This one is going to rawl ya up. I recently found out my motor mounts are bad. Almost a year ago I noticed I was leaking coolant so I just filled it with water every time it was empty. Now I have been getting an over heating problem if its not filled to the right amount. Just yesterday the problem got worse as there is green gunk at the opening of the radiator and its always hot. The reservoir is filling up with hot water alot of the time. My radiator will be empty when that happens. As I was driving the guage was reading hot. Turning on the heater didn’t help much.
I tested it tonight, with the radiator full and 2 cups water in reservoir. Drove it a few blocks and turned off car. Radiator had lots of pressure and hot. The reservoir was same level. What do I do at this point?
Rawl us up? I don’t think so.
Rawl you up? Maybe.
What year is your Legend? How many miles?
Is the thermostat working? Are the cooling fans working? Are you sure there’s not an air pocket in the cooling system? Is there an external coolant leak? Has your mechanic tested for a leaking head gasket? When you turn on the heater, do you get heat inside the car?
Answers, please?
No disrespect meant, but “radiator had lots of pressure and was reading hot, reservoire was same level” only means that the pressure had not reached the 15-16 psi rating of the radiator cap…or that the cap itself is bad. But your earlier commenst suggest that the cap is, in fact, allowing fluid to flow into the resrevoire when the cap’s limit is reached, so the cap may be good.
In truth, I think you should simply take ths vehicle to a reputable shop. Properly diagnosing the problem is going to require a good understanding fo how the system functions, and while I commend your efforts to figure it out, I fear the head will be warped before you do…if it isn’t already. I suspect that running it the past year simply refilling the coolant when it was empty has caused a breeched headgasket and maybe a warped head. Your description of your efforts this past year and the results suggest that your command of how cooling systems work is not going to lead you to a solution. I mean no disrespect, but I think your only hope is to get it to a shop.
With this description, a shop will probably start by checking for evidence of a headgasket leak. Until the status of that can be determined, doing any other work to the system would be fruitless.
Sincere best.
What I really want to know is what your recent find of the motor mounts being bad has anything to do with your radiator and cooling system having a severe enough leak to cause your car to overheat repeatedly for the past year…
BC.
I’m also wondering if when you’re saying that you’re adding “water” - do you literally mean “water?” Or are you really meaning to say a 50/50 coolant/water mix?
Of course, that doesn’t matter much. I think that mountainbike is exactly right.
You could check the radiator from the rear. If some of the fins between the tubes are rotted away, you might need a new radiator. You might have to move the radiator shroud to get a good look. 10% missing fins and it’s a definitely bad radiator. 5% and it should be changed. If there is white or green color on the radiator you probably just have to replace it without checking any further.
That might be a good point. It may be me rawled up. It’s a 91 lengend with 180K miles and I have not even checked the thermostat. I will check the cooling fans. I know for sure it had a leek from the radiator many months ago but now I cant find any evidence of that happening. Everything I have read is pointing to my head gaskets and thinking of buying the sealant. Good question with the heater, I do get heat coming into the car. What do you think?