and saw white stuff on the front area in the engine bay. It looks kind of chalky. This is the second time its happened. The first time i saw it, it went away (burned?) after a few days. It's a 97 accord dx, auto. I know the engine coolant is leaking somewhere b/c i have to keep replacing it. What could cause this? Thanks.

8/13/2005 6:07:34 PM

like from the battery? how much chalky stuff are you talking about

8/13/2005 6:08:58 PM

did you find your clitoris

8/13/2005 6:15:15 PM

pics plz

8/13/2005 6:15:56 PM

It doesnt look like its coming from the battery. Theres quite a bit on the radiator cap, towards the left end of the radiator, on the fan (which is almost under the radiator cap), and just a little on the battery.
I recently changed the radiator cap b/c the spring was broken. From what I understand the spring helps relieve pressure if the car overheats by springing. The coolant was filled a couple days ago, now its almost gone. unfortunately i don't have a camera, so pics aren't possible.

8/13/2005 6:24:25 PM

headgasket

8/13/2005 6:48:31 PM

u think so? i heard that when the head gasket goes, the engine is pretty much gone. is it easily repairable? i'll probably get it diagnosed sometime next week.

8/13/2005 6:54:27 PM

I read online that if it was the head gasket, the oil would look different, maybe creamy or some other color from the coolant, or the coolant would be oily. Neither are like that. could it just be a falty radiator cap or a leaky hose?

8/13/2005 7:35:27 PM

wouldn't the water from the radiator (leaking) have the potential to splash up on the engine, thus drying up and leaving a white residue?

If you know it's the radiator, I'd change it, clean the engine compartment, and see if the white stuff goes away after that..

/of course, this is coming from someone who's not as smart as 99% of the other gearheads here...

8/13/2005 7:46:48 PM

from the sketch descriptions you've given here, its impossible to tell, i'm not even going to try to list all the possibilities

8/13/2005 8:30:19 PM

ill venture a gander

the top tank (black plastic part) of the radiator has a hairline crack

8/13/2005 9:00:58 PM

when coolant splashes up onto the engine and "dries" its usually more like minty green, not white...i guess it could be minty orange with dexcool

8/13/2005 9:21:22 PM

NGR valve

girlfriends 94 honda was doin the same thing and we found out it was the NGR Valve. go with it

8/13/2005 9:54:04 PM

^^Except my coolant leak looks exactly like that (white).

8/13/2005 10:16:48 PM

Quote :

"ill venture a gander the top tank (black plastic part) of the radiator has a hairline crack"

I'll venture that Joel is correct.

I just replaced wife's last fall.

8/14/2005 9:39:08 AM

^ Had the same problem and symptoms in my car.

8/14/2005 10:11:22 AM

my old Tercel had the same white color stuff on the engine bay... it was definitely a leak in the radiator, at the top part where it was plastic...

replaced the radiator, no more white stuff on the insides of the engine area.

8/14/2005 7:19:58 PM

Has anyone heard of stop leak? You put the fluid in your radiator, and if the leak is on the side or top, it plugs the leak. If its near the bottom, it won't. I can't afford a radiator right now.

8/24/2005 11:19:36 PM

use it and then pressure test it

8/24/2005 11:21:26 PM

yea that shit clogged the hell out of the radiator in my dodge stealth

[Edited on August 24, 2005 at 11:51 PM. Reason : and not in a good way]

8/24/2005 11:51:16 PM

[Edited on August 25, 2005 at 12:18 AM. Reason : .]

8/25/2005 12:17:55 AM

yeah I used that stuff in my old honda and it clogged up everything all the way to the heating core. I couldn't use my heat or AC anymore because of it... sometimes it'll loosen itself but then more than likely you'd end up replacing your radiator anyways... its not a good way to go, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. You might wanna save up and go ahead and get the radiator replaced or better yet, let zxappeal or optimus or anyone else thats good at fixing cars on here look at it for you...

8/25/2005 12:12:10 PM

Stop Leak clogged the hell out of my brother's Cherokee back in the day. It was like "I think I need a new radiator." Then, after stop leak, it was like "I hope I didn't warp the engine head."

[Edited on August 25, 2005 at 1:25 PM. Reason : I not V]

8/25/2005 1:24:49 PM