Hey Scotty! I love your videos! I’ve learned so much. 3 months ago I bought a Honda Element. There were subtle signs in the beginning that there were issues with the cooling system and then a couple days ago the car kept dying. In hind sight it was overheating and I didn’t notice the indicator on the dash. I took it to my mechanic repeatedly this week to diagnose the problem. I think things were somewhat confused because the engine was burning oil and I had a couple misfires because I didn’t know at the time not to let old cars fuel get to empty. Despite this, somehow they never checked the radiator! They told me to buy a new engine or a new car. After watching some of your videos I went and looked at the radiator and it was bone dry!! I put a gallon of coolant in it! So now I’m going through your list of things to check. So far the coolant and oil look normal and aren’t mixing. I ordered the commission leak test. The tailpipe isn’t smoking white or blue. I opened the radiator and turned the engine on to look for bubbles. There were no bubbles. It did, however, overflow while the engine was running with the cabin heat on. I ran the engine for 15 minutes. Is this normal for it to overflow during this test? What does it indicate?
There were subtle signs in the beginning that there were issues with the cooling system and then a couple days ago the car kept dying.
This is why you should pay a mechanic $100 to check it out. Don't believe anything the seller says.
In hind sight it was overheating and I didn’t notice the indicator on the dash. I took it to my mechanic repeatedly this week to diagnose the problem.
The head gasket probably blew. You can have a blown head gasket and not display symptoms. The only way to properly test the cooling system is a special tool called a head gasket tester. You can have minute cracks. You can also get a water pump tester. After you pump it up, it should hang around 16-18 PSI for around 10 minutes. If you don't see anything on the ground and it has lost significant pressure, your head gasket is leaking.
this normal for it to overflow during this test?
Yes. Coolant is pressurized when it's at operating temperature because it boils at a higher temperature. Engines are more efficient when the boiling point is increased.
I didn’t know at the time not to let old cars fuel get to empty.
You should never let any car ever get to empty. It adds unnecessary stress to the fuel pump. Unless you drive a car from the 70s, where the fuel pump takes 20 minutes to replace, refuel your vehicle when it gets below a quarter tank.
Hey! I just performed the leak test. I had to perform it multiple times because I kept sucking coolant into the tester as it was hard to suction it low enough and the coolant kept expanding upwards. This last time it wasn’t obvious that coolant went in as the level stayed more it less the same. Surprisingly the colour still only changed to a slightly warmer shade of blue even after doing the test for 3 minutes infrared of just one. It looked like how it did when I accidentally sucked coolant into the tester. Does this indicate that the leak is minute or that I got some coolant into the tester again? Much thanks!
Vanessa
Well, if it keeps stalking it in generally that means yes. You do have some kind of a head gasket leak, but if you really want to do the test correctly, take a bunch of the coolant out of the top with a turkey baster first. Then do the test with the coolant level lower and it shouldn't suck in or out and you'll get an Acura test
