Overflow tank bubbles and makes a weird noise.

[ahmad89]

My overflow tank starts to boil and smoke while im driving it doesnt effect my car its just annoying seeing smoke and hearing the weird noise it makes. Would emptying it out fix this?

[kcaudill]

Your car is overheating and boiling over into the overflow, or you have alot of air in your cooling system

[Pico]

I agree
Your overheating or air in the system, but if it just started check you thermostat first.
What does your temperture guage read at?

[ahmad89]

hard to tell if my car is overheating the gauge doesnt work properly, it moves to H then back to middle, im going to flush it out hopefuly this weekend. thanks man.

[2oodoor]

hard to tell if my car is overheating the gauge doesnt work properly, it moves to H then back to middle, im going to flush it out hopefuly this weekend. thanks man.
If it is boiling, you have a problem , serious problem.
very much big biga problem

replace thermostat
check for coolant leaks around waterpump,radiator, hoses
check engine fan operation, fan relay condition, connections at sensor on bottom of radiator
Note: if you have proper antifreeze mixture, it should not boil whatsoever, because antifreeze is also antiboil, so if it is churning in the overflow bottle even though you have antifreeze right, that means you are beyond overheating and engine head damage most likely will occur.

[ghettogeddy]

yes change thermastate and check hoses for blockage then take to of the red pills and call in the morning

[2oodoor]

My overflow tank starts to boil and smoke while im driving it doesnt effect my car its just annoying seeing smoke and hearing the weird noise it makes. Would emptying it out fix this?
reminds me of a very old cartoon, the misadventures of Mr. Magoo
Mr. Magoo for those who are not familiar, other than his outtake on Scrooge, was a comedic and respectable person who unknown to him, was in constant danger from the world around him. He was nearsighted, he would walk out on the ledge of a 40 story building, demand service from a blood thirsty lion, and never have a clue of his near demise. Demise which lucky for him never happened partly because it was not meant to and partly because he was oblivious to the problem. Problems that had he known existed, could hurt him because of his reactions to it. I miss some of the old cartoons of the sevanties.

The whole premise of even owning a Honda is trouble free driving, never having to worry constantly about what is going on under the hood. Honda has gone out of it's way to make that happen but sometimes these systems of operation do fail, and when they do it can get complicated. Really beyond what the owner even needs to know, because the owner bought a Honda, they have more important things to do than work on their car, they have other business or talent that contributes to modern day convienience. We have a great community resource here for 3rd Gen Honda owners and entheusists, not all of us can do our own work or do we have to, or want to. I work on cars for a living, and I bought my Honda with no intentions of ever laying a wrench on it, I usually hate working on my own cars. After working all day on other peoples shit boxes, the last thing I want to do is go home and do it more. So my Honda turned out to be a POS, pain in the ass to work on... so I corrected that problem, I made it very simple to work on by educating myself how it works and modifiying it to meet my needs. I can not afford to pay someone else to keep my cars going, nor do I trust anybody to do it either, so....yea, and I have tryed more than once to relegate that and relearned how it is, true there are a lot of crooks in our business, and money for nothing procedures. Move ahead carefully.

If you got your Honda for trouble free driving , and the bitch is giving you all kinds of trouble. Take a serious, all you got effort to learn how it works, get a good job so you can pay somebody else to worry about it, or Get Rid of the Piece of Shit while you can still get something for it.

[ahmad89]

thank you all i will take you advice into consideration, i will flush it out and see if the proplem comes back.
Also i forgot to add that a few days ago my brother added water to the radiator, im sure that theres more in the tank cause my brother added more water to it, i will empty it out today and see what happens.

[shepherd79]

flushing out won't help.
your car is overheating. you need to replace the thermostat. it is 10 minute job.
Drain all the coolant from radiator, and overflow tanks. flush it with regular water. Make sure they are empty.
replace thermostat, and fill it with new coolant mixture 50/50 works fine.
with radiator cap off, start the car and let it run. top it off with more coolant if needed.
put the radiator cap back on and let it idle untill fans come on.
follow Shop manual for air bleed procedure.

[ahmad89]

wheres the thermostat? also dam i need to buy some coolant, the radiator holds 2 gallons right?

[MessyHonda]

wheres the thermostat? also dam i need to buy some coolant, the radiator holds 2 gallons right?

do you still have the manual that i sent you over aim? it should be in the termostat housing next to the dizzy.

