i have a b16 in my 90 CRX, just got it done about a week ago. A few mins ago, i pull into work in the rain, and as soon as I park, almost instantaneously smoke comes pouring out of the engine bay, so i quickly look at the temp gauge, its fine, little less than halfway. I shut the car off, pop the hood, and all this smoke is pouring out from underneath where my catalytic converter sits, up underneath the car and in the back of the IM. The exhaust looked to be the only spot that the smoke was coming from, and then as the car is sitting there, the smoke pretty quickly goes away and i can hear what sounds like the catalytic converter crackling, as if water is hitting it and making it sizzle. I look up by the radiator, and i see some coolant splashed on the top of the radiator and some down by the bottom. I had a previous problem with a coolant hose and recently replaced it and immediately looked at that to see any bulges or cracks, and there were none. Checked all my other coolant hoses and there were no splits, cracks or bulges either. Can someone give me an idea as to WTF is going on? I'm pretty worried. I was thinking maybe something was sitting on the catalytic converter and got stuck and was burning off or something, I really don't know, and i'm scared to drive it anywhere.

 

I would start it up and see what happens. Make sure that you have oil in it and and check to see if the coolant is a milky color. Maybe you didnt put the cap on tight?
you prolly just got some water on the cat.


Blaze

 

why the hell didnt it smoke like that then when i was driving and pulled up at a stop light then? it makes no sense.. i mean it was like instantaneous... popped the hood, let the smoke get out, then it cooled down and it stopped smoking, but i mean it was a significant amount of smoke, and it scared the **** outta me. And yes, there's definitely oil in it, I checked it yesterday and it was at the full mark.

 

How old is the radiator, have you noticed any slow leaks? Did you check all the hoses, even small ones?

 

yeah, i checked all the hoses and they seem to be fine. The radiator is the same stock radiator that i've always used. I havent ever noticed any slow leaks or anything like that, but I do know that the b16 runs significantly hotter than the stock d15b2 so i've had to add coolant and top it off a couple of times. I dunno whats going on.

 

Hmm, that sounds very odd. How does the car run when it is not overheating? How often do you fill er up with coolant?

 

ok, isnt the fan supposed to kick on when the temp gauge gets up to about halfway? My cars been sitting for an hour and i just left it running for about 10 mins, and the temp gauge got to about a shade under halfway, and the fan didn't kick on. I couldnt leave it running anymore because i'm on a break right now but isnt the fan supposed to kick on eventually even when idling? Maybe i didnt leave it running long enough? and as it was running i checked for anything leaking and it wasnt.

 

Yes the fan is supposed to kick in when it is at about 190 degrees. If you see no leaks, check out your radiator cap, maybe it's not on right or can't hold the pressure anymore. Also, make sure that there is no air in your coolant lines.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vap133 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes the fan is supposed to kick in when it is at about 190 degrees. If you see no leaks, check out your radiator cap, maybe it's not on right or can't hold the pressure anymore. Also, make sure that there is no air in your coolant lines.</TD></TR></TABLE>well, the thing is, i've never ever had a problem with the temp spiking or anything like that, and the gauge does work because it gradually moves up as the engine heats up, and theres no way in HELL that i dont overheat with as much highway driving i do, so i'm guessing the engine just wasnt hot enough to kick the fan on yet. I drove my car at about 80 for 25 minutes straight; theres no way i would have made it had the fan not kicked on. I think im gonna drive a little on my break, pull over and see if the fan kicks on, then go from there. would you agree about not being able to drive for that long if the fan wasnt kicking on?

 

the best thing to do is a coolant system pressure test. that will tell you exactly where your leak is coming from

 

well i found out that the overflow is whats leaking. where that plastic piece stems off from the side of the cap is where it's leaking from. I broke that piece while i was doing the swap and tried gluing it back on and obviously that didn't work too well. Anybody have a suggestion as to what i can do to fix it, short of buying another radiator?

 

If it's plastic, I have no suggestions, if it's metal then try JB weld....

 

i dont even know if the overflow valve should even be leaking so much; isnt the antifreeze only supposed to go through the overflow valve if the engine is running too hot?

 

bump

 

your radiator cap is bad. anytime you have a lot of coolant in your overflow tank then that is the tell tale sign. that will also cause overheating.

 

you're not understanding what im saying. theres a plastic piece that sticks out of just under where the radiator cap is and i broke it while doing my swap,. so i used adhesive to try to get it to stick back on and wrapped tape around it, and now that adhesive melted and coolant is leaking out of it, and i know that had that piece NOT been broken, it would have kept the coolant system pressurized seeing as how theres a hose that slides on over it that goes to the overflow tank. So i'm asking if you guys know any good high temperature adhesives that i can use to put that piece on.

 

Just buy a used radiator from a friend, or might as well buy a new one and get it over with...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vap133 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just buy a used radiator from a friend, or might as well buy a new one and get it over with... </TD></TR></TABLE>i cant. i have no money.

 

just buy a new rad or a rebuilt one. there cheap, plus easy to put in.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chongoBANANA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just buy a new rad or a rebuilt one. there cheap, plus easy to put in.</TD></TR></TABLE>i would if i wasnt flat broke right now. I'm so tapped out, it's not even funny. Anybody have a temporary solution?

 

PAWN SHOP

 

mom or dad or credit card

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hybrid Invasion &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i would if i wasnt flat broke right now. I'm so tapped out, it's not even funny. Anybody have a temporary solution?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Steal one from a wrecking yard? Seriously I don't think there's anything we can help you with unless someone'll lend you one or something...

 

ok i work at a rad shop... your fan is not suppose to come on untill around 220 my fan never comes on on my crx with a b16 allways stays right below half way.. your lil tab u broke off will not leak untill the cap opens to let out xtra pressure so its just leaking coolent that was desten to go to the over flow bottle not a big deal... now u said you were driving in the rain when u saw the smoke did u think u might have drove threw a puddle and splashed your cat? if not check the back of the intake by your idle air control valve there is a 5/16 coolent line going to that mine ripped when i did my swap and it was leaking on the cat as well so be sure to check that for tears its like right out there so could have easly got tore putting the motor in .. good luck

 

well now i dont have a choice but to get a new radiator because i found out the reason why theres coolant even coming out of the overflow is because i have a tiny pinhole leak on the top of the radiator right in front of the header. Thanks for all the help. I'm gonna JB Weld it for now and save up to get a new one.