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I checked through the sub forum and didn't see this so I think this might be beneficial... asking help from the rest of the forum to know what is the best thing to do...
Post your problems and you might at least receive a helping hand or so...

A reason why I made this thread...

SPOILER

I have a particular problem with my own family car and I could use some help here aside from the local contacts I have; you know, to know what is the best of the best thing to do... I appreciate the help that I would at least receive.

--------------------------------

Okay, so here's my problem:

car: 2000 Honda CR-V (AT)
problem: Radiator problem - cracked top plastic housing.
effect: excessive leaking and causing water to dry out.
Occurrence: 1st time.
help: Replace or repair? If repair, what do you recommend?



thanks.
Ciao. Power to IDW!!

Replace the radiator and hope you didn't damage the heads/headgaskets

Use a radiator crack repair kit from your local auto-related store to keep you on the road while you get a new radiator. Don't patch it and forget about it, because the plastic is already compromised it's going to get worse and worse over time. Watch your coolant level like a hawk, check it at least once a day and/or before you drive anywhere.

While both previous responses will work, neither are the correct response.

Buy a higher quality aftermarket radiator. Plastic end tanks on radiators have tendencies to crack, my friend's gone through two just this winter alone. So get something with metal tanks, and you're set for life.

I would HIGHLY advise against using radiator stop leak unless you are planing on selling the car. the problem with the radiator stop leak is it will clog up the water passages in the head/block and it will also clog up the radiator and cause premature water pump failure. I don't know how easy it would be to find a radiator in your part of the world but i know i could get one for around $80 and last time i checked that was alot cheaper then the whole motor/cooling system.

Whether or not its as durable as a full metal one or not, replacing the radiator is still a "correct" answer

cmspaz was probably just looking for the specific answer. And also, the Thread starter could do with more specific answers other than "Replace the Radiator." cmspaz was just suggesting a more specific correct answer. So in his opinion, the general answer is wrong.

Thanks a lot guys for all your suggestions.
This thread will continue as soon as another user here posts his/her auto problem & stuff... hopefully... >_>

Okay, my turn. I do have this narrowed down to two possibilities, but I'd like to see what other people think.

I leave puddles of oil wherever I park, and it's coming from the front left edge of the engine. The valve cover leaks slightly at that corner, but not this much, and the oil on the outside of the head is not as fresh as the oil currently on the outside of block. The stock oil pressure gauge is also reading lower than normal.

Excluding all DSM/crankwalk jokes, fire away.

Could it be a foreign material build up? A coupler could be loose that's what is probably causing your leak. Check your turbo/couplers for the leak and the oil pressure could mean there's something in your system or something is just wrong with your oil pump.

The only thing external to the block in that area that leaks is the turbo's oil return, and only where it meets the oil pan, which is behind and to the right of the drip. The oil is coming down that side of the engine. All of my connections are solid. No oil is leaking from the vicinity of the pump or filter.

Current oil has 5k miles on it. An oil change is on my list of things to do, but I feel it is unrelated to the problem.

Well it could be the front main seal. we need pix ASAP!!!

Main seal is one of the two items on my list.

I'll see about pics.

I'm more sure now that it's the OTHER item on my list, as of last night.

So I'm driving, and my car died. Engine just started engine braking on it s own, and when I tried to restart it, it would fire, sputter, then die. Turned out my driver's side fuel level sensor is more off than I thought.

Regardless, looking around under the car at that time, I noticed something. The entire underside of my crossmember was soaked with coolant. I haven't had time to verify that the block is the source, but my overflow bottle, which was full to the brim as of two days ago, is now empty again.

I have a terrible exhaust leak to fix, too. It sounds like my old truck, which had a huge hole in the downpipe. Good thing is, all I need to do for that is crank the downpipe down to the O2 housing more. That's what I get for reusing a 13-year-old gasket.

I have a problem with my driver side electric window. It works, but it doesn't go up properly and it goes out side of the track. Also i have to use one hand to push it around when i close it. The same with opening it, I have to push it down. I hate electric windows. What can I do to fix this?

