Radiator's water reservoir always depleted.

**GhostBachelor** · February 22nd, 2010 01:47 PM

Gud day tsikoters, newly member lang po ako. Can I ask opinion regarding po sa car ko (Civic LXi 1994) lumang modelo po ng Honda, I bought it po noong January last year.

Naging practice ko na po kc everytime na gagamitin ko yung car na i-check lagi yung engine oil, clutch, brake & steering fluid and water po sa radiator and reservoir. But recently I notice po na ubos or minsan po meron konteng laman yung water reservoir ng radiator, wala naman po mark ng water na makita sa grahe ko and wala naman po akong makitang leak. According to my friend na baka daw po me singaw yung radiator cap kaya po nauubos yung water sa reservoir. I did his adivise, so bumili po ako ng bagong radiator cap pero the same problem pa rin po ang na-encounter ko.

One time po parang me naririnig po ako boiling water paggrahe ko ng car hindi ko pinasin then kinabukasa ko na tinignan and ubos yung tubig sa reservoir. Ano po kaya ang pwede cause ng pagkaubos ng tubig?

Thanks po in advance for your inputs/comments?

**marvel67** · February 22nd, 2010 02:20 PM

Hi Ghost,

I have only one thing on my mind..nauubos ang water mo, but wala naman leak. My best guess is you have internal leak sa head gasket.

This is how to test:

In the morning when your engine is cool, check by hand the radiator hose if it is soft without pressure. Then start your engine with air-con on, after approximately 3 to 5 minutes, test with your hand the hose, if it is hard, pressured, that is an internal leak. That means that the pressure in you cylinders leaked to your water cooling system. Also check your radiator if you can see foaming.. that is also a sign.

Solution: replace cylinder head gasket, use a good mechanic.

I hope these could help.

Honda Mechanic Oc+ Salev Racing

**GhostBachelor** · February 22nd, 2010 06:46 PM

Thanks po sir, try ko yung procedure tomorrow and i'll make an update, sir if ever, do you any idea kung magkano po yung cylinder head gasket and ano pong brand ang maganda?

thanks po ulet! GOd bless... i'll make you an update..

**hakkinen** · February 22nd, 2010 10:56 PM

pa-add na rin ng tanong mga bros. i have the same thing with the TS. most of the time, nauubos yung coolant sa reservoir ng oto ko. pero minsan pag check ko, bumabalik din yung coolant ulit sa reservoir. knowing that, naglalagay na lang ulit ako ng konting coolant just to be safe. no sign of leaks visually & i'm not experiencing overheat naman and the temp gauge is always at halfway position. ok din nman ang takbo ng engine.

btw, nag top overhaul na ako last dec2008 (replaced head gasket, machined shop etc) and ever since, wala naman overheating issues since then. it's just that recently, nakikita ko nga na ubos yung laman ng reservoir. praning kasi ako na inspite of this, baka meron na palang internal damage without me knowing it or at least it could have given me visual cues of the problem.

is this a normal occurence/issue? thanks in advance bros

**hakkinen** · February 26th, 2010 03:47 AM

up lang mga bros, baka sakaling may useful feedback tungkol dito. TY!

**s_quilicot** · February 26th, 2010 08:06 AM

Check the water hose. Maybe there's a small hole in it na kapag hindi nasa peak temperature hindi mo makikita. This was my problem for almost half a year sa trooper ko. Found out theres a leak in the hose which was very very small and wouldn't leak not until mainit na mainit.

**Type 100** · February 26th, 2010 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by hakkinen

pa-add na rin ng tanong mga bros. i have the same thing with the TS. most of the time, nauubos yung coolant sa reservoir ng oto ko. pero minsan pag check ko, bumabalik din yung coolant ulit sa reservoir. knowing that, naglalagay na lang ulit ako ng konting coolant just to be safe. no sign of leaks visually & i'm not experiencing overheat naman and the temp gauge is always at halfway position. ok din nman ang takbo ng engine.

btw, nag top overhaul na ako last dec2008 (replaced head gasket, machined shop etc) and ever since, wala naman overheating issues since then. it's just that recently, nakikita ko nga na ubos yung laman ng reservoir. praning kasi ako na inspite of this, baka meron na palang internal damage without me knowing it or at least it could have given me visual cues of the problem.

is this a normal occurence/issue? thanks in advance bros

Not 100% sure but I know coolant+water "returning" to the reservoir should be normal.

Kung nauubos ang reservoir, hindi pa naman sya immediate issue pero mainam na bantayan mo na yung radiator and hoses. Sabi nga nila baka may leak.

HTH

**hakkinen** · February 26th, 2010 12:34 PM

salamat mga bros sa feedback nyo. ok, i'll check the hoses this time. i assume sir it's best to check possible hose leaks right after using the car habang mainit pa.

nangyari to last november pa, and up to now ok nman ang performance ng engine ko, yun nga lang ubos minsan laman ng reservoir. ang worry ko lang kasi, pag nag lagay ulit ako ng konting coolant sa reservoir -baka sumobra naman at mag overflow sa radiator ko. anyway, thanks sa thread starter for bringing up this topic na sakto sa issue ko

btw, pwede din bang yung radiator cap ang dahilan nito? how do i know if the rad cap is due for replacement na rin? TY!

**tuff_2_register** · March 3rd, 2010 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by marvel67

Hi Ghost,

I have only one thing on my mind..nauubos ang water mo, but wala naman leak. My best guess is you have internal leak sa head gasket.

This is how to test:

In the morning when your engine is cool, check by hand the radiator hose if it is soft without pressure. Then start your engine with air-con on, after approximately 3 to 5 minutes, test with your hand the hose, if it is hard, pressured, that is an internal leak. That means that the pressure in you cylinders leaked to your water cooling system. Also check your radiator if you can see foaming.. that is also a sign.

Solution: replace cylinder head gasket, use a good mechanic.

I hope these could help.

Honda Mechanic Oc+ Salev Racing

This is exactly my car's issue right now! Could you recommend a good mechanic for this job? Thanks!

**marvel67** · March 26th, 2010 03:14 PM

*hakinen and type100

It is normal for the coolant to flow back to the reservoir. WHen your engine is hot, the presure of your coolant is high, expanding and flowing back to you water reservoir. You will notice that when arrive home and check, the reservoir is full, yet in the morning before you go out, the engine is cold, you noticed, your reservoir is half full, that mean that when the system cool down, it will retract the coolant back in the system.That is normal.

*ghost and all
having the coolant reservoir depleted AND the radiator tank Depleted is a different symptom. This means your water in the system has been exhausted, and you have to refill regularly. these are the possibilities:

1) you have leaks in your hoses. The pinhole leaks are not visible but when your engine got really hot you will hear a hissing sound.These leaks are often seen near the end of the hose near the hose clamps.

2) you have radiator leak, pull out radiator and have it pressure tested. To check is to your the pressure differential method.

3) You have internal leak, this means that you cylinder head gasket is leaking and combustion pressure is leaking into you cooling system. This can be observe by having a very hard hose even in a few minutes of starting from cold engine. Also you can see foaming. Another this you will notice is that you will have hard starting in the morning when your engine is cold. This is because, the coolant is sucked in the cylinder when the engine gets cold, the pressure of the coolant push it through the head gasket leak, into the cylinder. Quickly change cylinder head gasket.

4) pumps seal check.

Others...check for leaks in your thermostat valves, temperature probes, others.

Always used coolant in you Honda. Most Honda operates in a little higher temperature. Check you radiator fans, check your thermoswitch.

I hope id helped.

Marvel