[w261w261]

Ahmad, from all your posts it seems like you have a fairly maintenance-challenged car, and so there's probably a lot for you to do to get it up to where it will be a dependable source of transportation. You will learn as you go from the members here, who are very generous with their time and knowledge. But you need to do your part in this. If someone sends you a copy of the shop manual, use it to do some research. Search this site. Most of the questions you have been asking have been answered multiple times before....multiple times. Right now, your car is ahead of you, and what you need to do is get out in front of it. This means fixing stuff before it breaks, and when it does break making it +your+ business to understand the system you are working on, so you can not only repair what's wrong, but do some preventative work. Right now you're into the cooling system...when it's over you should know what and where the thermostat is, maybe replaced it, you should know how to purge the air from the system via the bleed valve, and you should have inspected the cooling hoses to make sure they aren't about to go on you. You should know how to check the level of fluid in the bottle, which isn't so easy, because it's down low and probably dirty on the inside.

All of this may seem overwhelming if you don't have much experience or time or money, but unless you can afford a newer or better-shape car, it's what you have to do. Stuff like..."I don't really mind the smoke and gurgling from under the hood," well, common sense says there's something wrong there, and you're the one needs to find out. Ignoring stuff like that is how you go from ridin' to walkin'.

It's not so bad, just keep plugging away. But most of it has to be up to you.

[BITESIZE]

Thermostat needs a good replacing!

[ahmad89]

ok how about yall stop telling me to use the manual or the search engine and just help out, I have been researching the manual and i looked at the other post about the overflow tank but it was about the radiator and wasnt the same as my issue, but i now understand that yall think its my thermostat. Now i have a much bigger issue.

well the car this morning was low on oil somehow cause i heard a metal to metal sound and then the oil light came on, when i was trying to park in my space at school the car died when i would put it in gear with the oil light on. Today after school i got some oil and filled it up, when i start it theres ALOT of white smoke comming from the exhaust and from under the engine. I just need to get it to a mechanic but im scared it will die on me in the middle of the road.

[POS carb]

I think you have a blown headgasket
usually you'll see bubbles in the coolant, sometimes the water or the oil mix, and the temp gauge will act funny (it'll go slightly up and down at random) and your idle sometimes suffers. The worst cases will smoke out the rear...
drain your oil and your water, refill, drive around and check for cross-contamination

thermostat issues rarely arise and when they do it's usually on highway trips

[POS carb]

oh sorry... to find the t-stat, follow the fat hose from the top of the radiator to where is meets the engine. This is the thermostat housing and you can identify it b/c it has a 12mm nut on top with a nipple in it... the t-stat is sandwitched between this piece of metal and the cylinder head.

there are two 10mm bolts that go horizontally (from left to right) and they bolt this housing to the engine, remove the two bolts and the housing can be pulled away from the engine. the t-stat is inside, replace it and the gasket (<$10 for both). note the position!

[ahmad89]

i think its a gasket too cause when i looked under the now a few min ago i saw an oil spot but it was past the oil pan and looked like its either behind the engine or past it.

[shepherd79]

if you blew your headgasket which is MOST likely. just open the radiator cap and look for oil spots or oil film.
you can also check the color of the oil with dip stick. black or clear oil is normal. any brown color you are done.

since you heard metal to metal, i say your main bearing are gone. you need a new engine for sure. good luck with that.

[POS carb]

hi ahmad, oil leaks are not always indicative of a problem, just a bad seal.
The headgasket however is a very important seal because it 1) seals the combustion chamber and cylinders (almost 200 PSI just from the compression stroke, plus all the stresses of the actual explosion), it also has to b) seal the water passages between the block and the cylinder head and c) seal the oil passages between the block and the cylinder head.

If any of these three functions fail the gasket is useless. The engine will still run but it will be noticably affected and will behave quite differently depending on what actually broke. to me it sounds like there is a break between the water passages and a cylinder. This will cause bubbling coolant, white smoke, crappy idle, and the spark plugs will get a white hard film on them. Not all symptoms will always present themselves but chances are this is what you are facing.
to check for sure you can try this
check the engine compression. with a compression gauge in the spark plug hole you can figure out if any of your cylinders are excessively low pressure (bad seal)
pressurize the cooling system to check for leaks... you'll probably have to go to a shop that specializes in cooling systems and have them do a leakdown test. basically they add compressed air to the system and see if it holds pressure. In a good system it should stay steady.

check out your engine oil, if the coolant is getting in there the oil will look like chocolate milk. if the oil is getting into the coolant you'll see some fatty stuff floating around the radiator and there will be a layer stuck to the inside of the radiator cap.

