I have a 97 Honda Accord, it has 220,000 miles on it. I got it for free (inherited). It was driven for 220,000 miles all in AZ, where it never got below 40 degrees. Mechanic looked at down there and said just keep an eye on the oil and power steering fluid. So no real problems when it left Arizona.
The car has now been been in Utah for less than a week, all fluids were filled at drop off and only been driven 158 miles (I zeroed at fill up upon arrival) since it has been here . It has over heated 3 times, all while driving within two miles of my home. It makes me wonder how it made the trip from AZ.
Problem 1- The temp gauge won't read hot, but white smoke from burning antifreeze is visible (smells sweet), I check the fluid when engine is cold it takes less than two cups (two funnels worth is too much). This happened three times. All within a two miles of my home, so round trip that.
Problem 2- While driving the temp gauge will go from near bottom (cold) to hot in five seconds, and then back down to cold again just as fast. It does this frequently while driving, but white smoke is never visible. Turning on the heat/air when car is idling makes the gauge read cool, as does turning, slowing down, or for no reason at all. Again I can't even get two funnels of fluid in it when I check the coolant.
Problem 3- I had the car in park and the engine was revving up and down between 2&5, it only happened on two occassions. I made sure I was in gear.
The car
Its a 1997 Honda Accord (automatic) with 220,000 miles on it. It has never been in "cold" weather until now. All the fluids are fine when checked. I can't see any leaks while engine is on or off, but there will be a little puddle (maybe the size of an 8X10) of the antifreeze where car was parked. but only sometimes. I put cardboard down to check, its not very much.
Engine runs louder than I expect is normal, but only sometimes, like when its colder, maybe an over revved sound, other times is normal.
The fan itself is loud but it only stays on for a few minutes after engine has been running, and turns off within 5 minutes, sooner if we pop the hood to see what is going on.
After first smoke incident we went out after checking and finding no problem and thus assuming the smoke was from fluid when filled upon arrival on the engine block (he didnt use a funnel) . It made it 80+ miles RT without any hassle, running pretty constant for 65-70 of those miles at one time. Drove it two short trips no problems. Second smoke incident the engine kept revving in park so we didn't do our errands. It was then drove a few more times further distances with no problems, other than the engine revving another time but no smoke this time. But then on my most recent less than two mile adventure I had white smoke, not hot reading. I let the car sit for two hours while I shopped. I returned to the car, it looked like I dripped less than 10 drops. I had no smoke, but temp gauge did the flux thing on the way home, the cap was cool to touch. Waited an hour, no new leaking fluid.
I wonder how much the cold has to do with it, or if the car is just dying.
Any diagnostics?
So I don't know if it is really over-heating or just smoking or not reading properly at all. The one time it stayed on HOT, the cap was cool to the touch.
I bought a Honda before with 318,000 thousand miles on it do the smoke thing for about the last 20, 000 miles, but only when it was really cold, and on really long trips, but it never over heated. It finally died when it blew a head gasket at about 370,000 miles.
The car has now been been in Utah for less than a week, all fluids were filled at drop off and only been driven 158 miles (I zeroed at fill up upon arrival) since it has been here . It has over heated 3 times, all while driving within two miles of my home. It makes me wonder how it made the trip from AZ.
Problem 1- The temp gauge won't read hot, but white smoke from burning antifreeze is visible (smells sweet), I check the fluid when engine is cold it takes less than two cups (two funnels worth is too much). This happened three times. All within a two miles of my home, so round trip that.
Problem 2- While driving the temp gauge will go from near bottom (cold) to hot in five seconds, and then back down to cold again just as fast. It does this frequently while driving, but white smoke is never visible. Turning on the heat/air when car is idling makes the gauge read cool, as does turning, slowing down, or for no reason at all. Again I can't even get two funnels of fluid in it when I check the coolant.
Problem 3- I had the car in park and the engine was revving up and down between 2&5, it only happened on two occassions. I made sure I was in gear.
The car
Its a 1997 Honda Accord (automatic) with 220,000 miles on it. It has never been in "cold" weather until now. All the fluids are fine when checked. I can't see any leaks while engine is on or off, but there will be a little puddle (maybe the size of an 8X10) of the antifreeze where car was parked. but only sometimes. I put cardboard down to check, its not very much.
Engine runs louder than I expect is normal, but only sometimes, like when its colder, maybe an over revved sound, other times is normal.
The fan itself is loud but it only stays on for a few minutes after engine has been running, and turns off within 5 minutes, sooner if we pop the hood to see what is going on.
After first smoke incident we went out after checking and finding no problem and thus assuming the smoke was from fluid when filled upon arrival on the engine block (he didnt use a funnel) . It made it 80+ miles RT without any hassle, running pretty constant for 65-70 of those miles at one time. Drove it two short trips no problems. Second smoke incident the engine kept revving in park so we didn't do our errands. It was then drove a few more times further distances with no problems, other than the engine revving another time but no smoke this time. But then on my most recent less than two mile adventure I had white smoke, not hot reading. I let the car sit for two hours while I shopped. I returned to the car, it looked like I dripped less than 10 drops. I had no smoke, but temp gauge did the flux thing on the way home, the cap was cool to touch. Waited an hour, no new leaking fluid.
I wonder how much the cold has to do with it, or if the car is just dying.
Any diagnostics?
So I don't know if it is really over-heating or just smoking or not reading properly at all. The one time it stayed on HOT, the cap was cool to the touch.
I bought a Honda before with 318,000 thousand miles on it do the smoke thing for about the last 20, 000 miles, but only when it was really cold, and on really long trips, but it never over heated. It finally died when it blew a head gasket at about 370,000 miles.