My mom just purchased a 1998 Honda accord with 77k miles and we got it from a mechanic who lifted it up at the shop for us, was talking about all the different things he has fixed.. my mom drove it home over an hour and half on interstate and it was perfectly fine.

After owning it for a week, she seen the coolant looking chocolatey and sludgy, and the hose going from radiator to reservoir had popped off and thought radiator fans were not kicking on, she used a C clamp to hold it back in place and took it to a shop.

they are not sure what is contaminating the coolant, his initial reaction was head gasket, but she can drive it and it’s not over heating at all, and they did 2 flushes on the coolant system and it’s still being contaminated, the oil level and transmission fluid levels are good, and no noticeable leaks under car. He has no idea what could be contaminating the coolant and when my mom asked about replacing radiator he said that it would not fix it. He also said the fans kicked on for him and that the car overall looks in great shape besides this issue..

we got some family members to come together to buy what looked to be a good reliable vehicle for my mom that is disabled and we are at a complete loss as to what to do or how to go about this issue, the shop said they wouldn’t touch the head gasket bc it’s too old and they are not 100% sure if that’s what it is and are strapped for cash and don’t know if it’s worth to repair or find another vehicle for her.

the guy who sold it to me had added me on facebook right after purchase and I messaged him, he said of it’s the head gasket it should overheat under throttle and that this car has a built in transmission cooler and it could potentially be transmission fluid, he said he would call the shop and help with the issue but then blocked me.

Im not mechanically inclined about cars and don’t know what to do, this is the 2nd attempt at getting her a cheap reliable vehicle any advice would be greatly appreciated on what could the issue be. She’s thinking about taking it to another mechanic, but for the time being she don’t want to drive it for fear of messing up the tranny or engine.

 

It does help to mention that this is a 2.3l 4 cylinder, automatic.

Only three places where oil- either from the engine or the transmission could get into the coolant:

1) at the head gasket. there is only one spot where the oil pressure would be higher than the coolant pressure so the probability of a leak there is super low. normally a bad head gasket on this engine would have coolant in the combustion chamber, combustion gasses in the coolant or coolant in the oil. not an oil leak into coolant.

2) in the lower tank of the radiator where the transmission heat exchanger is or the oil cooler at the oil filter base. highest likelihood in my experience. the radiator in the photo looks newer than the car so it's probably been replaced. if it wasn't OE quality it could be leaking slowly from the transmission. just enough to cause the discoloration, but not enough to have a noticeable effect on the fluid level.

3) oil cooler at the filter base. not all cars in the generation had them so it may not even be a factor. Also I don't think one could allow oil into the coolant just from age/wear. But if it's there it would be worth checking to rule out.

the exception to these three would be a crack in the cylinder head or block. but the chance of having that with no other symptoms makes it almost not worth mentioning.

if possible, I recommend a second opinion from a Honda/import specialist.

 

Would it be useful to put a cup like this on top of radiator and get it to running temp and see if it bubbles ? (Just watched a Subaru video about him checking the radiator) didn’t know it would be able to be done on the Honda accord or provide any useful information? Thank you for your thorough reply also!

she also said it smells like gas!

 

I’d do a pressure test on the coolant
system. I’d then do a leak down on the motor.