Sitting in a parking lot with my car idling....next thing i know i hear a loud "psssssssssssss" and see clouds of white smoke...opened the hood and saw a 6 inch crack on the top of my radiator... replaced the raditator (not completely finished with it yet, it started snowing)... I was just wondering if the crack in the radiator was the only thing i needed to be concerned with......or could there be something else that might have happened too (not concerning the radiator)?? ANY HELP WOULD BE AWESOME!!

 

If your radiator is the style that has the plastic top and bottom crimped into the metal core, the failure is probably from the radiator cap. They say that if the spring in the cap gets stuck and the coolant can't vent into the overflow bottle, then the pressure will build up and crack the plastic top or bottom.

I always replace my radiator cap whenever I do a coolant flush. It is a cheap insurance policy for saving a Honda radiator.

 

Could be the radiator cap theory or just an old radiator. Assuming it's the original radiator, the sucker's pushing 15 years old and if you live in a warm climate it only adds to the aging. Replace the radiator and get a new cap and you should be good to go.

 

Yea i just finished installing the new radiator, filled it and so on. however, i noticed that when i filled the radiator, the resevoir tank is still pretty low. do i need to manually fill it or does the raidator do that over time?

 

Did you get a NEW radiator cap? Maybe your old cap allowed the pressure to get too high causing the crack in the first place??

Add some fluid to the reservoir; you'll see the min & max marks. You'll want to bleed out as much air as possible, but normally the radiator will suck some fluid FROM the reservoir as the few remaining bubbles work out.

 

Well, the new radiator came with a new cap, so i'm good on that part. However, i found a leak coming from the bottom (i think around the hose) so i've gotta make sure the bottome hose is on tight and replace the old clamp (i think it has lost it's strength). worse comes to worse i'm gonna replace the hoses, prolly should have done that when i changed the radiator. o well, live and learn i guess.

 

UPDATE: put the new clamp on and not a leak to be found. THANKS everyone who posted, i appreciated the input. maybe i'll talk to you guys on here again when i do my next DIY. Till then yall take care.