j30a v6 super aggressive coolant leak, where to look?
Brief backstory:
- car overheated and died a few weeks back. let it cool off and drove it home (not knowing the car was overheated, thought it was the alternator). Head gasket is almost for sure blown
- losing coolant almost instantaneously when filling the radiator now. it pours and spills out (by the quart) from underneath the car. originally thought maybe there was a leak in the radiator, so got a radiator pressure test kit. turns out it's leaking somewhere else...and spilling out completely in a matter of seconds.
- what appears to be white smoke out the exhaust
Here is a video I took while attempting to put pressure into the cooling system (needle won't even move past 0 psi).
Video was taken near the firewall, initially from the passenger side looking down towards the drivers side. You'll notice there was a loud squealing and subsequent bubbling/squirting sound after I put pressure in the system, but the sound seemed to emanate from from the drivers side. I can't spot it with my eyes, unfortunately. That's where I'm asking for your help.
The Acura CL doesn't have a heater control module like the v6 accords, but just 2 pipes directly to the heater core on the firewall. I checked both visually and with my fingers on the underside and didn't notice any coolant spillage there.
So now I'm wondering where else I can possibly check? I notice what most likely is fresh coolant near the back of the engine block (hence the blown head gasket), though I'm not sure if that's oil because I've also had a pretty big oil leak for years now.
Any other places I should be checking to know exactly where that hissing/leaking sound is coming from?
I know most likely this car won't be worth salvaging, but thought I'd at least try to see what I can do to keep it on the road another few months.
Thanks for the help!
- car overheated and died a few weeks back. let it cool off and drove it home (not knowing the car was overheated, thought it was the alternator). Head gasket is almost for sure blown
- losing coolant almost instantaneously when filling the radiator now. it pours and spills out (by the quart) from underneath the car. originally thought maybe there was a leak in the radiator, so got a radiator pressure test kit. turns out it's leaking somewhere else...and spilling out completely in a matter of seconds.
- what appears to be white smoke out the exhaust
Here is a video I took while attempting to put pressure into the cooling system (needle won't even move past 0 psi).
Video was taken near the firewall, initially from the passenger side looking down towards the drivers side. You'll notice there was a loud squealing and subsequent bubbling/squirting sound after I put pressure in the system, but the sound seemed to emanate from from the drivers side. I can't spot it with my eyes, unfortunately. That's where I'm asking for your help.
The Acura CL doesn't have a heater control module like the v6 accords, but just 2 pipes directly to the heater core on the firewall. I checked both visually and with my fingers on the underside and didn't notice any coolant spillage there.
So now I'm wondering where else I can possibly check? I notice what most likely is fresh coolant near the back of the engine block (hence the blown head gasket), though I'm not sure if that's oil because I've also had a pretty big oil leak for years now.
Any other places I should be checking to know exactly where that hissing/leaking sound is coming from?
I know most likely this car won't be worth salvaging, but thought I'd at least try to see what I can do to keep it on the road another few months.
Thanks for the help!
Last edited by fliplyricist1; Jan 21, 2022 at 09:46 PM.
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Kgill23
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Aug 30, 2010 03:14 AM



