I bought a 2000 Honda Accord recently. First sign of trouble: The coolant was almost empty when I bought it, but it didn't appear to be a problem...checked it a week later and it was empty but again no overheating...filled it. A week later it was empty again...filled it again and forgot about it (probably biggest mistake).

Fast forward a few weeks and it gets nice outisde (70 in Michigan in March is great), so I am driving around with the whole heat and cooling system off, and thats when the trouble began (I'm thinking).

The car isn't visibly smoking while driving it, but when I stopped at a store, smoke was coming from the hood. Opened the hood, coolant reservoir was empty. I didn't have any coolant with me and wasn't near a store to get some so I filled it with water temporarily (it was 70 degrees out). I started the car up and just sat there and it still overheated without me doing anything. Couldn't take the radiator cap off cause it had been running a while. Unscrewed it a bit and some anti freeze shot out...so there was at least some in there. took video of the tail end of where the smoke and antifreeze was coming from. The location scares me as I've never seen coolant coming from this area, and the engine is getting wet, wich makes me scared it could be something to do with the engine.

Here is the video. This was after only letting it idle for 5-10 minutes


I took it to a mechanic and he couldn't even get it to overheat. He said he added coolant the radiator (not the reservoir...important to mention the reservoir was still full of water and hadn't moved a bit) and let it run. He apparently never drove it (He had it overnight). Took it home, let it sit in the driveway for 30 minutes or so...and nothing. Messing around with it today, I emptied the water out of the reservoir and I filled the radiator directly and the reservoir (with coolant) and let it run for over an hour with it never even going above halfway on the temp gauge. I needed gas so I drove it to the gas station. As soon as I came out the gas station it was smoking again. So apparently it only happens when its driven. Here is another video I took of it today:


There appears to be something shooting out of a hose somewhere back there. So apparently it only happens while driving it, as there was absolutely nothing happening while idling for an hour.

What could be the problem? My guess (through very limited knowledge and just from googling) is the radiator (doubt), water pump, , thermostat, cracked head, blown head gasket, radiator cap, a hose somewhere or something else I'm sure. Also, if I could get roguh estimates on prices, that's be great as well. Mostly for the gasket or cracked head, as those two scare me the most

Any help so I know what to expect when I take it to a different mechanic is much appreciated!

Also, cou

Thank You

 

First things first, go down and get a compression tester kit for $20. Remove all spark plugs. Disconnect the ecu fuse in the engine bay fuse box. Hand thread the compression tester into a cylinder. Crank the engine until the gauge stops going up. Do this for all cylinders while writing down the number. Report back the numbers. Ideally you want them all within 20psi of each other.

If they are, then you need to rent a cooling system tester and pressurize the system. Then check for where the leak is. It's likely a cracked hose starts shooting more coolant when you are driving which puts more pressure on the system.