1996 Acura TL Overheated bad. What possible damage?

Tiny
HOTACURA
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 ACURA TL
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 102,000 MILES
My cousin had her Acura overheat and she was unaware because the temp gauge was not working. The car overheated and now it will not even turn over at all. Someone mentioned that the distributor was possibly melted.

What should we do first to troubleshoot? At what point should we consider removing and replacing the motor? Could the distributor be the only problem or is it more likely to have other issues as well?
Saturday, October 16th, 2010 AT 12:35 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi hotacura,

Get a compresison test done first. If compression is low, remove the sparks plugs and squirt some engine oil into the cylinders. Crank the engine and recheck the compresison again. If compression is very low, the head gasket had been damaged and would have to replaced to rectify.

Distributor would not melt, but the rotor might. So would the caps.
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Friday, October 22nd, 2010 AT 9:53 AM

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