Thanks in advance for the kind souls that help me out!

I have a 1995 Honda Accord that suddenly started overheating today badly.

The air conditioning belt has been slipping for quite a while and getting worse.

While I was driving I noticed that my AC was not working, or working only slightly and then not at all, it started blowing hot air.

So, I thought.. well that belt must have given out, or is slipping so bad it's not working.

Then after driving about 6 more miles I started hearing some noises from the engine, nothing major, but enough to make me wonder. Then I noticed a lot of steam coming out from under the hood. I then noticed that the temperature gauge was pinned in the red.

I immediately pulled over and opened it, and it appeared a lot of the steam was coming from the reservoir near the radiator.

A few things.

Why would the air conditioning be related to the car overheating?

I did completely replace the radiator about 6 months ago due to a crack in the original one. Is it perhaps just too low on coolant? I thought I filled it completely, but I'm not necessarily well versed in these matters.

Can trouble with the AC belt cause the car to overheat, or is the AC stopping working all of a sudden indicative of something else?

What should I look for? What can I start doing? This is a BAD time to start having some car troubles, for many reasons.

Thanks so much for reading this.

 

Cooling fans died

 

The A/C compressor is driven by the engine, so if you turn the A/C system on, the engine will have to work harder just by driving the A/C compressor; as a results, overheats. This will only happen if the A/C belt is still on the car. Both fans will need to be in working condition because as the engine works harder, more heat as its being work harder.

 

Was this in stop and go traffic or while moving at speed > 20 mph?

 

in hindsight

i hoped you burped the air out of the system after you replaced the radiator...

and hoped you confirmed that BOTH fans turn on when you hit your AC button...

now, after you have seen the temp gauge in the RED and saw steam coming out of the reservoir, you have to worry about a blown head gasket, warped cylinder head, etc.