Accord 2000 4 cyl. coolant leak
My 2000 Accord (60k miles) is occasionally losing coolant externally;
i.e. once in a while there is a small puddle (2 inches in diameter) on the driveway; I can't seem to see where it's coming from. All hoses appear to be in good shape; temp gauge remains the same as always (just under half-way). When it is parked after driving, there is the distinct odor of coolant, but can't find the source. Perhaps a pin- hole leak in the rad or a hose? What about the rad cap - after 8 years, should it be changed? Dealer ran a pressure test at last service in June and said all was normal. Any ideas? Thanks! |
Re: Accord 2000 4 cyl. coolant leak
"aviatorc" <aviator.c@gmail.com> wrote in message news:27eea7fa-9015-47dd-9b3e-547a51482c33@q35g2000hsg.googlegroups.com... > My 2000 Accord (60k miles) is occasionally losing coolant externally; > i.e. once in a while there is a small puddle (2 inches in diameter) on > the driveway; I can't seem to see where it's coming from. All hoses > appear to be in good shape; temp gauge remains the same as always > (just under half-way). When it is parked after driving, there is the > distinct odor of coolant, but can't find the source. Perhaps a pin- > hole leak in the rad or a hose? What about the rad cap - after 8 > years, should it be changed? > > Dealer ran a pressure test at last service in June and said all was > normal. Any ideas? > > Thanks! Weep hole in water pump? |
Re: Accord 2000 4 cyl. coolant leak
On Oct 9, 8:48 am, aviatorc <aviato...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My 2000 Accord (60k miles) is occasionally losing coolant externally; > i.e. once in a while there is a small puddle (2 inches in diameter) on > the driveway; I can't seem to see where it's coming from. All hoses > appear to be in good shape; temp gauge remains the same as always > (just under half-way). When it is parked after driving, there is the > distinct odor of coolant, but can't find the source. Perhaps a pin- > hole leak in the rad or a hose? What about the rad cap - after 8 > years, should it be changed? > > Dealer ran a pressure test at last service in June and said all was > normal. Any ideas? > > Thanks! The easiest way to find the leaks is to look first thing in the morning after it sits all night. A leak this small will evaporate immediatly on a hot engine, but there should be a tell tale stain or even a wet spot on the engine/radiator/hose after it cools. If its the water pump, look for wetness at the bottom of the timing belt cover or the bottom of the crank pulley. This, of course, assumes the cap is still good and is holding pressure. If you are not finding anything in the morning, it might not be. 8 years is probably beyond the normal lifetime of a radiator cap. Try a new one, but don't be surprised if there is a catastrophic failure somewhere in the cooling system a couple of months after changing it because the weak point in the system will no longer be the cap. |
Re: Accord 2000 4 cyl. coolant leak
"aviatorc" <aviator.c@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:27eea7fa-9015-47dd-9b3e-547a51482c33@q35g2000hsg.googlegroups.com... > My 2000 Accord (60k miles) is occasionally losing coolant externally; > i.e. once in a while there is a small puddle (2 inches in diameter) on > the driveway; I can't seem to see where it's coming from. All hoses > appear to be in good shape; temp gauge remains the same as always > (just under half-way). When it is parked after driving, there is the > distinct odor of coolant, but can't find the source. Perhaps a pin- > hole leak in the rad or a hose? What about the rad cap - after 8 > years, should it be changed? I would suggest to wash your engine bay clean first. Next day after washing it you will see new stain, usually whitish color from the evaporated coolant. I keep my engine bay washed once/twice a year and all such small leaks are very apparent then on a clean engine body. |
Re: Accord 2000 4 cyl. coolant leak
On Oct 9, 1:21 pm, "Pszemol" <Psze...@PolBox.com> wrote:
