Cooling problem

TAUTVYDAS JAGUCIANSKAS

MEMBER
1993 HONDA CIVIC
1.5L
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
155,000 MILES

Last time I drove my car about three to five miles from home to work, my car half-way started smoking from the engine bay. When I got to work I opened it up and I noticed some coolant had sprayed on my hoses and radiator. How can I check what's causing the issue? I am fixing it myself. Also, could the cooling issue be causing my heater to not blow hot air or is it unrelated?

3 Replies

D6SPAN

MECHANIC
58 POSTS

HI TAUTVYDAS,

Sounds like you have a coolant leak! The easiest way to test it is to use a coolant system pressure tester. Parts houses like AutoZone and O'Reilly have ones that you can borrow and use in their parking lot with the help of an employee or you can rent the tool from them and use it where ever you car is, which is convenient because you want the engine temperature to be cold when testing. The leak will appear when pressure is added to the system.
The heater not working could be related, especially if you are losing coolant.
I have put links to two very helpful articles. The first is How To Pressure Test Your Radiator but it involves the entire cooling system.
The second is How To Fix A Heater. It will provide you with helpful steps to figure out what the problem with your heater is.
Best of luck!

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-heater-not-working

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Monday, March 18th, 2019 AT 11:52 AM

TAUTVYDAS JAGUCIANSKAS

MEMBER
7 POSTS

I don't know if any of my shops near by have any pressure testers for rent (forgot to mention that I'm not in the US), is there any other method to check for cracks? Or should I just replace the radiator and hoses for now?

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Tuesday, March 19th, 2019 AT 7:24 AM

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
48,397 POSTS

You can fill the cooling system and then install the radiator cap, start the engine and let it run, as pressure builds look for the leak using a flashlight.

This guide can help:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-is-leaking-coolant

Please let us know what you find. We are interested to see what it is.

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Thursday, March 21st, 2019 AT 12:16 PM