Crap. 3G Emergency! Please help me! Coolant gone, temp skyrocketing!

[89AccordResto]

Okay... I cannot answer too many questions, because I wasn't there. My wife was driving my 3G today to and from work (it's 15 miles away). The waterpump had been making a little noise last weekend, but nothing too serious. Anyway, this is her story as I walk in the door, so this is all I know:

"Honey! I was driving home and I noticed that the car wasn't making much heat, and I looked at the temperature gauge and it was all the way tot hte top! So I was 2 blocks from home so I drove it home, and then parked it!"

"Also, it wasn't making much heat this morning, but it did make some"

"No it wasn't making funny noises"

"I don't know how long it was in the red zone of the temp levels because I wasn't paying attention"

Okay. So. I went outside, and there was a tiny puddle of indeterminate substance beneath the car, about the size of apple. It was on the drivers side of the car, under the engine. It was brownish like oil, but it might have been coolant that seeped down on the moist '230,000 mile' honda rust protection block (my car doesn't burn oil, but the engine has always been a little wet underneath whenever I change it, which I do ever 3500-5000 miles.). So I pop the hood. I check the oil, which was my biggest concern. Oil is fine. Little low, but well above the 'add' mark. So I check the coolant. Wait. No. I can't because it's impossible to fucking see in that stupid location they put the coolant bottle levels at. It LOOKS like there is coolant in between the two lines on teh bottle, but I really can't tell. I'm using a flashlight, and the bottle is dirty. I squeeze the upper radiator house, and I don't feel coolant in it. I squeeze hte bottom one, it feels a little more firm. I pop the radiator cap, and I don't see any coolant...but I've never checked since I had the radiator replaced so I'm not sure how full they originally put it.

Seeing that the oil was fine, and that any overheating damage had already been done, I started the car. It started fine. It sounded okay. I went outside to hear the engine. There's definitely some weirdish noise coming from the driver's side of the engine, seeming from down near the bottomish. Is the water pump on the bottom of the block?

If the waterpump failed... ... well.. no. How CAN a waterpump fail? I mean, it just started recently making a little noise, but can the impeller just disintegrate or something? Can it leak coolant somehow? Or maybe it's not the waterpump. Anyone have any tips for figuring out wtf just happened?

Thanks dudes! 3geez forever. We've had ours for like 80,000 miles and it's been a peach.

[ghettogeddy]

well mine went out what happens is the bariings go bad and u cant quiet replace them so it sounds like u need a new pump they not expencive but they can be a bitch to change mine took me like 4-5 hours to do

[B16KILLA]

Well the water pump isnt on the bottom of the engine, it's right next to the alterator.Sorry to hear about your prob, hopefully theres not much damage done. Try changing the waterpump, but they do fail more than you think either the impeller,gasket or bearings.

[white ricer]

your lucky the head didnt crack. for sure your problem is the pump the bearing goes bad and makes a whining noise. its amazing how long a car will run with no collant without "major" damage, drove a 76 datsun for a half hour with out it, runs just fine.

[89AccordResto]

Well the water pump isnt on the bottom of the engine, it's right next to the alterator.Sorry to hear about your prob, hopefully theres not much damage done. Try changing the waterpump, but they do fail more than you think either the impeller,gasket or bearings.

Yeah I'm not sure it's the bottom of the engine making niose. It's just that side. So it might be the pump. I'm going to drive it to someplace to get some coolant, add a bunch, and see if it's leaking anywhere. Wish me luck.

peace

[B16KILLA]

Good Luck,

[AC439]

I'd suggest to at least top off coolant before you start driving. Maybe better to just top it off, place a clean big piece of cardboard under the engine, start the car and watch if there is steam coming out from a leaking hose. Check the cardboard and see if fluid dripping on it. Don't forget to check the two hoses connecting to the heater core. I had mine blew while I was driving. Driving without coolant circulating may allow some part of the engine reach a very high temp and may even cause more problems.

[Toneloc5145]

Im thinking its the water pump. When my water pump went out(the bearing), it made a weird metal on metal scraping noise that gradually became louder as we drove the car.

[B16KILLA]

Im thinking its the water pump. When my water pump went out(the bearing), it made a weird metal on metal scraping noise that gradually became louder as we drove the car.

Understanable, and I agree, in which this also creates a coolant leak

[89AccordResto]

I'd suggest to at least top off coolant before you start driving. Maybe better to just top it off, place a clean big piece of cardboard under the engine, start the car and watch if there is steam coming out from a leaking hose. Check the cardboard and see if fluid dripping on it. Don't forget to check the two hoses connecting to the heater core. I had mine blew while I was driving. Driving without coolant circulating may allow some part of the engine reach a very high temp and may even cause more problems.

