1988 Accord Overheating
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1988 Accord Overheating
I have a carbureted 1988 Honda Accord that is overheating. These are the things I know:
1) A few weeks ago I parked the car after a 20 mile trip for about 25 minutes. I noticed that my car had leaked radiator fluid (water + green antifreeze) under the car, maybe about 8-12 oz.
2) The next day I added a 50/50 sollution of anti-freeze and water. I noticed some sludge on the radiator cap. I replaced the radiator about a year ago.
3) From then until this week the car has been running fine. However, this week it started to overheat. My temp gauge seems to be broken (it starts at the bottom, then rises to almost halfway and stays there, regardless of temperature change).
4) I know it’s overheating by the smell and if I don’t turn the heater on full blast I get some light smoke after a drive. The smoke seems to be coming from below the engine, just behind it, like the rear bottom engine bay. It is very faint.
5) The car will overheat but not to the point that I have to turn the car off IF I turn on the heater full blast. (even on my 70 mile roundtrip commute to work).
6) Today I noticed after immediately turning off the car that the radiator was ambient temperature. I could touch it 30 seconds after I turned the vehicle off after my 35 mile commute to work this morning and it was cool to the touch. EDIT I was mistaken, that was the condenser.
7) However, the top AND bottom radiator hoses are very hot.
Some other information: about a month ago my timing belt broke and my engine died. I had a mechanic drop in the exact same engine (used; unknown history/mileage). He used the carburetor that came with that engine. It needed more work, and this is from the invoice: “needs power brake booster (leaking vacuum), needs carburetor removal to gain access for adjustments.” I believe he said the car was running lean.
He replaced the engine, and added the following new parts:
1) Timing belt
2) Water pump
3) Upper motor mount
4) Camshaft seal
5) Crankshaft seal
6) Timing belt tensioner
7) Oil/coolant
I’m not auto expert at all, and I probably left out pertinent info, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on what the problem could be? I thought the radiator could be blocked, but the weird thing is BOTH hoses (top and bottom) are very hot, but the whole radiator is ambient (I touched it and used an infrared temperature gauge). After my drive this morning I also checked the temperature of top of the engine with the infrared temperature gauge (where the oil cap is) and the top read about 210 Fahrenheit and the exhaust manifold read 350+ Fahrenheit.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
1) A few weeks ago I parked the car after a 20 mile trip for about 25 minutes. I noticed that my car had leaked radiator fluid (water + green antifreeze) under the car, maybe about 8-12 oz.
2) The next day I added a 50/50 sollution of anti-freeze and water. I noticed some sludge on the radiator cap. I replaced the radiator about a year ago.
3) From then until this week the car has been running fine. However, this week it started to overheat. My temp gauge seems to be broken (it starts at the bottom, then rises to almost halfway and stays there, regardless of temperature change).
4) I know it’s overheating by the smell and if I don’t turn the heater on full blast I get some light smoke after a drive. The smoke seems to be coming from below the engine, just behind it, like the rear bottom engine bay. It is very faint.
5) The car will overheat but not to the point that I have to turn the car off IF I turn on the heater full blast. (even on my 70 mile roundtrip commute to work).
6) Today I noticed after immediately turning off the car that the radiator was ambient temperature. I could touch it 30 seconds after I turned the vehicle off after my 35 mile commute to work this morning and it was cool to the touch. EDIT I was mistaken, that was the condenser.
7) However, the top AND bottom radiator hoses are very hot.
Some other information: about a month ago my timing belt broke and my engine died. I had a mechanic drop in the exact same engine (used; unknown history/mileage). He used the carburetor that came with that engine. It needed more work, and this is from the invoice: “needs power brake booster (leaking vacuum), needs carburetor removal to gain access for adjustments.” I believe he said the car was running lean.
He replaced the engine, and added the following new parts:
1) Timing belt
2) Water pump
3) Upper motor mount
4) Camshaft seal
5) Crankshaft seal
6) Timing belt tensioner
7) Oil/coolant
I’m not auto expert at all, and I probably left out pertinent info, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on what the problem could be? I thought the radiator could be blocked, but the weird thing is BOTH hoses (top and bottom) are very hot, but the whole radiator is ambient (I touched it and used an infrared temperature gauge). After my drive this morning I also checked the temperature of top of the engine with the infrared temperature gauge (where the oil cap is) and the top read about 210 Fahrenheit and the exhaust manifold read 350+ Fahrenheit.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Last edited by daltron; Aug 13, 2010 at 08:40 AM.
