited on the ground. Like over filled, pressure released if small amount of additional coolant is sufficient to correct an overheating engine, there is some other form of cooling system problem that should be fixed

 

Correction:it does not only serve as what you said but also to suck water back to replace the water that was expelled.If it was only to served as one purpose as you have previously stated then there would be no point of adding water to your overflow tank.It is a vital part of the cooling system.Try running without water in your overflow tank and see how far you can go.

 

If you take the coolant out of an overflow tank for a perfectly working cooling system with enough fluid you probably wont have any problems. But, it can be a warning sign of other things. Basically you probably have no problem since the fluid levels are fine "The reason you add fluid to overflow tank b/c you can tell if there's too much pressure (too much coolant in the tank), or if there's a coolant leak somewhere (tank keeps going empty)."
the coolant system pressurizes during engine use. The radiator cap maintains pressure by leaking a bit out if it gets too much. This extra goes into the overflow tank. Once the engine is turned off and cools off, the coolant system depressurizes and can sometimes suck some coolant back in.

It's a must have i'm just saying without one you car won't overheat if you have coolant filled in your radiator

For your question i have a DD right now and was driving for two years with out a overflow tank and run Fine just keep eye on your coolent from time to time. The only reason I ran one with out it is b/c mine crack but it's replace with a DIY one. :-)

 

I ordered a replacement from the dealership, wont be here for days, so I am going put some coolant into a 20oz soda bottle and drill a hole in the cap and run the hose down in to, and zip tiw it up to get me through the next couple days. I drove it to lunch with the big hole in the tank and nothing seemed to happen.

 

yea that works fine.just improvise until you get your order in.