Acura MDX coolant leak, big problem?

[BBuzecky]

2002 Acura MDX, 87,000 miles without any issues of overheating. No antifreeze is leaking on the ground, but after a drive you can smell burnt antifreeze. Took a few pictures of the issue. Is it a head gasket? Anyone else ever had a similar issue with this motor? Wanted to see what people thought of the issue, any insight is appreciated.

 

[Warstud]

Intake Gasket Leak.

 

[tinmanSC]

Looks like someone forgot to put in a thermostat housing gasket. I assume that's a thermostat housing and not an intake runner?

 

[BBuzecky]

Thermostat is stock from the factory. Not sure what housing it is which is why I started the thread.

 

[Donald]

What was done in the last 5000 miles? How much coolant have you/are you adding?

 

[DuckRyder]

It is just a water passage, it is the rear half of the thermostat housing and has 2 gaskets.

It is in the water pump section of the online catalogs.

Delray Acura

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: BBuzecky
Is it a head gasket?

No. It's just a leaky gasket at the join between the head and the water passage. Easy fix, but a bit time-consuming. I hope your coolant isn't 11-years-old...

 

[user52165]

Always do a pressure test. Simple way to diagnose and eliminate guessing. Free rental at AZ or similar or buy at HF for casual user.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I might give some of the GM cooling system tabs (or Subaru tabs or other similar products) a try before disassembling everything, assuming they're compatible with the Honda coolant, or whatever coolant you have in it now. I fixed a similar leak to this on my '84 Cutlass. Otherwise, you will have to remove that crossover to repair the leak. Is it a big deal? Probably not, but I'd fix it.

Is the coolant original? If so, it's way over-due for a change. If it has been changed, is it the blue Honda coolant or aftermarket green coolant?

 

[BBuzecky]

Coolant was drain-n-filled three times with Honda blue fluid about 2 years back, so 8 years into car life. The leak was noticed 2-3 years ago, with just a little build up but considerably more now. Have only had to fill about half of the plastic reserve tank total over the years so a very minor loss of coolant. Its may Dad's car and he's debating on fixing it up or getting rid of it. The transmission problems from this circa Acura worry him