I admit I am stupid. For the past two months I have not check the coolant in my car. I have a 96 Accord 4 cylinder. I was sitting in the drive-thru for about 10-15 min and I notice I little steam coming from the reserve tank area. I look at my gauge and the needle is well into the red. I immediately pull over into a parking space and shut off the car. The reserve tank was completely empty however the radiator didn't take very much water before it was full. The car seem to drive fine on the way back home. My questions are 1. Would the car run hot with the radiator mostly full? 2. How can you tell if you have warped the head or done any damage (the car seems to drive fine)? 3. How can you tell if the thermostat is bad? 4. Is everything ok, and I just dodged a bullet (and learned a lesson)?

Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bird333 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I admit I am stupid. For the past two months I have not check the coolant in my car. I have a 96 Accord 4 cylinder. I was sitting in the drive-thru for about 10-15 min and I notice I little steam coming from the reserve tank area. I look at my gauge and the needle is well into the red. I immediately pull over into a parking space and shut off the car. The reserve tank was completely empty however the radiator didn't take very much water before it was full. The car seem to drive fine on the way back home. My questions are 1. Would the car run hot with the radiator mostly full? 2. How can you tell if you have warped the head or done any damage (the car seems to drive fine)? 3. How can you tell if the thermostat is bad? 4. Is everything ok, and I just dodged a bullet (and learned a lesson)?

Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

Chances are that you fans are not coming on. You would not notice that as long as you were running down the road ... but once you sit still for a long time like you did ... the fans will have to come on to keep the engine cool.

If when driving down the road you do not see any fluctuation in the temp gauge ... chances are good that the thermostat is okay. It should ride about half-way and be steady.

 

Is there a test I can do on the fans? When I popped the hood only one fan was running. The one closest to the passenger side.

Can you tell me the signs of a warped head?


Thanks

 

You really won't be able to tell unless the headgasket starts leaking. Just keep an eye out for coolant loss or oil leaking. It is probably ok since you shut it down as soon as you noticed it. Just keep an eye on it for awhile...

 

some sign of head gasket going south would be milky/oily coolant, dirt like stuff in your reserivor, temp going up(esp. when a/c is on), temp rocketing up when you drive in local but not in freeway, coolant's gone faster than it soon, etc

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bird333 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is there a test I can do on the fans? When I popped the hood only one fan was running. The one closest to the passenger side.

Can you tell me the signs of a warped head?


Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

The fan that is closet to the passenger side is for the AC. The fan on the driver's side is the cooling fan. Both should come on after sitting still and getting up to temperature. The fact that only the one fan is coming on is a good indication why you are overheating. The problem could be in the fan motor itself ... or a relay to the fan ... or the sending unit for the fan.

There are tests that can be done to determine if the head gasket is blown. One such test is a leak down test. You can get that done at a reputable shop.

If you can drive down the street and the temp gauge does not go to the hot zone ... stays approximately halfway on the gauge ... chance are pretty good that you have not blown a head gasket. If you did blow one ... you will see the gauge get up in the red area.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mwkirchner &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you can drive down the street and the temp gauge does not go to the hot zone ... stays approximately halfway on the gauge ... chance are pretty good that you have not blown a head gasket. If you did blow one ... you will see the gauge get up in the red area.</TD></TR></TABLE>

not always. when my head gasket blew, the car drove normally and there weren't any temp problems. check for coolant in oil and oil in coolant as well as the sudden onset of white smoke from the exhaust, along with over heating problems.

 

Dude. My radiator was bone dry and I blew a pillow of smoke out my tailpipe. After replacing the leaky oil pressure sensor, and a complete tune up, that bitch is doing 180 PSI at a rated level of 178. Woot woot. Go Honda.