What's up, just found this forum and it looks great. I have a 91 accord w/ 180k miles on it and an over heating problem, not good here in phoenix. I noticed the problem about a month ago driving down the highway and realized the temp needle was in the red. So i pull over, let it cool off, nothing in the resivor, couldn't see anything in radiator either? So i added all purpose coolant to both, got me home. I noticed that there was spray on underside of hood and exhaust shroud that looked be coming form the cap area, so i bought a new cap thinking it had gone bad and was not holding the pressure, didn't fix. I didn't see any other leaks, so I thought headgasket, but there is no residue in tail pipe. So I'm kinda stuck, my next thought is water pump (but i don't see, or don't know where to look for leaks) or thermostat Basically if there is fluid in it it will run at correct temp as long as i'm moving, even w/ ac on. If i'm stopped for too long it goes thru the roof. I don't have a manual yet, but I plan to buy one, I know my way around a tool box (trained HD tech) don't have much experience w/ cars let alone water cooling I plan on fixing myself, but i need some sugestions on where to start. Thanks for your time.

 

if it was going through the exhaust, there would be no coolant residue as it would all burn away...i doubt that you have a headgasket problem that big though, as you would definitely smell, or see the burning coolant out of the exhaust....you never see puddles from underneath your car at all??? if so, check where they are coming from...

 

yeah, I don't see any puddles. regarding the tail pipe thing, someone told me that if i wipe my finger in the pipe and taste it, and it tastes sweet, then i have a blown head gasket. Well I didn't taste anything sweet thats for sure

 

The water pump is on the right side of the engine and is usually changed out when you get the timing belt done as its a real pain to disassemble all that needs to be done to do that job. The Thermostat can be located by following your radiator hoses. There should be one on the far left side that goes around the back of the throttle body and connects to a housing there. Thats the thermo housing. Be sure to get the correct gasket with the thermo. You may have a stuck closed thermo. This is cheap enough to do to find out if it fixes your problem. If not, and your experiencing coolant loss and seeing a fine spray under the hood, you may have a bad hose or radiator that only leaks under high temps and pressures. If your hoses are old, maybe its time to change them out, that too is an easy enough job to do along with a coolant flush. Make sure the front of the radiator, or if you have A/C the condesnsor, is clean and free of debris. If air cannot pass over these units cooling will not happen.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hondaman56 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The water pump is on the right side of the engine and is usually changed out when you get the timing belt done as its a real pain to disassemble all that needs to be done to do that job. The Thermostat can be located by following your radiator hoses. There should be one on the far left side that goes around the back of the throttle body and connects to a housing there. Thats the thermo housing. Be sure to get the correct gasket with the thermo. You may have a stuck closed thermo. This is cheap enough to do to find out if it fixes your problem. If not, and your experiencing coolant loss and seeing a fine spray under the hood, you may have a bad hose or radiator that only leaks under high temps and pressures. If your hoses are old, maybe its time to change them out, that too is an easy enough job to do along with a coolant flush. Make sure the front of the radiator, or if you have A/C the condesnsor, is clean and free of debris. If air cannot pass over these units cooling will not happen. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Like he said check all hoses and the radiator for any leaks. If none than try replacing the thermostat. It is a pain in the *** but a simple enough job as well as good learning experience If still no then might wanna have the water pump looked at. Probably a bit to complicated for DIY job with little experience. If you have questions on thermostat PM and I'll try walking you through it. Was in same situation couple months ago and it fixed the problem.

 

Thanks for all the help guys, great community here. I'm gonna give it a closer look this weekend.