Just bought my first car a few months back, a 2000 honda accord 2.3 Liter Inline 4 automatic transmission with 234,000 miles on it. Car has been fine until a week ago when one of my radiator fans went out, replaced it car was fine no overheating, few days later both fans stop working out of nowhere and car starts overheating faster than usain bolt, turns out my condenser fan relay went bad so I replaced that, but now my radiator fans will only turn on if my A/C is on and I am losing coolant as fast as I put it in. I've checked every fuse and relay related to the A/C and coolant systems they're all good and every line I can identify to be connected to those two systems are not leaking from what I can tell. The radiator looks fine as well, but it is the original radiator so it may be clogged or may need to be replaced but I don't know for sure. Do I need to check my thermostat or thermostat switch next? Is there a resistor I should be looking into? Do I need to replace my head gasket? Do I need to bleed both of the systems? Is my radiator just too old to keep going? Is there an O-ring I need to be checking? I have a lot of questions about whats happening with my car and I can't find any answers with basic google and youtube searches so I'm hoping someone can help me guide me in the right direction. Also I have a small oil leak near the thermostat and distributor and it's due for an oil change in 500 miles, don't think that would really affect the cooling system all that much but I'm lost as heck so I don't know at this point.

 

OK, one thing at a time .You are losing coolant. Does this car produce a lot of smoke on startup or while driving? Then it's probably burning the coolant, which might be a head gasket or something even worse (porous block).

With the car running, do you see bubbles in the overflow container of the radiator? That would indicate a head gasket to me as exhaust gases are leaking into the cooling system

No drips coming from under the car?

Checking the end of every coolant hose (radiator, transmission, firewall) do you see white residue at any of them? If so, then the clamps have failed or the hose is old and leaking.

If you are worried about the thermostat, you could simply pull it out and leave it that way for now to check if there was an obstruction. Doesn't sound exactly like that but it is possible. When there is a clog only, you don't tend to loose fluid, it just doesn't cool well. And you said it was fine for a week, which makes me think it's something else.

How quickly does it overheat just sitting in the driveway and being on?

 

While I'm driving I'll get blue and white smoke from the exhaust which I believe to be from burning oil because the engine is getting so hot. I haven't seen any bubbles but then again it's hard to when the coolant reservior empties in 10 minutes or less. I haven't seen any dripping from under the car except for a very small line in the back of the engine under the EVAP Canister (pretty sure thats the name) but that was all water and happened after heavy rain fall and thats it. There was a little bit of white residue but it was hard to tell as there is corrison under the hoses that I'm working on clearing up. If I leave the car to sit for just 5 minutes without the A/C turned on (so the radiators fans aren't on either) the car will reach the red line, if I leave it for 10 minutes with the A/C barely on the car will reach the red line, with the A/C full blast it takes less then 5 minutes to reach the red line.

 

So, with the car running, the hood open, and you looking under the hood, do you smell any coolant? I would presume it to be fairly strong if it's disappearing that fast. Do you see anything like smoke or mist rising?
When you feel the upper and lower hoses, do you feel heat in them?
I would pull the thermostat for now and test with it removed (you can replace if you want, just leave it removed for now so there is no obstruction and cooling begins immediately instead of when it warms up.

Blue smoke is oil, white smoke can be radiator fluid burning.

I would have thought the radiator cap might be bad to lose that much fluid but that should be really obvious with hood open.

If you don't see it going anywhere, then I have to presume a head gasket has happened and needs replacement.

Don't put stopleak or anything like that in the car (in case someone suggests it at the store), this won't fix the issue, just clog the radiator.

 

Coolant can be smelt, I don't see any smoke or mist but then again I haven't ran the car for the past 3 days because I don't want to risk any further damage. The hoses get just as hot as the engine even with coolant running through them. The cap is fine. Well at least a head gasket isn't a horrible job to do. I'll remove the thermostat but I don't think thats the issuse, I think it may be the thermoswitch but I am unsure of it's exact location other then it's near the radiator.

 

I like the idea of removing the thermostat. (I once ran an old car like that all summer just cuz). Also.....I was gonna say, in determining where the coolant loss is.......any chance the radiator has any fine crack in it?? I had an old Camry that had a hairline crack in it which is where I found the coolant going. It was up at the top and unnoticeable unless you really looked for it. But even if there is a leak, you might be burning coolant too.

But definitely like pulling the thermostat at least to start.

 

Sounds like a blown head gasket at this point if you losing coolant so fast and white smoke from the exhaust; and no smoke under the hood.

In regards to the operation of the fans, unplug the connector to the radiator fan switch. Then use a wire or small paper clip to jump the harness side connector. Turn the ignition to the ON (II) position (car not running); both cooling fans should run. If both fans run, the fuses, wiring and relays are fine. The fan switch suppose to close at above 199 F (93 C) to send a ground signal to turn on both fans.

 

It is very possible that there is a small crack in the radiator that I have not seen as I have not pulled out the radiator yet, that will be next on the list.

 

And if both fans don't run what should I start looking into next? The condenser fan relay is brand new and the fuses are not burnt or broken.

 

• If you jump the harness side connector and turn the ignition to the ON (II) position, and both fans don't run, then it means there may be an open in the circuit; an open is an interruption in the flow of current in the circuit. The open in the circuit can be items such as fuses, wiring and relays, etc. (there is more than two fan relays in the circuit).

• If you jump the connector and both fans do run, then the fan switch (fan switch is a normally open type of switch) may be faulty if it doesn't close above 199 F. If the switch contacts doesn't close, no ground signal is sent through the switch to the rest of the circuit.

 

A small crack is possible, but for it to lose so much you would think you would see it. But, it's simple enough to replace and see.

 

As an aside.....let me just say that having R & R'd the throttle body yesterday for a much needed thorough cleaning and although my '02 is a VERY clean example.....this picture brings a tear of joy to my eye as I'm sure that's a sample pic right off the assembly line back in circa 2000 but that is just beautifully clean!!!!! LOL

 

If you have white smoke coming out the exhaust on a warm day, I would definitely say head gasket.