I have a 94 accord ex with stock motor and at 230k miles, a growing coolant problem. A few years ago the radiator sprung a leak got the engine a little warm and had to be replaced. Then last year the engine started running rough when starting and some water and smoke came out the tailpipe when starting. Once reved up and cleaned out, the engine runs fine. Last fall the coolant level started dropping in the overflow and I had to check it every few weeks to top off the overflow, I assumed it was burning some coolant through the engine. In January I had the compression test done and the guy said a cylinder was low, and that i should replace the head gasket. I put some stop leak in and crossed my fingers.

Its 9 months later and still on the road as a daily driver. I put 1500 miles on it moving last month towing a uhaul trailer and it made it ok, but started overheating with the A/C on and hot sun shining on it with 95 deg temperatures. When I would add gas, I would add some coolant. But the weirdest thing would happen. The overflow tank would fill up and the radiator would be low? I would wait for it to cool a bit, pop the radiator car, and pour the full overflow container into the radiator!? had to do this multiple times to make the 2 day drive.

I was preparing to replace the head gasket or do an engine swap, but I drove it home last weekend for 800 miles and it did fine in the cooler weather without running the A/C. It went a whole tank without the coolant gauge going up at all. I wanted to swap the head gasket but maybe this is something else? cracks in the head? somewhere else? I drove it in the city for 5 days with A/C running and the temp gauge never went up either? When I check it, it is leaking out the radiator and back into the overflow. What could be doing this?

thanks for any ideas and hopefully a fix to keep 'er going.

Caleb

 

You have to determine if there is something terribly wrong or if it's just air-bound.
I'd suggest having someone perform a coolant system leak-down (pressure) test. That's where it's determined if the system can maintain pressure over an extended period of time.
If it can, then that would point to either a bad thermostat, a air-bound condition or fan control issues.
If it can NOT, then that would point to a leak either externally or internally. If there is a leak, it should be relatively easy to spot where the coolant's ending up. (garage floor, crankcase.... you get the idea)

P

 

Radiator caps get weak as they get old. Change it.