Menu
What's new
By:
Advanced search...

My problems in one thread

A

ATR888

Members
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Location
LONDON
Car
Accord type r
I want to try and tackle as much of my problems about my ATR on this one thread as possible.

1. When I start my car in the morning and its cold, the temperature gauge goes up much quicker than normal, but the heat blower is still cold, anyone know why that is?

2. I've topped up coolant in the radiator as well as the reservoir about a week or 2 ago, and all the coolant in the reservoir is gone, obviously in the radiator, but is it drinking more than it should?

3. When my car is warmed up after a good 10mins drive, my car feels really rough, there is a few rough spots when accelerating, is there anything I can do to get it a bit smoother?, I read some guys have it remapped and its smoother and get mpg, at the mo i get around 220 for a full tank.

4. I've got a oil leak some where in the engine and I can't pin point where its coming from, I'm guessing its around the inlet manifold area, as I don't see any leaks around the sides nor around the exhaust manifold area. Every morning when I move my car, there's a little tiny puddle of oil there.

Thanks for any advance given.
 
1 and 2 could very well be related. Under normal circumstances your coolant level shouldn't change. If it has dropped you need to top it back up and also find out where it has gone.
If the engine is low on coolant the temperature gauge will rise quicker and the heater also won't work very well. If you keep driving it with low coolant you could do further damage.
 
Thanks for reply Dave, I check my coolant every 2-3 days and it dosent need that much filling up on the radiator but needs filling up the reservoir. How can I check where th coolant is disappearing to?
 
I recommend you find the water leak. It should not be loosing water. Find that leak.

Check around the radiator and maybe even have a head gasket test to see if the coolant is contaminated with exhaust gas
 
if you have to keep topping up with water and if there is definitely no water leaking out, then the head gasket has gone, the water is getting into one or more cylinders and going out the exhaust, and the engine will run rough.

If it is the head gasket, it will gradually get worse, until one morning you come out and the engine won't even rotate on the starter, because one cylinder is full with water, and hydro-locked.
 
What condition is your oil in, dipstick and under cap? How much oil is a little puddle thats leaking, are you topping up frequently too?. There could be a leak from the filter which is around that area.

What like is the exhaust smoke at startup?

Is the car overheating aswell or is temp just rising quickly?
 
The oil is clean with a touch of black, dipstick seems and under cap seems ok, no signs of water or chip fat looking gunk. I'm not topping up oil much, everything 2-3 months, the puddle of oil is around a handspan round size puddle,so it's not loads. the exhaust smoke when started up is white smoke. My car isn't overheating at all just the temperature gauge rises quicker than normal.

Hope I covered all your questions, it was a quick reply before work
 
About 20 years ago I had a car that I had to keep topping up with water. In the beginning, never any water in the oil.

As it got worse, I had to put water in more frequently, and eventually there were signs of water in the oil.

It got so bad that I had to put water in at least once a week, and I ran it like that for two years, eventually traded it in at a dealer for a new car. Got a good trade-in, felt sorry for the dealer not knowing about the head gasket :lol:

I'm not saying it is the gasket, but it does sound similar. Maybe do as suggested in post #4.
 
How do I go about checking the head gasket? And how hard is it to replace? I knw the heads got to come off, but how many hours can it take?
 
you can use something like this to test
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-Block-Tester-Kit-Fluid-for-Head-Gaskets-Cylinder-Heads-BT500-/

Block tester Kit detects exhaust gases in the radiator and so checks for gasket damage, cracked or warped cylinder head. When fluid turns from blue to yellow a combustion leak is present. The kit is supplied with a bottle of test fluid which works well on petrol engines. For those who require a more sensitive fluid for checking diesel engines use L7573 indicator fluid, which changes from red to yellow in the presence of combustion gases.

I've never done it myself, I think you have to get the air from the coolant expansion tank into the fluid.

Regarding head gasket replacement, the difficulty of taking off the head varies from engine to engine. I've only done it on older cars with "dry liners", the car that I had 20 years ago had "wet liners", which is why I never did the head gasket and got rid of the car to a dealer.

I have no idea if the engine in your car is wet-liner or dry-liner. If it's dry-liner it can't get too complicated, the main problem with Over-Head-Cam engines is making sure that the valve timing is correct when the head is put back on. But with a lot of engines, undoing the exhaust manifold nuts can also be swear-word time.

But wet-liner engine can become a nightmare once the head has been removed, sometimes one or more liners move slightly, and then it's OMG swear-words big time.


edit: here is a test on youtube, he's got something to draw the air up into the test liquid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjUkh7SZu5c
 
I'd go down the 'sniffer' route like above, you can also get UV dye to put in the coolant that will leave dye traces behind which are revealed when shining a UV light on it.


For example, this kit has fluids to cover all aspects of leaks (not just coolant)

http://www.amazon.com/Spectronics-TP8621-LeakFinder-Conditioner-Detection/dp/B0021UXUSQ/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1421316262&sr=8-10

61bXQL%2BedWL._SL1067_.jpg
 
For the last one, number 4, my bet would be on the crank seals, mine was leaking from there as well, and its quite normal for them to fail at around 80k, they should ideally be replaced when changing the timing belt. Check the timing belt area underneath and around that area for oil. Worth changing the cam seals too.
 
Just got around to purchasing a block tester and gona have to wait a few days hopefully for it to be delivered. If the test does come back reading I've got a bad head gasket, I will then need one, but where's the best place for me to order one?

