HELP!!!!! overheating! head gasket?

[qikteg]

Valentine's day of all days.

just drove down to the shops to buy a card, (bout 10 minutes drive). on the way back, i noticed a fairly significant rattling coming from the engine whilst under slight load. looked at the temp gauge, and it was all the way at the top. turn the fans on heater, full ball, but the air coming out was cool.

pulled over at work, temp gauge was beyond the red, fans and aircon still on, but the engine bay fans weren't going at all.

checked oil, plenty in there, plenty of coolant.

wats going on? how am i going to get to my gf's tonite?

[shadou]

check for pressure first, don't be tempted to take the cap off esp. if you've overheated your car like that

[qikteg]

i let it sit for a while before taking the cap off. its not milky, but it looked like there was some black particles in there.. not sure what that was.

[Sydsyd]

look for any coolant hose leaks not just from and to radiator, but along the engine block too...

my car had the same thing...turns out one of the coolant hose that's between intake manifold and rocker cover split and spitting coolant...

[qikteg]

Thanks, i'll check, but i would imagine with something like that, coolant would have spewed out everywhere..

but when i went to top up the coolant, it seemed like i had plenty in there.

[JohnL]

If the head gasket didn't cause the problem, it may be stuffed now, at least the head may be warped and the gasket will follow in short order (you can be lucky though, but without a taxi I wouldn't count on 'getting lucky' tonight...).

[shadou]

well lets hope he is extremely lucky, there is no point diagnosing anymore imo, since you've obviously over heated that much, I would leave it, bonnet up to expel the heat and wait for tomorrow and tow to a mech to take a look if you have indeed damaged anything. Wouldn't risk driving it.
But yeah bad luck with it happening on V day

[qikteg]

yeah, i don't think there's anything i can do that'll fix it right now. just going to sit it out...

there's no luck in my world. but at least the engine didn't detonate whilst i was driving. that would suck hardcore.

[shadou]

oh well if you blow tonight off with your GF you can always fiddle round with the cold engine and check basic things to give you some indication of what it may have been, best of luck

[qikteg]

lol, i'm going to sacrifice my car tonight to valentines day. thats commitment to the gf.

[rayb3na_]

vtec > gf

[Limbo]

fix the engine bay fans, they should have been on.
To save the engine abit you can drive with the heater on

[qikteg]

okay, i managed to get the car home, but i doubt the engine is very happy about it.

heaters were on full blast, but the air coming through was cool...? i don't understand how that happened...

whats the go with a sticky thermostat?

[Limbo]

sticky therostat doesn't open properly so your coolant doesn't run. Try changing that also.

[qikteg]

could be that then... i'll have a look.


If the head gasket didn't cause the problem, it may be stuffed now, at least the head may be warped and the gasket will follow in short order

last night when i got it home, i saw a fair bit of steam of something pouring out from somewhere.. couldn't really see though.

whats the liklihood that the above has happened? and how do i diagnose?

also, the timing chain (i presume) was rattling like a mofo... what does that usually indicate?

[JohnL]

last night when i got it home, i saw a fair bit of steam of something pouring out from somewhere.. couldn't really see though.

whats the liklihood that the above has happened? and how do i diagnose?

also, the timing chain (i presume) was rattling like a mofo... what does that usually indicate?

If the head gasket is gone it will hyper-pressurise the cooling system (compression and combustion pressures leaking into the cooling system), and the rubber hoses will become very hard due to this pressure. The rad cap will release pressure at something like 13psi or so, but typically won't be able to do so fast enough if the gasket is leaking significantly (and it sounds probable that it is). Try to squeeze the top rad hose after the engine comes up to temp (or over), if it feels very hard this is a sure sign that the gasket is leaking.

Also you'll be losing coolant, the overflow bottle will fill up and then when the engine cools all the coolant will probably be sucked back into the rad leaving the bottle empty or nearly empty. The coolant will get bubbles in it from the leaking combustiion chamber gas, with a cold engine, fill the rad with water and start the engine with the rad cap off. Allow the engine to idle up to temp while you observe the rad filler orifice, watching for water and gas to be expelled. It would be normal for some water to be expelled as the engine heats up, but if it seems excessive and accompanied by gas or bubbles then the gasket is almost definitely cactus.

Look for signs of oil and water mixing, which forms a creamy looking emulsion (the 'Devil's cream'!) that usually first shows up under the oil filler cap, but can be formed in the coolant and in the crankcase in significant quantity. Just because this cream isn't present does not mean the gasket is OK, simply that if the gasket is shot that it's leaking pressure in a place that doesn't allow oil and coolant to mix (i.e. directly from the combustion chamber into the coolant).

Timing chain? All Hondas I know have timing belts, not chains. The noise (whatever it is) may or may not be associated with the overheating...

[riruiz_88]

^^^wrong the K series are chain driven, but still uses belts for p/s, a/c, alternator

[JohnL]

^^^wrong the K series are chain driven, but still uses belts for p/s, a/c, alternator

I just hate it when I'm wrong!

I did say; "All Hondas I know", leaving room for error!

[dupac->]

I just hate it when I'm wrong!

I did say; "All Hondas I know", leaving room for error!

lol i think thats the shortest post you've made so far.

leaving room for error is best
lol

[qikteg]

hmmm

i wonder whats rattling then?

[NAY]

Pinging its head off because its soo hot?

[riruiz_88]

damn man real unlucky to hear what has happened to your car. but i would suggest you replace your cooling system. water pump, coolant, thermostat/housing, hoses just to be on the safe side. but if you said that there was steam coming out then its much more serious. im getting rattling noises, but im sure that its my water pump cause its leaking and i think the bearing is stuffed.

[JohnL]

Pinging its head off because its soo hot?
Could easily be, if it's not also doing when at a reasonable temp.

[JohnL]

but i would suggest you replace your cooling system. water pump, coolant, thermostat/housing, hoses just to be on the safe side. but if you said that there was steam coming out then its much more serious. im getting rattling noises, but im sure that its my water pump cause its leaking and i think the bearing is stuffed.

If the thermostat is jammed shut or partially shut then that could be the cause of the overheating. I would check that first and replace if needed. If the thermostat is closed when you pull it out of the car (which it should be when cold), then check it by placing it in a pot of water and heating the water on the stove. Ideally you'd have a thermomoter in the water so you could note at what temp it starts to open (assuming it does open), but it should start well before the water boils and also be fully open before the water boils.

Even if the thermostat is faulty and you replace it, you may still have head / gasket damage caused by the severe overheating. You'd just have to replace the thermostat and cross your fingers. The thermostat housing isn't a problem unless it's leaking due to corrosion. If you had a leak you might quite suddenly have had not enough coolant for the system to work properly.

I wouldn't think it likely that the water pump is causing the overheating, there's not much that can go wrong with them other than leaking or seizing because of bad bearings (which would also cause a lot of belt squealing). It's possible that if the cooling system has been severely neglected that the vanes on the impeller may be corroded away causing poor pumping action, but highly unlikely.

The radiator could be suspect even if it's not leaking, but it would be unlikely for a radiator to suddenly not work, it would be more like a cooling problem that gradually got worse if the radiator was simply failing to radiate adquately. I wouldn't replace hoses unless they were suspect (i.e. known to be leaking / seeping, 'bulgy' looking, cracked etc).

[Benson]

My beat is on thermostat or a big air pocket in the cooling system. Change your thermostat and see how you go.

Also make sure your fan is working and your radiator isnt blocked.