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 2,026
Likes: 7
From: Youngsville NC
Re: 1988 Accord Overheating
Ok, I've seen this post somewhere before...short term memory issues. So I'm going to ask some questions that might have been answered before or posted already.
Have the cap checked, in the old days stores could do this. There is a "pipe" from the water pump to the t-stat housing that can get a "pin" hole in it, plus a few hoses. So make I'd suggest jacking up the car, PLEASE secure it (jack stands, ect) and see if you can find the source. They do sell a UV dye that can be put in the coolant that make help find the source.
Have the cap checked, in the old days stores could do this. There is a "pipe" from the water pump to the t-stat housing that can get a "pin" hole in it, plus a few hoses. So make I'd suggest jacking up the car, PLEASE secure it (jack stands, ect) and see if you can find the source. They do sell a UV dye that can be put in the coolant that make help find the source.
Thread Starter
Trial User
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 3
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Re: 1988 Accord Overheating
Ok, I've seen this post somewhere before...short term memory issues. So I'm going to ask some questions that might have been answered before or posted already.
Have the cap checked, in the old days stores could do this. There is a "pipe" from the water pump to the t-stat housing that can get a "pin" hole in it, plus a few hoses. So make I'd suggest jacking up the car, PLEASE secure it (jack stands, ect) and see if you can find the source. They do sell a UV dye that can be put in the coolant that make help find the source.
Have the cap checked, in the old days stores could do this. There is a "pipe" from the water pump to the t-stat housing that can get a "pin" hole in it, plus a few hoses. So make I'd suggest jacking up the car, PLEASE secure it (jack stands, ect) and see if you can find the source. They do sell a UV dye that can be put in the coolant that make help find the source.
Also, I think there is a leak. Yesterday my wife drove to the market and back, not even 3 miles round trip, and a few hours after she parked the car I noticed that it had leaked about 15oz of coolant, front of engine bay passenger side. I added more coolant. The weird thing is, we took the car out last night after that, drove more than 10 miles where the car sat for hours and drove the car back home after that and no leaking at all? There doesn't seem to be a pattern, whether it's highway vs. streets or short vs. long trips in terms of when it leaks. I'll let you know about the pressure testing and the UV dye. Thanks for the suggestions!
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Joined: Aug 2010
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Re: 1988 Accord Overheating
Ok, new developments.
1) I pressure tested my radiator cap, which failed miserably. When tested to 13-15 psi it immediately started losing significant pressure.
2) I tried pressure testing my radiator, but to be honest I could not get the pressure gauge to seal to it. I believe this is more me not understanding how to use it rather than the actual filler cap.
3) I used 5-6 oz of bars leak liquid in the radiator and installed a new 13psi (old one was 13 psi) radiator cap.
4) I started the car and let it idle for about 10 min. I then drove on the street for about a mile, then the freeway for a mile, then streets back for maybe 2 miles. Parked the car, left it running, opened the hood for about 3 min and everything seemed fine.
5) I turned the car off, checked out the vehicle for about 30 seconds, then bam, it started leaking a lot of fluid. I opened the hood, and it was the top of the coolant reservoir. Here's a picture of how much leaked, and how the reservoir was leaking (between the reservoir and what looks like the cap).
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
1) I pressure tested my radiator cap, which failed miserably. When tested to 13-15 psi it immediately started losing significant pressure.
2) I tried pressure testing my radiator, but to be honest I could not get the pressure gauge to seal to it. I believe this is more me not understanding how to use it rather than the actual filler cap.
3) I used 5-6 oz of bars leak liquid in the radiator and installed a new 13psi (old one was 13 psi) radiator cap.
4) I started the car and let it idle for about 10 min. I then drove on the street for about a mile, then the freeway for a mile, then streets back for maybe 2 miles. Parked the car, left it running, opened the hood for about 3 min and everything seemed fine.
5) I turned the car off, checked out the vehicle for about 30 seconds, then bam, it started leaking a lot of fluid. I opened the hood, and it was the top of the coolant reservoir. Here's a picture of how much leaked, and how the reservoir was leaking (between the reservoir and what looks like the cap).
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
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