Rep Power: 289

I'm having an issue with my car that seems to defy logic. It started a couple days ago, when i went out to move my car at my g/f's house. I started the car, and backed it up, and noticed a few drops of coolant on the ground. Then as it sat there, it leaked a little more, then stopped. The next day, I took the car to the stealership for an inspection, and to have them look at the leak. The car has about 40k miles on it, so it's not under the honda warranty, but it is covered by an aftermarket warranty from the dealer I bought it used from. Hence my not caring if honda over charged for the fix, 'cause I wouldnt' be paying for it. So honda says they pressure tested the cooling system and found no leak, but the coolant had gotten so low, there was a little air in the radiator and the overflow was empty. They topped off the radiator, and the resevoir, and sent me on my way.

Tonight, i drove the car around to run errands. I drove about 20 miles, and the outside temp here is about 10 degrees. When i got home, i pulled the car into the garage, and noticed some steam coming out of the grill. I popped the hood, and saw the steam was coming off both the front, and the back of the radiator, but didn't see any actual coolant leaking out, tho the steam itself smelled like antifreeze. The car was at normal operating temp, with the temp guage just below halfway up, and didn't seem to get any warmer as the car sat in the garage and idled. However, i noticed two things that seemed odd. First, neither of the radiator fans came on, even as the car sat in the garage for 5 or 10 minutes. And secondly, there are two hoses coming off the radiator itself, going into what appaears to be a thermostat housing on the engine itself. The top hose was hot, but the bottom hose was so cold, it had ice on it.

Any thoughts on what is causing this?? Is the car leaking coolant because some part of the system is overheating?? Is my thermostat stuck?? Why is that car at operating temp, and theres a radiator hose that's so cold, it has ice on it??

 
Rep Power: 245

OK, Here are my WAGs:

1.) Improper coolant/water mixture (too much water). Lower hose or radiator is frozen.
2.) Thermostat is stuck shut.
3.) Radiator is clogged.

Good luck man, I hope it's #1. If so then just put the car in a warm place and change your coolant using 50/50 coolant/distilled water (or whatever your region calls for).

 
Rep Power: 289

Thanks for the input. I really don't think it's #1, tho it could be. I bought the car used with 25k on it, but i haven't done anything with the coolant in the 15k i've owned it for. I can't see any reason the previous owner would have done a flush/refill that early. Honda doesn't even recommend a cooling system flush till at least 45k, i think. At least they haven't suggested it yet. So, i don't really see when the opportunity for the coolant/water ratio to get mixed up. I also don't think there's any way for the radiator to be clogged. I'm thinking it's the thermostat.

Also of note, the lower hose didn't feel frozen. I mean, there was ice on the outside, but the hose itself i believe was still somewhat flexible, and didn't seem to have ice inside. I'll have to check that again tomorrow. I also noticed that even with the car warmed up to operating temp, the resevoir was reading about halfway between min and max. I would have expected it to be at max once the car warmed up, since the stealership filled it yesterday, and as I understand it, it should be at min when cold, and around max when warm.

Either way, I guess i'm not all that concerned, cause whatever's wrong with it will get fixed for free, thanks to the warranty.

 
Rep Power: 289

anyone else think this sounds like a thermostat issue?? i'm beginning to suspect that.

 
Rep Power: 260

looks like you have a clogged rad.

I wouldn't suspect you having a thermostat problem since your upper rad hose is warm, meaning that the thermostat opened and coolant was going through. It seemed to have stopped at the rad. Check for any pebbles or marks that would result in a blockage in the radiator.

The dealership wouldn't have catched this because the thermostat would be closed when testing

 
Rep Power: 289

thanks if it ever thaws out here, i'll take a look.

 
Rep Power: 245

It would be interesting to know the symptoms once it warms up. You never know when some schmuck adds water into the radiator. Be careful though, I've had a coolant hose burst on me (literally) because of the built up pressure from a stuck thermostat.

Good luck.

 
Rep Power: 289

yeah, i don't really know. right now, i'm just driving it two miles, back and forth to work, and my next day off, it's going back to shop. then, i'm not leaving till they can explain to me why the hell the top hose was hot, and bottom was cold.

 
Rep Power: 289

has anyone actually had anything like this happen to their car, or is this a first??