It seams to me tha the Rad cap is leaking? So i went to Auto-zone and bought a new cap.... The oem cap is now arround 6years old and has 80k+ miles on it. No prob i think. I willjust swap them out and all will be ok. Well i did that. It is still leaking?! It seams to be comming from the area of the cap. I have looked all arround the area and i see no crakes in the Rad itself?
Has anyone else had this problem? Have any suggestions?

But i think that you get a better look at what is going on...

 

You have air in your lines. Run your motor without your cap on until the fans cut on 2 times, that way your thermostat is open. Cap off the radiator, then bleed any excess air from the thermostat housing. Its not spraying out of the overflow tank is it? Get another OEM cap from honda, the autozone ones sometimes suck ***.

 

Gee not really sure why there would be air in the lines... I will give the bleading a shot...
Why would the Air pockets cause the Anit-freeze to be sprayed all over?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KENLUDE97 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Gee not really sure why there would be air in the lines... I will give the bleading a shot...
Why would the Air pockets cause the Anit-freeze to be sprayed all over? </TD></TR></TABLE>
double check your cap installation. it's very easy to "cross thread" the cap without noticing. the loose lip tolerances between the lips on the cap and the lips on the filler neck easily allow you to install the cap cockeyed, resulting in your current problem. when you twist the cap on, look at the front and back of the cap where the cap's metal tabs fold over to ride the lip on the filler neck. a lot of times, the metal tab in the rear of the cap wont engage the lip of the filler neck properly, cokeyeing the cap.

 

I REALLY doubt that the cap is Croos threaded, But none the less a good thought i will check...The ANIT-FREEZE does not spray all the time just when it feels like it....
Any idea how much it costs to have the system pressure tested?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KENLUDE97 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I REALLY doubt that the cap is Croos threaded, But none the less a good thought i will check...The ANIT-FREEZE does not spray all the time just when it feels like it....
Any idea how much it costs to have the system pressure tested? </TD></TR></TABLE>

about $35 at any reputable radiator shop.

 

Humm i guess that it is time to call arround. Thanks !

 

I had the same problem and it looked identical to yours and it ended up being the top tank.It had a small crack on the back side that could only be seen by removing the cap.It took a pressure test to find it.

 

HUmm i will look. Did you replace the Radiator? Or just some Radiator stop leak?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KENLUDE97 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Why would the Air pockets cause the Anit-freeze to be sprayed all over? </TD></TR></TABLE>

The radiator cap is a pressure release valve. When the fluid in the cooling system heats up, it expands as well. The pressure of the system increases as well. Pressure escapes through your radiator cap, and the pressure rate your cap is rated at determines the maximum pressure in the cooling system. When the pressure reaches its psi rate, the pressure pushes the valve open, allowing coolant to escape from the cooling system. This coolant flows through the overflow tube into the bottom of the overflow tank. This arrangement keeps air out of the system. Air in your system is bad, it will lead to overheating as well as shooting out your coolant through your reservoir tank since the cap cannot compensate for the high pressure of the system. Air expands when it is heated thus increasing the pressure of your coolant system. If you have air in your system the pressure will be greater then the rate of your spring and its going to try to escape whereever it can find a way.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KENLUDE97 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> HUmm i will look. Did you replace the Radiator? Or just some Radiator stop leak? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I replaced the radiator with a Modine which has metal tanks.I got it for like $100.

 

i had the same problem with my cap. and yes, it was the cap. if you peel off the sticker on the top of the cap and let the car run, you will probably see alittle coolant leaking out from the center. all you can really do to test it is to clean up your motor and let the car run... look to see if you can see anything leaking.

 

I will try to find some time to run the car with me watching... the problem is that it does not do it all the time..

 

i have a simular prob with my lude and i thought it was the cap too and so did the mechanics but it turned out that it was leaking out of the top seals of the rad itself where it is clamped together, wash it of with water and let it run for 10 min and see if coolent is pooling up in those little ridges. stop leak u can get for around $2 and it will plug it for a couple of months but if it is consistant u have to flush ur rad out and refill it to clean out all the crud. u can get a new rad for around $150 if u shop around, mine was only $123. try http://www.fastbodyparts.com/honda-radiator.html

 

I'm having problems with my radiator too, I've already found the crack on it. Is not critical at the moment but I am going to change it asap. I had a P.O.S. ford car overheat on me 'cause of the damn Rad and I'm not about to take the risk and let my Lude overheat like that.
I'm not really looking forward to spend $100 but its better and I know my car will be fine

 

Well i found the leak... It is a craked top tank. I need to replace the whole radiator.
So if anyone has one that they need to unload let me know. Thanks

 

We did a head gasket swap thinking it was combustion gases into the coolant causing the issue; but, it recurred after the swap.

Turns out the rad was leaking ever so slightly at idle at that joint (between the plastic top tank and the Al rad core). Once you dry it off and hold the throttle open, it started to drip coolant.

As a side note, I wouldn't recommend stop leak unless it's a real emergency situation. Not only does it make a real mess when you eventually do replace the rad, but it can stick to other small surface irregularities in the cooling system causing decreased efficiency and it has the potential to cause a blockage when combined with other gunk which can come dislodged when the coolant system overheats (espc an old one that may not have gotten all of the recommended flushes).