I have a 1996 Honda Accord 4 cyl. with 150 K miles. Had a coolant leak that the shop fixed. About 60 days later, same problem. I have to refill radiator every other day. What I noticed is a brown soft muck buildup at the radiator cap area. Also the car seems to run rough on and off. The underside of the oil cap is clean, no carmel color ( oil and coolant mixture) buildup. Any thuoghts on what is the cause and fix would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Has the radiator cap been replaced? And what color is the coolant that’s left in the car on the 2nd day?
I’m pretty sure 96 Hondas use plastic radiators - you can’t really fix them well but they need replacing after a while. Did he replace the radiator or use some sort of stop leak additive?
The radiator is an aluminum core with plastic end caps. The rubber seal between the end caps and the core will eventually leak, best bet is to replace the radiator. Be sure to replace the cap at the same time.
Also look for a leak under your distributor. There is an o-ring on the outside of the distributer where it enters the engine that is prone to leaking oil. The oil drips down onto the heater hose just below it causing the rubber to get soft and swell, and eventually leak.
Check your transmission fluid while you are at it, it is remotely possible that the transmission cooling lines located in the bottom tank of your radiator might leak and coolant gets into your transmission. Not good for the transmission.
I’d first off just replace the radiator cap. That might fix it. The seals can degrade and leak over time. If that didn’t fix it, and there wasn’t anything else obviously wrong from a visual inspection, I’d take the car to my local radiator shop (not a vanilla auto repair shop) and have them take a look at it. They deal with this kind of problem every day.
Meanwhile, keep an eye on the temp guage when you drive. If it goes into the overheating zone, stop driving straight away and turn the engine off. Turning on the passenger compartment heater to full hot and the heater fan to max will give you some engine cooling, might save the motor, if you aren’t able to stop immediately.
The running rough on and off may or may not be related. If the car isn’t overheating, probably a different problem. Is all the routine maintenance suggested in the owner’s manual up to date?
I believe it’s false logic to fix a 17 year old radiator (assuming you still have the original one).
I have had numerous cars over the years. And I’ve noticed that after about 15 years or so, the plastic radiator tanks would crack.
So unless you had the plastic tanks replaced, its best days are behind it.
For my radiator needs, I have been buying radiators from a local, “mom and pop” radiator shop.
All they do is sell radiators. They are always considerably cheaper than any of the name brand parts stores, and they have always had what I need in stock.