Never mind about the coolant being related. The clip on the block-side of my turbo water return was too far down the hose, not forming a good seal. Coolant looks to have been coming out there.

@garrethking:
Take the door apart and inspect the mechanism and track. Some plastic part is probably broken.

This post has been edited by cmspaz on Feb 13 2009, 03:45 PM

I figured this is the best place to post this, doesn't really warrant a thread of its own.

On my way home yesterday, I realized that my coolant temp was much higher than normal. I knew I topped it up on Monday, so it was a it of a surprise to see the reservoir empty. Went to the nearest store en route , and topped it up again ( entire 4l can ). By the time I got home, it was halfway to empty again.

But, there was no visible leak, no steam escaping, nothing.

Left the car to idle to observe, still nothing. It took a couple of minutes of revving to show the problem, which turned out to be the waterpump leaking under load. I wasn't sure if it was the gasket or the housing cracked, so I just yanked the entire waterpump off and took one from the donor car.

Funny thing was, the water pump I pulled off had a metal impeller ( which is the best one in this case ), but at least the one off the donor was a white plastic impeller ( not the failure prone black one ). I knew that it wouldn't be the black one since a couple of the hoses on it were held on by gear clamps, which are not OEM.

Test drove afterwards, and it looks like the original waterpump was not very efficient, because engine temps are a bit lower than before. So I am happy both ways, no leak and cooler temps.

Overall cost to fix : none.

Nice!

As testament to my work on the Talon over the past year, I've lost only 1/3 of a quart of oil in the last month and a half. That's at absolute most half the rate it was losing oil when I bought it. I'm pretty sure at this point that once I pull the valve cover and replace the gasket and seals that it'll stop completely. I'll be doing that when I do timing, so there's no extra work in pulling the cams to replace said seals.

It is a good feeling when you fix something and it hasn't cost a penny ( except for new coolant of course ).

1/3 of a quart does not sound too bad BTW, for a boosted car, especially if it's a DD.

I know, right? It sees about 200 miles per week, which calculates to about 3600mi/qt. I can't name many other DSM owners who can claim that.

Still have to do the two bad wheel bearings, but that'll be easy to do along with my suspension, since the knuckles are coming apart anyway. It's a great feeling having all these pieces of the puzzle just falling into place.

So ~250km's later, no visible loss of coolant, and temps are better than ever. I am happy ( kind of ).

I noticed my needle sitting a smidgen higher than normal yesterday. Of course, it's the hottest it's been since I started really monitoring the temp gauge, so I dunno. I'll make sure it hasn't drained the reservoir completely, probably fill it back up to the max line. For some reason the car consumes coolant when it's hot...

I guess I can throw in my problem.

The right rear brake light isn't turning on, I tried a new bulb to no avail. Then I used the old bulb from the right side on the left side and it worked fine.

On top of that, my cigarette lighter doesn't get any power.

The alarm system isn't working properly either. The remote doesn't turn on/off the alarm although the light on the remote is working. If I lock all the doors eventually the alarm will start going off for no reason and will continue until the battery is dead. I've been forced to disconnect the battery every time I go some where and lock the car.

Any chance that all these problems might not be individual cases but the result of something with my electrical system?

I doubt all those problems are related unless they all started happening at the exact same time. The brake light could be corrosion if the tail light lens leaks water in. The cigarette lighter might just be a simple fuse if you haven't checked that yet. Often times when plugging in accessories that require a good amount of power like a GPS or something, it very well could pop a fuse.

The security issue is probably some portion of that system, likely the brain, on its way out.

I've got one to post up.

Car's been this way for the past few months. When I start it, whether its a warm or cold start, it revs up to about 1k (not the usual 1.5), then revs drop and unless I catch it with the throttle, it dies. I have to then hold it until the normal warm-up period ends, at which point it will idle perfectly fine. It initially did it only when the car was warm, now it does it all the time. Also to note, if I've run the car for like 30 seconds, shut it off, then started it again, it'll rev up to 1.5 and slowly drop down to normal idle, like it should.

ECU reset I did the last time I worked on the car didn't fix it.