Pressurized Coolant Leak

[VicVinegar]

So I'm sitting here in my Honda in a Costco parking lot after coolant sprayed out of the front grill and blew up onto the windshield. Temp gauge never went up before I pulled in here. Lucky I was going to get gas I guess.

I don't see anything obvious as far as a source for the leak, and it isn't all that messy in there. I got a small puddle here in the parking lot. It is the original rad.

So all that for the dumb question of the day: there is no good way to patch this up so I can get to my mechanic is there? He is probably too far away for a tow to be cost effective, but I've crossed some of the shops I am near off the list already. Probably would be a 20 mile drive mostly on 55 mph roads. I have a Target and Costco here in the parking lot. I'm thinking I just need to suck it up and get it towed. Or there is a shop about 1.5 mile away, but I could be stuck at a couple lights.

 

[Warstud]

Go buy a couple jugs of water and find out where it's leaking first and go from there.

 

[Donald]

If you find a hole in a hose, you can wrap it with duct tape and then put some hose clamps over the duct tape.

If its a hole in the radiator you are screwed.

Could a fan have not come on and the overflow filled and then water sprayed out of it?

 

[surfstar]

Try to find that leak! You're not totally screwed - it could be slight enough to make a drive - just keep an eye on that temp gauge and listen for fans.

 

[VicVinegar]

If I had to guess it looks to be near the top on the front side. It didn't shoot up into the hood or back towards the motor. I'm about to call USAA about tow coverage.

 

[antiqueshell]

I had a similar failure with my 94 Accord. It was a 2 in long hairline crack at the top of the tank near the rad cap. I was able to put a piece of duct tape over the crack, fill it with coolant and drive at 55 for the 15 mile trip to my shop with no issues.

Just make sure you turn the heat control knob to full warm, and turn the HVAC fan to high. You shouldn't have any problems if the situation is similar. Of course keep your eye on the temp gauge, if it even starts to rise more than a few tenths of an inch pull over and turn the car off leave the key on "accessories" and leave the HVAC fan on full for a minute or two to pull the temp back down. Most folks don't realize how helpful that simple trick can be to preventing a serious over heat with a minor leak.

 

[VicVinegar]

USAA covered a tow within 10 miles. So I got it towed. Hopefully this shop can get the job done. I would have preferred the guy I've used the last couple repairs, but he would have been too far to take on a flatbed.

The location of the leak was high enough to shoot out through the grill, that is all I could really tell. When it happened I could see the stream come out the front and then blow up into the windshield.

While I have this thread going, is there anything else that could cause this to happen? Like I said, the radiator was original, so I'm guessing it was just it's time, but am trying to think of something else could have caused maybe an increase in pressure to "blow" it? I'll take a look at my repair manual in a bit for troubleshooting to keep the repair shop honest.

If only I had an extra car to drive, I would have had it towed home. Radiator looks like a pretty straight forward DIY job. I guess I'll get hammered in the wallet for convenience.

 

[yonyon]

The tow was probably unecessary.

"Shooting out" generally means a small leak. Except in hot weather that would mean you could drive quite a distance with the radiator cap off (so there's no pressure to force coolant out through the small leak) and a gallon of 50/50 to top off with. If you have A/C, you can leave it on to get some radiator fan action and use straight water as top off.

If this shop hasn't begun work yet you may still have the option of driving it to your regular mechanic. Of course, there's a possibility you'll find out this outfit works out better for you.

 

[morris]

when i run older machines i allways DEPRESSUREIZED the coolant system. and get some black pepper.

 

[VicVinegar]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
The tow was probably unecessary.

"Shooting out" generally means a small leak. Except in hot weather that would mean you could drive quite a distance with the radiator cap off (so there's no pressure to force coolant out through the small leak) and a gallon of 50/50 to top off with. If you have A/C, you can leave it on to get some radiator fan action and use straight water as top off.

If this shop hasn't begun work yet you may still have the option of driving it to your regular mechanic. Of course, there's a possibility you'll find out this outfit works out better for you.


I'm more hoping that this relatively straightforward problem can be addressed by any halfway competent shop. I can steal my wife's car for one day, but I need mine back Thursday, so that is the priority at this point. Even if I drove to my guy, he usually works on appointment only, so I'm not sure if he could have squeezed me in tomorrow and by the time I would have arrived at his place, they are closed.

 

[yonyon]

From your description it sounds like it'll just be a matter of throwing throwing a new radiator in you Civic. It would be difficult to find a shop that can't do that. If that what they have to do though, you might do well to specifically request they not put dollar-store worm clamps on the hoses.

 

[mechtech2]

Temporarily, fill the radiator a couple of inches below the cap, and leave the cap loose - only the first click.
This lower pressure will attenuate leaks.
This will usually get you where you need to go.
But who knows what actually blew?

 

[antiqueshell]

I'm wondering if he possibly has a head gasket leak that is over pressurizing the cooling system.

 

[VicVinegar]

Thanks for the input everyone. See what they have to say today and if they want $700 to replace a radiator, I at least know I can probably take it somewhere else by removing the cap and topping off the coolant.

 

[antiqueshell]

Actually when you mention the mileage and age I's say the radiator has lived it's useful life span. Plastic eventually gets brittle and breaks under the pressure and temp cycles it experiences.

NO WAY it should be 700 bucks to replace the radiator on this model I'd say if they use a quality aftermarket unit (Denso "First Time Fit") it should be about 450 or so. That is the unit I would go with, since it is essentially the exact same product minus the Honda name for a LOT less and will last another 200K miles or more.