NSMB Automotive Thread ( Q&A, Car Porn, etc)

Sometimes ya gotta cut your losses and walk away.

Posted by: Adam-West

Sometimes ya gotta cut your losses and walk away.

Pure and utter nonsense bro. I could find some other vehicle with no real connection to it or depending on choices/options, spend $10-12k (min probably) and have potential for 4-500 hp with the turbo I just dropped in. No new car will do that for me without being a bigger loss comparatively off the start. And I also commited a long time ago to at least one motor rebuild or swap.

Project Refurb will go on.

So I got a brand new Hyundi some ally crawling filth broke into it in the ally last night took a pair binos.... how?

I figured I musta' f'd up and left it unlocked but my neighbour said his no his fobbed Toyota been gotten into and he was sure it locked.

wtf?

No broken windows or jimmied door locks?

No.

Someone's got quite the scanner app then. Or a shady dude works at a dealership working the keys just like the (semi bad) remake of Gone in '60 Seconds.

And Project Refurb is done.

Nothing but great things to say about dealing with Garage5. As in from start to finish. I was emailing one of their tech's or counter-people for probably 6 months going over lots of different things and options and he always got back to me. After being burned by Freeway Mazda with the last job and having emails from random shops about a rebuilt MZR block that they'd give me a price but never responded to a single other question about the motor I might be getting, Garage5 was top shelf via email and the work they do is just done proper. No extra time unless agreed upon. No late release's of the car or rescheduling pick up times. But they did do something cool. I asked them to relocate my catch can since they were 'fabbing' up a cold air intake for me. Turns out they didnt need to relocate the can but they did plumb it up with a filter to a vent to atmosphere setup. Freeway Mazda failed to add the drain valve I had for my catch can during the other job without consulting me because it was too low and might be sheared off. I get that but they didnt even put it back in my car when the job was done and I found during an email asking where it was.

Anyways, the angled pic of the engine bay isnt the best but whatev's it hauls with the CAI. The shifter adds a welcome look since the oem top cap had become unglued on the original shifter. So all thats left is some a little more tuning, transmission work next year and paint n body. Thats if we see 2021 zoom zoom.

Jesus this took a long time to find!

So anyway...

Driving home today in my 2004 Honda Civic 1.7L I hit the gas pedal and white smoke starts puking out of the car. At that point I notice the temp gauge is really high. I pull over pop the hood and can see coolant sprayed over the passenger side of the engine bay. I let the car cool down then drove it home. 

Once home and cooled down again I started the car and let it idle. 

The car idles smoothly, the coolant temp started to raise slowly and constantly on both the gauge and OBDII tool. 

I looked around the coolant system to see a spraying leak but unable to locate one. 

The electrically driven rad fans haven’t turned on while it was idling in my driveway. 

The heater while on full and hot and with A/C on and off is only blowing cool air. 

I checked the rad level and added fluid to the resi tank. 

My best guess is the leak is coming from the rad cap or from the resi tank cap  

•I don’t have access to a Combustion Leak Tester Kit 

•I pulled error code 

P0117 

Engine Coolant Temperature sensor - Low Input 

_____________________

•The white smoke and spraying of coolant leads myself to believe blown head gasket  

•The fan not starting leads me to think it’s a blown fuse

•The temp not increasing leads me to believe it’s a thermostat.

Is the ECT sensor the thermostat? 

What’s everyone’s thoughts on this? 

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎅🎄

Pretty sure white smoke is associated with a blown head gasket, ie. coolant getting into the exhaust. They say coolant in the exhaust can damage a catalytic converter as well.

White out of the tailpipe or engine bay?

Could be a few different things, like the thermostat if it isnt pumping steam out the tailpipe

Posted by: three-sheets

White out of the tailpipe or engine bay?

Could be a few different things, like the thermostat if it isnt pumping steam out the tailpipe

Honestly seemed like it was coming from the engine bay rather than the tailpipe. As the cloud seemed to be coming from mid body rather out the back. 

But saying that if there’s a head gasket leak; wouldn’t the combustion pressure bleed down into the cooling side and cause the coolant to vent anywhere it can? Definite spray out of the rad filling area. 

I grabbed a jug of coolant and a new rad cap yesterday evening. 

I’ll see about a Combustion Leak Test ASAP.

Tailpipe= headgasket.

Engine bay= thermostat

Posted by: three-sheets

Tailpipe= headgasket.

Engine bay= thermostat

Thanks. 

I’ll go get a thermostat tomorrow.

Posted by: Endur-Bro

Is the ECT sensor the thermostat? 

Thermostat can get stuck.  It's fairly easy to remove on your car (except for the coolant mess) and when it's out you can check if the valve freely/easily moves up and down.

It's been a while, but if I recall correctly the thermostat and the sensor are not much money.  Hopefully it's one of those and not a blockage in somewhere like the core.