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Vehicle is a 2000 Honda Accord 4cyl, 143k miles.
Last time I drove my car I had white smoke/steam coming out from under the hood. I pulled over and turned the car off, and saw I had a crack in my upper radiator hose. Replacing the hose is obvious, although I’d like to know could anything else have contributed to this situation.
Adding more notes; that day the car was making a pinging/jingling-like noise upon acceleration, seemingly coming from the engine area. No warning lights or overheat indication coming from dashboard and gauge at any time that day.
I also recently spotted a small oil leak from under the car and the dipstick was around the low mark. I added oil accordingly when I noticed this.
__My car hasn’t been driven since these events (2 days ago). Any help is greatly appreciated.
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After replacing the rad hose have the coolant either tested for strength or just have it replaced if that hadn’t been done recently. Change the oil if its due and keep an eye on the leak for now while checking fluid levels. Have you check for engine obd codes?. If its just a rad hose consider yourself lucky. Could be a lot worse.
I would start with a cooling system flush and an oil change after the new replacement hose is installed. Check water pump and maybe it’s a good time to replace the thermostat too. Try to clean the engine a bit to find the source of the leak.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure you bleed the air out of the system after replacing the hose. The localized ‘hot spots’ created by air pockets in the cooling system can cause the detonation you spoke of.
Yes, as stated above, replace the coolant hose, and any other hoses that are suspect. Then be SURE to burp the cooling system as above, and then carefully run the car to see if it overheats again. I would do this at home so you won’t be stranded again if you have to shut it off immediately. While running it at rest, feel the hoses and try to verify that the thermostat is opening appropriately.
The suggestion to flush the system and replace with new coolant is reasonable, but if you have an underlying water pump failure you’ll have to do it again anyway. So if you are not sure, distilled water is temporarily reasonable as long as you don’t let the car freeze.
If you are lucky the problem will be solved.
Appreciate the feedback everyone.
I’m going to have a few hoses replaced, along with the thermostat and radiator cap. Car’s been parked while I gather parts. I figured I’ll take care of preventative maintenance at the same time.
I will be bleeding the system afterwards as well. I will post an update.
I strongly recommend OE parts for the thermostat and radiator cap. Bleeding the system is a must when you’re done but it looks like you know that. Keep in mind this could just be residual stuff burning off from the leaking hose.
Thanks for the help everyone.
I had a number of hoses replaced, along with the thermostat (OEM) for added maintenance. Cooling system was bled afterwards. No problems since.
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