I didn't have any, but the gas station was only a few blocks away and hte car was cold, so it couldn't overheat. Yeah, it was way low on coolant, so I added a bunch. drove it 20 miles or so. Seems to be okay, and showed the wife how to add coolant til this weekend. Rockauto has waterpumps for $22.75.

Woot.

Any tips for replacing waterpumps? I noticed a big ... something is kinda in the way. A big circular conical thing with a wire coming out of it. Whatever the hell that thing is. Can you remove that to help get at the pump?

[89AccordResto]

Also, is there anything else I should replace along with teh waterpump?

[NXRacer]

the only bitch about the job is getting the pump off the stud thats covered by the timing belt cover. I usually just pry the shit out of the plastic t-belt cover. So far i havent broke one, but if you're uber worried about it, you can go to the huge hassle of unbolting the thing all around.

As for your water pump going out, the bearings and everythinig can be in perfect condition, but when you pull it out, it looks like this:


my car was doing the exact same thing as you explained Resto. And ^^^ that is what i found when i pulled the WP.

[89AccordResto]

Holy shit. :| So is there a way to get more room to work on this thing by removing that big conical thing? Anyway, after I added more coolant and drove around the radiator and coolant hoses definitely got warm, so I don't think the pump's fins are totally gone like yours. I hope. :\ Where hte hell did they go? Do you still have that engine?

[NXRacer]

sure. they're made of aluminum so it just erodes away. If you're running hot and not feeling any heat out of the vents, its most likely because your water pump isn't moving any water.

[Blkblurr]

The puddle on the floor was probably rusty coolant from the WP. Some WP"S have a drain hole in them that allows coolant to flow out when the bearing is no longer good. It's a warning of sorts to tell you to change it.

[ghettogeddy]

ya and u might want to change yoour timing belt while your at it only if it needs to be done mine look farly new so it depends on if its been changed before or not

[89AccordResto]

sure. they're made of aluminum so it just erodes away. If you're running hot and not feeling any heat out of the vents, its most likely because your water pump isn't moving any water.

Nah, it was low on coolant. I dumped a bunch in.. and it's still leaking, but I have heat and it doesn't overheat. I'll put in a new pump this weekend. Anybody have any tricks? The honda manual I got from Paul's site just says "unbolt these here 5 bolts". Anything I need to watch out for? Can I leave the belt on the other pulleys?

[ghettogeddy]

yes u can leave the belt on but like i said u might want to change the timing belt while your at it cause your pritty much gonna take the timing belt cover off oh and there are a couple bolts that are a little tricky to get off but there not imposaple also spend the 20 bucks on a chiltins its worth it in the long run it will tell u how to take it out

[89AccordResto]

Thing is, I don't want to do the timing belt yet because I might build an engine for it soon. But you do have to remove the timing belt cover to get at it, I got that much. What about the cruise control stuff? Can I unbolt that to get a bit more room? Or is this car just a total pain in the ass to work on? Heh.

[ghettogeddy]

well i did it and the cruise control dident get in my way but if its in your's move it

[89AccordResto]

Fucking christ. Okay, my lady didn't fucking listen to me, and drove the car as it was hot for a minute to get off at the next exit, instead of pulling over immeadiatly and adding more coolant. She then proceeded to open the radiator CAP instead of the coolant resevoir, and it blew up in a big coolant explosion. She then calls me and tells me this, and I'm speechless. How fucking dumb do you have to be?! But anyway, she then added the coolant in the correct spot after I told her ... AGAIN, waht to do. So she filled it up, and now her car refuses to start. Apparently it got coolant everywhere. Is there anything she could have soaked to prevent it from starting?

Thanks guys.. jesus christ. I think I might not even fix the damn car, and get her a bicycle. Maybe she couldn't fuck that up.

[B16KILLA]

OMG man that sux so bad dude! She could've got a number of things wet that would cause the car not to start. Just go through everything while cleaning and drying it. Then try to start it. I understand what your going through, but after a few years of my gf doing stuff like this she's becoming very knowledgeable about cars in general. Just have patience with her, unless she's one of those girls who dont really want to listen what you have to say and just want you to fix it.Then I dont know what to tell you . Let me know how it turns out.

[Toneloc5145]

Wow man. That sucks. Looks like she got . Haha just playin. But seriously, I'm wondering how she got the cap off without burning herself. If the car was overheating, I know that cap was hot. And I'm also wondering how she didnt get hit with the coolant. She's 1 lucky woman. But man, best of luck to you. Keep us updated on this. This is very amusing.

[89AccordResto]

I'm not anywhere near the car. That's the problem. She's 20 miles away.

[chainz]

similar thing happened to the 88LXi I had from 2000-2002. I let my GF's friend drive it and the thermostat stuck - she drove it like 30 minutes with the temp gauge on max cause the dumb bitch 'thought it would be ok'.
i thought it just blew the head gasket and then later found out that she cracked the head!
I guess we can't expect women to listen to us when it comes to cars - we never listen when they about shit we don't care about.