[ahmad89]

thank you POS carb and everyone else who has helped me and sorry for my other post i was just really frustrated and angry cause this is the 2nd car that has messed up on me and its really annoying spending all this time and effort i put into this car to get it running better and then in the end it just craps out on me.

[reanimator420]

welcome to the world of 3g accords friend lol

[ahmad89]

thx man and the smoke went away while me and my bro were driving it to a shop that the guy was suppose to leave us the key to put the car in the back, the smoke stopped but the overflow tank keeps boiling and smoking and the car keeps shutting off, the problem that it was smoking because i had too much oil, stupid me:bong: tomorrow my bro is gonna take it to the shop and have them check it out.

[shepherd79]

thank you POS carb and everyone else who has helped me and sorry for my other post i was just really frustrated and angry cause this is the 2nd car that has messed up on me and its really annoying spending all this time and effort i put into this car to get it running better and then in the end it just craps out on me.

No offence, but you killed the car. if you would check the oil and coolant ones in a while, that car may still be alive.
the way you ask all the questions, it is like you have no idea where all the things are under the hood.
My best friend, he is blind from birth, can find the thermostat on anycar with his 2 hands.

I think you need to rething about fixing your own cars. May be you should let someone who know a little more do the work on them. they may last longer. that is just my 2 cents.

[Remedy]

Headgasket

Goodluck

[Tecknixia]

No doubt the headgasket is blown. If it keeps overheating like that you could, and might already have warped the head. The oil light came on with a metal to metal sound? ... hmm, sounds like your best bet is to buy a new engine... or another car. Sorry :(

[88Accord-DX]

For those not familar with Mr. Magoo.

http://www.toontracker.com/magoo/mrmagoo1.jpg


Well, a bad water pump can cause the water to boil too, along with clogged radiator, thermostat, head gasket. Without a pressure tester to hook up to the radiator cap opening, take it to a shop without all the wild guesses.

[ahmad89]

yea its at a shop right now and my dad will change the radiator and pumps

[njpeter]

ahhhh..better do a cooling system leakdown test first..my swag is the headgasket is going shortly after that the real fun begins

[2oodoor]

ahhhh..better do a cooling system leakdown test first..my swag is the headgasket is going shortly after that the real fun begins
No Doubt

I think he needs to get his flux capacitor in calibration before any accurate prognosis can be determined

[MessyHonda]

No Doubt
I think he needs to get his flux capacitor in calibration before any accurate prognosis can be determined

i got some accel wires in mine look at it http://www.genesbmx.com/Flux-Capacitor.jpg

[88Accord-DX]

I think he needs to get his flux capacitor in calibration before any accurate prognosis can be determined
Well, the flux capacitor may produce an invisible magnectic feild of protons & neutrons, in some cases causing free electrons in orbit that are not locked to protons. The conventional theory states that current flows from positve to negative, but calculations of the prognosis can be electron theory, which flows from negative to positive. Flux capacitors are highly sophisticated equiptment in finding leaks in the cooling system, depending on the induction, unlimited current flow & how much they absorb unwanted current flow. Hopefully they are integrated circuits with a powerfull enough amplifier to transpond accurate measurements.

[ahmad89]

wow this thread has gone from help to back to the future lol. I dont need help with this anymore it stopped after i took it to the shop.

[MessyHonda]

Well, the flux capacitor may produce an invisible magnectic feild of protons & neutrons, in some cases causing free electrons in orbit that are not locked to protons. The conventional theory states that current flows from positve to negative, but calculations of the prognosis can be electron theory, which flows from negative to positive. Flux capacitors are highly sophisticated equiptment in finding leaks in the cooling system, depending on the induction, unlimited current flow & how much they absorb unwanted current flow. Hopefully they are integrated circuits with a powerfull enough amplifier to transpond accurate measurements.


i used some Dynomat....keeps it nice and covered and i bust it out when a civic wants to race.

[2oodoor]

i used some Dynomat....keeps it nice and covered and i bust it out when a civic wants to race.
Ouch MH, well good thing you have your bases covered, you will be prepared when a member buys that 83 Civic on Ebay , you know the one, I have not been able to sleep at night scheming how to get it.

ddude2uc, excellant 'laymans terms' on explaining the diagnostic equipment, easy to understand. I actually had a use for that a few years ago when I installed the wrong water pump on a Ford (Flip Over Read Directions) , serpentine impellers went opposite directions creating a + current charge on the coolant, took out all sensors and ECU, blew 4 different heater cores,made the inside door hardware punch thru the metal in the doors, steering column caught on fire, and made the clear coat peel off.:Owned: