White steam coming out from hood

CHRISTOPHER DOYON

MEMBER
2002 HONDA CIVIC
1.7L
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
168,000 MILES

The thermostat was stuck open so I had to change it. Thing is, now that it was changed, my car stopped overheating, but now, when it gets too hot (30 Celsius +), car misfires, stall and overheats. I filled my radiator with water because my radiator cap is leaking (gasket is bad, new cap should arrive soon), so my coolant leaks and it makes me waste $30.00 every week. Does anyone know what could be the problem? Water pump, timing belt, thermostat are brand new now. Radiator fan is working too, and there doesn't seem to have any leak coming from the radiator.

5 Replies

SCGRANTURISMO

MECHANIC
4,897 POSTS

Hello,

You said it yourself, the coolant is leaking from the radiator cap. Radiator caps are designed to relieve pressure when the pressure in the cooling system of your vehicle gets too high, usually around 16 P.S.I, but it varies from vehicle to vehicle. If the cap, or the spring mechanism, or the gasket in the cap have failed, it will allow coolant to leak from the cap and as your vehicle gets low on coolant, it will overheat. Replace the radiator cap and get back to us how everything is going then. We can go from there.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

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Saturday, July 6th, 2019 AT 12:47 PM

CHRISTOPHER DOYON

MEMBER
3 POSTS

So a bad radiator cap could literally be the cause of misfire? It's starting to give me serious anxiety, mostly because it stalled five times Thursday, two times on the highway, three times in town, left it on a safe street until midnight because it was too dangerous for me to take it back home. (High risk of causing an accident). Could my head gasket be blown too?

Sorry, I'm really bad at mechanics. Just scared of having to buy a new car.

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Saturday, July 6th, 2019 AT 1:22 PM

SCGRANTURISMO

MECHANIC
4,897 POSTS

Hello again,

Sure. Excessive heat, especially in your vehicle's engine combustion chambers is not good and can cause a rash of driveability concerns from detonation to cylinder head warpage and head gasket failure. Is your Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) or "check engine" light illuminated?

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

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Saturday, July 6th, 2019 AT 4:08 PM

CHRISTOPHER DOYON

MEMBER
3 POSTS

That does sound bad. And yeah it has been on for a while. Engine been changed last year, it only has 107xxx KMS, could it be in danger still? Battery, Brake, Check Engine, Maint Req'd lights are on. Car doesn't have a catalytic converter since its JDM.

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Saturday, July 6th, 2019 AT 4:49 PM

DANNY L

MECHANIC
5,648 POSTS

Hello, I'm Danny.

Just to add my two cents. I would suggest performing a cooling system pressure test. It's basically a pump that pressurizes the cooling system to detect any leaks in the system.If you don't have a pressure tester your local auto parts stores have a tool loaner program and can rent you one. Here is a tutorial showing what is involved. The tester comes with an adapter and can also test the radiator cap.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

From what you described hopefully it's just the cap! Hope this helps and thanks again for using 2CarPros.
Danny-