Also the crank seal, if it is leaking oil there, how big of a job is it? What needs to come out to get the new seal in? Is it a big job?
 
Not a huge job, to get to it you need to remove everything around the timing belt area and then of course remove the timing belt and re do it all, the actual seal installation is easy stuff. Personally didn't do it myself due to time and space constrictions, if you have your own driveway and time on your hands, you can do it yourself, the hardest part looked like getting the crank bolt off. Mechanic should charge ~£120.
 
I haven't read the entire thread sorry but my 2cents, you have a sticking thermostat and the system is pressurising and dumping the water out or you have a leak.

Head gasket failures have a few other symptoms too and I would say that is worst case scenario.
 
Ok I've decided to go down the route of buying a gasket and seal kit for my car, the kits consist of the head gasket, intake and exhaust manifold gasket, and a few other gaskets and seals, its going to be a long day, but I have a mate willing to lend a hand, so hopefully some time will be cut. Anything I should be aware of, any tips or any sort of advice you guys can give me before I start this job? Man I love getting my hands dirty...now how many of you guys minds just drifted, lol
 
I'm inclined to agree with Fahad on this one, I wouldn't be so quick to diagnose the head gasket. Not without a hydrocarbon sniffer test and compression test first. Also, the H22 is a strong engine in that respect, I'm on a Prelude forum as well as this one and I think I've only heard of 2 head gasket failures on Preludes in the few years I've been active there.

There is a hose on the back of the block which goes to the heater matrix iirc, this is a known weak point on older Preludes and often leaks when pressurised, although not in vast enough amounts to be noticeable other than loosing coolant over time.

I'd check the condition of all of your hoses first, look for crystallisation etc. as signs of a leak where rubber may be perished.

After that, as Fahad says swap out the thermostat, I can't say I've done one on a Honda but they're normally a fairly cheap part.

Something else that might be a consideration is that maybe the previous owner did a coolant change but didn't bleed the system properly? An air lock could cause your temp gauge to do all kinds of weird things, as well as cause dodgy running.

Also I can't remember if the Accord has an FITV, but on Preludes if this is set up incorrectly it can cause all kinds of weird running problems.

I could well be wrong and it could be the head gasket, but I'd definitely be looking at the cheap/simple fixes first before tearing apart an engine that I hadn't got a proper diagnosis on...
 
I have mate who went through something similar on his civic, did everything including the heater matrix unit.. But not the easiest thing first.. The thermostat!
 
Looking at your original post, I would say that points 1 and 2 are definitely linked, and sometimes rough running can be attributable to a faulty coolant temp sensor, although in this case more likely to be a sticking throttle butterfly.

Before attempting a major job like a head gasket, replace your thermostat and also coolant temp sensor (both cheap and easy parts).

Give the system a flush and refill with the right volume of coolant. Make sure the system is bled fully and whilst you are bleeding have a good look around for any leaks as the system pressurises.

You can also buy a pressurising tool that builds vacuum pressure in your coolant system to help identify any leaks.

If you end up doing the head gasket it's an almost pointless exercise if you aren't having the head skimmed and pressure tested by a proper engine grinder/rebuilder.
 
definitely never do a head gasket on any car unless and until you are 100% certain that it needs doing
 
Ok I'm going to get a new thermostat and temp sensor and see how that, if the temp sensor wasn't working, wouldn't I get a EML come on, on the dash?
 
On a more modern ecu yes but not always. It may be working but not optimally and for the low cost
It's worth changing.
 
I had another look under my car today and I see oil on the floor again!!!! checking the level of engine oil, and all seems good, with the oil level being where it should be, so I'm guessing its not the oil now, and thinking its the transmission oil, only because I've replaced the cv joints on both side of my car, and had to take off the driveshafts out of gearbox to angle grind the old cv joint out, as it was stuck in there good and proper, so am I missing something when putting the driveshafts back in? As its leaking fluid.
 
I think you're supposed to replace the seals where the shafts go into the gearbox
 
did you fit new snap rings when you refitted the driveshafts? tbh as long as the drive shafts are in and secure I doubt you have a leak from there.

If I had to take a punt I'd say it's the seal inside the oil cooler ***embly, they're known for failing on the H22.
 
I didn't fit a new snap ring in, as the old one was still good, and didnt need replacing, and the shaft goes back in nicely, and secure.

Where can I locate the oil cooler ***embly?

Is replacing the seals where the shafts meets gearbox a easy job?
 
There is an oil cooler on the automatic gearbox, but not on the manual gearbox.

I've checked ......Good news: the seals wouldn't normally require replacement unless they were slightly warped or damaged during shaft removal or during re-insert of shaft. Bad news: if one or both seals needs renewal, the gearbox has to come out.


edit: bad news is wrong .......going by the Honda DVD, if one or both seals needs renewal you have to get at the inside of the diff housing to push the seal(s) out, the inside of the housing may be accessible by removing the end of the gearbox, leaving the bell housing (clutch) still in place. BUT, going by a Haynes manual, you can lever the seals out from outside the diff housing i.e. with entire gearbox in place (which is what I originally thought, and AFAIK seal replacement is a good idea whenever you re-insert driveshafts).
 
Sorry, I wasn't talking about transmission oil :p there is an engine oil cooler on the H22, above the oil filter. There is a seal inside this which is known to leak with age. I'll have to look it up as I've not had this problem myself, but I know of a fair few who have.
 
^ but he says the engine oil level is ok, and now thinks it's transmission oil because he had the driveshafts out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top