Honda Car Forum

Hello there,































I noticed a weird smell coming from my cars engine bay so I inspected the engine bay and saw that my engine coolant reservoir was empty. So i bought some 50/50 engine coolant and I put some in the reservoir about half way between low and max about 10 hrs later I checked it again and it was empty, but I could barely smell the the weird smell from before.































I only drove the car about 4 times each about a 10 or 15min trips...So why did the reservoir empty so fast? could it be that the radiator is low so it sucked it all up?































I also dont see any major kind of leak that I could see...Should I add 50/50 engine coolant to the radiator and the reservoir to see if it wont empty any more?















Well I added more coolant to the reservoir and the radiator. I dont know if this is normal but the only leaking i noticed was that the radiator was kind of "oozing" on the top sides of the radiator. It wasnt a constant spill I could see the green fluid just staying in place between the tiny gaps of the radiator. I dont know if this is normal? Hopefully the reservoir fluid doesnt empty...















Also,































engine oil is fine















there is no oil spots in the coolant















and with the engine on and cap off, the coolant doesnt bubble but the coolant does rise and spill over after the car has been on for a couple of minutes . i dont know if this is normal or maybe because i overfilled the radiator with coolant by accident? im not sure.















2nd edit:















I filled the reservoir to the max line and its nearly all gone in 1 day































This is not good...arent radiators suppose to last for the life of the vehicle? How much should I expect to pay for a new radiator and labor?

Could have been that empty, You should fill both.

If you are sure you have no visible leaks;































Check your engine oil - if it is muddy brown - your coolant is going into your engine - head gasket, cracked head, etc. Bad news.































Also look in the radiator - take the cap off when the engine is cold - is it full? - if you see oil spots in the water you have a head gasket or head problem.































If you see coolant then try running the engine with the rad cap off - if it blows bubbles in the radiator, same problem.































Look for white smoke behind your car - sure sign of coolant getting into the combustion chambers. Coolant burning smells kind of sickly sweet.

if it is filled up to the max and still disappearing...then you do have a leak...and if the coolant is coming out from the top of the radiatorand you did not spill it...then the radiator is cracked at the top where it is joined together...so its time to buy a new radiator and replace it...and overfilling the radiator would not cause it to come out on top of the radiator..it would go into the resevoir and out from there....































**just go to a auto parts store and ask to see how much it is...it should be about 100-150 for the cheapeist...and no...radiators dont last as long as the life span of the car....

My Acura 1.6 EL has the same problem. But no coolant smell at all. One week ago just changed timing belt, new water pump and new radiator cap but the loss of coolant speeding up! No oil spots in the coolant overflow bottle. No clues yet.