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Car Forum / Honda Cars / February 200688 CRX si Coolant loss
About once a week I have to add water to my radiator and coolant reserve. If I dont the car overheats. I don't see any signs that water is dripping on the ground but water is going somewhere. Could someone offer some tips on how to troubleshoot this? Suspect a blown head gasket or cracked cylinder head. Check the oil for coolant in it. Check the coolant for oil in it. Try to note whether the exhaust smells at all like coolant. Google for {"blown head gasket" symptoms} for more things to check. > About once a week I have to add water to my radiator and coolant > reserve. If I dont the car overheats. I don't see any signs that > water is dripping on the ground but water is going somewhere. Could > someone offer some tips on how to troubleshoot this? > About once a week I have to add water to my radiator and coolant > reserve. If I dont the car overheats. I don't see any signs that > water is dripping on the ground but water is going somewhere. Could > someone offer some tips on how to troubleshoot this? check the head gasket - bubbles in the radiator is the commonest for the civic/crx, but also check for other losses like: 1. leaky radiator - a definite likelihood if it's still original. the cheap all-metal replacements are prone to de-soldering too. don't forget to check the radiator drain plug seal and the radiator cap. 2. leaky hoses - some of the little ones that heat the throttle body and crank case ventilator are prone to this, and last but not least, 3. coolant pump. at high mileage, if that goes, the seal will "weep". doesn't do it much with the motor stopped, but it leaks slowly with the motor running. and when it weeps too much, it ruins the bearing and suddenly, you're in a world of hurt. if it's the head gasket, consider replacing the timing belt and coolant pump while you've got the motor stripped down. use honda parts for significantly better reliability. if you've recently had the coolant pump replaced, some seal weeping is normal. back when i bought my 2000 civic new, it lost coolant from bottle top to bottom every 1,000 miles or so for the first 20k. it settled down after that. >> About once a week I have to add water to my radiator and coolant >> reserve. If I dont the car overheats. I don't see any signs that >> water is dripping on the ground but water is going somewhere. >> Could someone offer some tips on how to troubleshoot this? >check the head gasket - bubbles in the radiator is the commonest for >the civic/crx, but also check for other losses like: Could I do a compression check to help identify a head gasket problem? I would also like to know the general health of the motor to help decide what to do with this car. I am the original owner but am considering a new honda. I dont want to spend a chunk of money on major engine repair. >1. leaky radiator - a definite likelihood if it's still original. >the cheap all-metal replacements are prone to de-soldering too. >don't forget to check the radiator drain plug seal and the radiator >cap. It's the original radiator. Is there some type of pressure test that could be performed to help isolate the leak. I can't see a leak anywhere and dont see fluid of the floor. Perhaps the hot radiator is evaporating any leakage before it hits the ground. >2. leaky hoses - some of the little ones that heat the throttle body >and crank case ventilator are prone to this, and last but not least, >3. coolant pump. at high mileage, if that goes, the seal will >"weep". doesn't do it much with the motor stopped, but it leaks >slowly with the motor running. and when it weeps too much, it ruins >the bearing and suddenly, you're in a world of hurt. >if it's the head gasket, consider replacing the timing belt and >coolant pump while you've got the motor stripped down. use honda >parts for significantly better reliability. >if you've recently had the coolant pump replaced, some seal weeping >is normal. back when i bought my 2000 civic new, it lost coolant >from bottle top to bottom every 1,000 miles or so for the first 20k. >it settled down after that. The car has 170,000 miles on it. The timing belt has been replaced once by the honda dealer at about 90,000 miles. The car current has an engine oil leak (I can live with that) and it uses about a quart of oil each tank of gas. Dont know if that is all from leaking or its being burnt. I dont see any visible smoke and the car continues to pass emission test each year :). If I could solve the coolant fluid problem and the oil usage problem for under maybe $1000 it might be worth it to me. Its nice not having a new car payment and new car insurance <g>. It looks like worst case for the coolant loss problem would be replace the radiator, replace the head gasket, go ahead and replace the timeing belt and coolant pump. Is this something a resonably compenent home mechanic could tackle. I have the factory shop manual that I purachased at the same time I purchased the car. >>> About once a week I have to add water to my radiator and coolant >>> reserve. If I dont the car overheats. I don't see any signs that [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Could I do a compression check to help identify a head gasket problem? No. A PRESSURE test. Not the same thng. > I would also like to know the general health of the motor to help > decide what to do with this car. I am the original owner but am [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > anywhere and dont see fluid of the floor. Perhaps the hot radiator is > evaporating any leakage before it hits the ground. Yes, a dye test. Fluorecent dye is put into the cooling system, then the engine is run. A UV light is played over sources of possible leakage. The leaks will glow. >>2. leaky hoses - some of the little ones that heat the throttle body >>and crank case ventilator are prone to this, and last but not least, [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > being burnt. I dont see any visible smoke and the car continues to > pass emission test each year :). A quart EACH TANK? My old Dodge did that, but it blew an opaque blue smokescreen out the tailpipe as it went. No cat to eat up the smoke, either. If you're using it that fast, it's likely being pumped/dripped out somewhere. If burned, that kind of usage would overwhelm a catalytic converter and you'd see smoke out the tailpipe on acceleration. A dye test can be applied to the oil leak problem as well. > If I could solve the coolant fluid problem and the oil usage problem > for under maybe $1000 it might be worth it to me. Its nice not having [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > compenent home mechanic could tackle. I have the factory shop manual > that I purachased at the same time I purchased the car. Yep. Definitely possible. Your big problem is that crank bolt. http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/crankbolt.html  SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ samjones (samjones@worldnet.com) wrote in news:43fce20f$0$19052$c3e8da3 @news.astraweb.com: >>> About once a week I have to add water to my radiator and coolant >>> reserve. If I dont the car overheats. I don't see any signs that >>> water is dripping on the ground but water is going somewhere. >>> Could someone offer some tips on how to troubleshoot this? One of the most common ways to test for a blown head gasket it to use an emissions system probe (like they use for emissions testing), open the radiator cap and put the probe over the outlet. If you see hydrocarbons, then you have a blown HG. You have to do this in a safe way so, you don't scald yourself. If the body's not rusty, I imagine the CRX SI's pretty desirable to ricers. I'd probably try to sell it to an enthusiast. > About once a week I have to add water to my radiator and coolant > reserve. If I dont the car overheats. I don't see any signs that > water is dripping on the ground but water is going somewhere. Could > someone offer some tips on how to troubleshoot this? burning it , id guess. any white smoke? after driving for a while until the engine is fully warmed up? |
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