> "aviatorc" <aviato...@gmail.com> wrote in message > > news:27eea7fa-9015-47dd-9b3e-547a51482c33@q35g2000hsg.googlegroups.com... > > > My 2000 Accord (60k miles) is occasionally losing coolant externally; > > i.e. once in a while there is a small puddle (2 inches in diameter) on > > the driveway; I can't seem to see where it's coming from. All hoses > > appear to be in good shape; temp gauge remains the same as always > > (just under half-way). When it is parked after driving, there is the > > distinct odor of coolant, but can't find the source. Perhaps a pin- > > hole leak in the rad or a hose? What about the rad cap - after 8 > > years, should it be changed? > > I would suggest to wash your engine bay clean first. > Next day after washing it you will see new stain, > usually whitish color from the evaporated coolant. > > I keep my engine bay washed once/twice a year > and all such small leaks are very apparent then > on a clean engine body. Thanks for all the suggestions; hadn't thought of the water pump weep hole; the pump was changed last winter along with the timing belt job; perhaps there's an issue with the new pump. Cheers, |
Re: Accord 2000 4 cyl. coolant leak
| 8 years is probably beyond the normal lifetime of a radiator
| cap. Then why service schedule does not specify when to change ? The rubber gasket of my radiator cap made by Toyo in 1990 is still fine. Leaky rubber is hard & has fine cracks, this gasket has no such cracks, neither do the rubber hoses made by Yamashita in 1990, all are still soft as new, on my F20A. |
Re: Accord 2000 4 cyl. coolant leak
On Oct 11, 2:31 am, "TE Chea" <4...@gmail.com> wrote:
> | 8 years is probably beyond the normal lifetime of a radiator > | cap. > Then why service schedule does not specify when to change ? > The rubber gasket of my radiator cap made by Toyo in 1990 > is still fine. Leaky rubber is hard & has fine cracks, this > gasket has no such cracks, neither do the rubber hoses made > by Yamashita in 1990, all are still soft as new, on my F20A. Its not the rubber that fails, its metal fatigue in the spring. As for why its not in the service schedule I can only guess that its considered a normal maintenance item, like checking the air in the tires & checking the level of the oil. I am fairly certain that if you pull the cap from any random 8 year old car on the street and test it, the probability is high you will find it is not holding specified pressure. |
Re: Accord 2000 4 cyl. coolant leak
"e.meyer" <epmeyer50@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:dbaaf937-cf13-4c1b-81f4-34abfff6727b@u57g2000hsf.googlegroups.com... > On Oct 11, 2:31 am, "TE Chea" <4...@gmail.com> wrote: >> | 8 years is probably beyond the normal lifetime of a radiator >> | cap. >> Then why service schedule does not specify when to change ? >> The rubber gasket of my radiator cap made by Toyo in 1990 >> is still fine. Leaky rubber is hard & has fine cracks, this >> gasket has no such cracks, neither do the rubber hoses made >> by Yamashita in 1990, all are still soft as new, on my F20A. > > Its not the rubber that fails, its metal fatigue in the spring. As > for why its not in the service schedule I can only guess that its > considered a normal maintenance item, like checking the air in the > tires & checking the level of the oil. I am fairly certain that if > you pull the cap from any random 8 year old car on the street and test > it, the probability is high you will find it is not holding specified > pressure. Also, there might be some catastrophic failure of the cap like the leak to the overflow bottle (bleeder fallen off?) and then you have no pressure in the system, at all... This is what has happened to my cap at my 1995 camry. New cap at the local toyota dealership was only $19... |
Re: Accord 2000 4 cyl. coolant leak
e.meyer wrote:
> On Oct 11, 2:31�am, "TE Chea" <4...@gmail.com> wrote: >> | 8 years is probably beyond the normal lifetime of a radiator >> | cap. >> Then why service schedule does not specify when to change ? >> The rubber gasket of my radiator cap made by Toyo in 1990 >> is still fine. �Leaky rubber is hard & has fine cracks, this >> gasket has no such cracks, neither do the rubber hoses made >> by Yamashita in 1990, all are still soft as new, on my F20A. > > Its not the rubber that fails, its metal fatigue in the spring. not true. or at least, spring failure is very rare compared to rubber failure. older cars, rubber failure is pretty much certain. > As > for why its not in the service schedule I can only guess that its > considered a normal maintenance item, like checking the air in the > tires & checking the level of the oil. I am fairly certain that if > you pull the cap from any random 8 year old car on the street and test > it, the probability is high you will find it is not holding specified > pressure. |
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:53 AM. |
© 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands