jilliam

I had a new radiator and thermostat replaced by John Doe outside of Autozone, since I was stranded. everything seemed ok, no overheating for two months however I always get a coolant smell coming from under the hood after the car was driven for more than 15mn at regular temp. Unfortunately last night while driving around in semi heavy stop and go traffic, I noticed my temp needle go past the middle almost all the way to the top. Im not a mechanic and have no idea whats going on. If this helps during those two months of no overheating I do stop and go traffic every single day to work and the temp gauge never went past the middle. Any all advice is greatly appreciated.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

when it starts overheating, pull over and feel the two radiator hoses. both top and bottom should be hot. if the bottom is only warm or cool, you need a new honda thermostat. also when the car is overheating, the cooling fans should be coming on, esp in traffic. if not, it could be a bad fan temp switch or a bad fan motor or relay. does your heat work? turn the heat and fan full blast and see if the temp goes down. if it does, then it is one of the problems mentioned above. if you have no heat, its a more serious problem.

jilliam

I'll have to check the hoses. A few minutes before the overheating I used the heater to defrost my front windshield and it worked fine.

jilliam

Thx for all your help. I had my local mechanic take a look at it yesterday. my gosh, when I drove the car I checked my radiator and coolant rervoir tank. When I closed the reservoir tank, I didnt thread it closed right, so while driving around all the coolant overflowed out of the reservoir. woops.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well, technically you should be fine driving without a coolant reservoir cap. that tank is not pressurized and the cap is just to keep dirt out. its plenty big to account for coolant rise when the car is driven and it should never be getting anywhere near the top unless there is a problem.