Coolant leak? + overheating

cj92

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Alright so I'm new here and I'm habving a problem with my 1998 honda accord sedan it has the f23a1 vtech enginge and an auto tranny. Here's the problem about 2 weeks ago It started over heating so I figure the thermost had gone out so I went and got a new gasket, thermostat and a bottle of water wetter.. I replaced all that and it was running good a little bit cooler because of the water wetter but last night I was driving and the temp gauge started to show it was over heating I let it cool off and drove it home keeping an eye on the gauge. it went back down a little and this morning i took the radiator cap of to check the fluid and it was low so i filled it and no problems yet.. does anyone know where the coolant could be leaking i checked both bolts on the housing and their snug no drips or anything
 

001Stunna

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Alright so I'm new here and I'm habving a problem with my 1998 honda accord sedan it has the f23a1 vtech enginge and an auto tranny. Here's the problem about 2 weeks ago It started over heating so I figure the thermost had gone out so I went and got a new gasket, thermostat and a bottle of water wetter.. I replaced all that and it was running good a little bit cooler because of the water wetter but last night I was driving and the temp gauge started to show it was over heating I let it cool off and drove it home keeping an eye on the gauge. it went back down a little and this morning i took the radiator cap of to check the fluid and it was low so i filled it and no problems yet.. does anyone know where the coolant could be leaking i checked both bolts on the housing and their snug no drips or anything

Well its either leaking from the upper/lower rad hose...the radiator itself if it has a crack...the back of the engine inlet hose to waterpump...the heater core inlet/outlet hoses...orrrr you got a bad HG and its mixing with your oil.

So check everything and see where a trail of dry coolant exists.
 

cl206

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My guess is you need to burp the system. uve probably got air in there and that is why it appeared to be low. Unless there really is a leak but you said you didn't notice any leaks.
 

cj92

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Im not quite sure what you mean by burping the system, when I changed the thermostat i replaced it and the gasket put everything back together then I poured the water wetter in and filled it up with coolant while squeezing the hose to get the air out unless i did it wrong?
 

cl206

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Im not quite sure what you mean by burping the system, when I changed the thermostat i replaced it and the gasket put everything back together then I poured the water wetter in and filled it up with coolant while squeezing the hose to get the air out unless i did it wrong?

Did you ever find a leak? If not:
Try this then, either put the front of the car on jack stands, OR raise it a little with a jack OR SIMPLY park it so the front of the car is higher than the rear of the car. (Air rises in water doh!) Now open the coolant cap (obviously when the car is cold NOT HOT) and start the car. If there is air in ur system, it will escape here and as it escapes, the coolant level will drop. Keep filling it but don't let it get too low. I don't think you can fully get all the air out just by squeezing the hoses. BTW who told you to use water wetter anyways? and did you use honda coolant?

I actually used the lisle kit and it worked pretty well. OR you can just use a funnel. GOOD LUCK!
 
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001Stunna

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Did you ever find a leak? If not:
Try this then, either put the front of the car on jack stands, OR raise it a little with a jack OR SIMPLY park it so the front of the car is higher than the rear of the car. (Air rises in water doh!) Now open the coolant cap (obviously when the car is cold NOT HOT) and start the car. If there is air in ur system, it will escape here and as it escapes, the coolant level will drop. Keep filling it but don't let it get too low. I don't think you can fully get all the air out just by squeezing the hoses. BTW who told you to use water wetter anyways? and did you use honda coolant?

I actually used the lisle kit and it worked pretty well. OR you can just use a funnel. GOOD LUCK!

You DO NOT need to use Honda coolant. Prestone/Peak coolant bottle for all vehicles will work just fine. You can buy premixed or concentrated and mix it 50/50 yourself with tap water or deionized water(recommended)

The correct way to bleed the coolant would be to
-Open radiator cap on cold engine
-Top overflow bottle to just slightly below the max line.
-Use a 10mm socket and open the bleeder screw
-Use a funnel and add coolant to the radiator until you see a steady stream of coolant coming out of the bleeder screw. Once so tighten the bleeder screw down(without breaking it)
-Start the car with the radiator cap off and allow it to run until the radiator fans come on once or about 5-10minutes to allow all air to escape the system. If the level gets close to the bottom of the rad neck TOP IT UP (do not worry if the coolant starts overflowing a tiny bit). If you are worried about it overflowing and making a bit of a mess then you can take a funnel and use electrical tape on its tip to extend it so it will fit snuggly on the radiator head.
-Put the radiator cap back on and wait for the rad fans to come on if they didn't already.
-If the radiator fans do not come on you've got an issue with either the fans or the fan switch.
 
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cl206

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You DO NOT need to use Honda coolant. Prestone/Peak coolant bottle for all vehicles will work just fine. You can buy premixed or concentrated and mix it 50/50 yourself with tap water or deionized water(recommended)

The correct way to bleed the coolant would be to
-Open radiator cap on cold engine
-Top overflow bottle to just slightly below the max line.
-Use a 10mm socket and open the bleeder screw
-Use a funnel and add coolant to the radiator until you see a steady stream of coolant coming out of the bleeder screw. Once so tighten the bleeder screw down(without breaking it)
-Start the car with the radiator cap off and allow it to run until the radiator fans come on once or about 5-10minutes to allow all air to escape the system. If the level gets close to the bottom of the rad neck TOP IT UP (do not worry if the coolant starts overflowing a tiny bit). If you are worried about it overflowing and making a bit of a mess then you can take a funnel and use electrical tape on its tip to extend it so it will fit snuggly on the radiator head.
-Put the radiator cap back on and wait for the rad fans to come on if they didn't already.
-If the radiator fans do not come on you've got an issue with either the fans or the fan switch.

Yep for the 4 cylinder. I have heard of the bleeder screw. BUT unless someone can confirm, I don't recall whether the v6 which is mine is, has a bleeder screw. If there is can someone post a pic? Thanks!
 
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