96 Honda Civic LX odd coolant leak need some help

[AKhan87]

Bought the car in 2011, has never overheated on me.

1. New radiator installed after purchase as the old one looked in bad condition.
2. Replaced upper radiator hose with an used OEM one in good condition from junk yard.
3. New AEM hose clamp that needs to be screw tightened.

i have attempted to circle with area in the image where coolant leak builds up, i hope everyone can see it. it is really random, didn't show up for 1 year then randomly started to show up, cleaned it up a few times, and even started the car to see where the coolant leak was coming from had no luck, it's small enough that whenever i open the radiator cap it's never low on coolant. Sometimes the leak won't show up for a week or two, seems more frequent since the winter months.

A family member needs to borrow it for a few months for an out of state job. I need to fix it by tomorrow afternoon so any help or advice would be appreciated.

Should i replace the upper radiator hose with new OEM hose and new OEM hose clamp?
or just replacing the to a new OEM hose clamp should be sufficient?

 

[Drew99GT]

Looks like the radiator is seeping to me; is there any crusty dried up coolant on the hose or around the clamp? Sometimes if you screw those clamps too much you can slice the hose and get seepage though but it will be obvious.

 

[Lead Shoes]

Option 1: Go to amazon and buy UV dye to put in your coolant then wait and find out with a black light where it came.

Option 2: check your coolant overflow for leaks, check the upper radiator hose clamp area for leaks, also check the seal on your radiator cap.

I had a similar leak in that area and 97 lx and it turned out to be a bad hose, it was expanded at the end so it didn't seal right, mine however was not an on off leak..

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Looks like the radiator is seeping to me; is there any crusty dried up coolant on the hose or around the clamp? Sometimes if you screw those clamps too much you can slice the hose and get seepage though but it will be obvious.


Defective radiator?
I forgot to mention that the left-side of that picture, the side where the upper radiator hose is closer towards is where the build up generally occurs 10/10 and 2/10 times it was the other side as well.

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: Brenden
Option 1: Go to amazon and buy UV dye to put in your coolant then wait and find out with a black light where it came.

Option 2: check your coolant overflow for leaks, check the upper radiator hose clamp area for leaks, also check the seal on your radiator cap.

I had a similar leak in that area and 97 lx and it turned out to be a bad hose, it was expanded at the end so it didn't seal right, mine however was not an on off leak..


I checked the overflow it seems to be fine, if it was the radiator cap then the build up would occur ride-side of that picture more often then the left-side, i did check the radiator cap as well though

 

[Jimmy9190]

A friend of mine had a 98 Civic that every so often the temp gauge would go up toward the red. Then as soon as she started driving again the gauge would come back down to normal and the car would run fine for a while. She took it to a shop and they put in a new water pump and timing belt. Even after that it would get hot every so often but it never overheated. One hot summer day she called me and said it did overheat in traffic and would I please come look at it? She had managed to get it off the street into a parking lot. It was a really hot steamy humid Tampa summer afternoon and soon as I popped the hood I saw a fine mist of coolant condensation spraying out from one of the hoses underneath the throttle body. I think it was the TB area, it has been a long time ago that this happened. It was a smaller diameter hose and I think it was a heater hose, I know it had a fine hairline crack in it which was the source of the leak. I know it was hard to get to to R&R it. There was an AAP nearby, they did not have the exact hose but sold us some generic hose in the same size, some tee splices and hose clamps. I was able to rig up a hose to fix it temporarily and topped off the radiator with 50/50 coolant premix. A few days later she bought the correct hose from Honda and I swapped it out for her. Maybe check your heater hoses..

 

[yonyon]

Don't assume that the leak is necessarily on the side where the accumulation tends to go. The coolant can puddle on the tank by the crimp and run to the other side before it drips down onto the shroud.

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190
A friend of mine had a 98 Civic that every so often the temp gauge would go up toward the red. Then as soon as she started driving again the gauge would come back down to normal and the car would run fine for a while. She took it to a shop and they put in a new water pump and timing belt. Even after that it would get hot every so often but it never overheated. One hot summer day she called me and said it did overheat in traffic and would I please come look at it? She had managed to get it off the street into a parking lot. It was a really hot steamy humid Tampa summer afternoon and soon as I popped the hood I saw a fine mist of coolant condensation spraying out from one of the hoses underneath the throttle body. I think it was the TB area, it has been a long time ago that this happened. It was a smaller diameter hose and I think it was a heater hose, I know it had a fine hairline crack in it which was the source of the leak. I know it was hard to get to to R&R it. There was an AAP nearby, they did not have the exact hose but sold us some generic hose in the same size, some tee splices and hose clamps. I was able to rig up a hose to fix it temporarily and topped off the radiator with 50/50 coolant premix. A few days later she bought the correct hose form Honda and I swapped it out for her. Maybe check your heater hoses..


Heater hoses for a small coolant leak in that picture? The vehicle hasn't overheated or been low on coolant, I'm not sure what to make of that I guess.

Did you look at that picture? The coolant leak never gets to the floor

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Don't assume that the leak is necessarily on the side where the accumulation tends to go. The coolant can puddle on the tank by the crimp and run to the other side before it drips down onto the shroud.


Oh ok, how do I test it then? I guess I didn't fully understand what you said to check for.

I really appreciate all these replies.

 

[Drew99GT]

Can you thoroughly clean the area where the leak occurs? maybe use a car wash with wands? That would help isolate where it's coming from because I see a lot of white crusty material in your pic that looks like dried antifreeze.

 

[4D-56]

Check for horizontal hair-line cracks in the front and rear of the upper black plastic part that the cap fits to. my old 94 accord leaked in this way for months before i changed the rad. yesterday, on the same car, the plastic top of the rad, right under the cap, BLEW OUT completely!! (my ex-wife runs it now and I do work on the car for her)

Ended up changing the rad on the side of Atlantic Ave right there in down-town Delray Beach!

It would be cheap and worthwhile to do 2 things, replace the cap and put a new top hose on. I bought a USA made one yesterday, from NAPA.

 

[Quest]

(1) use UV dye to pinpoint leaks in your case.

(2) In my 2+ decades of servicing, I've never consider buying used (junkyard or whatever) rad hoses for jobs, no matter how well visually it/they look. All rad jobs always go with fresh new (aftermarket mainly) rad hoses and new stainless steel (trico mainly) hose clamps, period.

(3) also: when old plastic rad is in-question: I always pursure new replacements, even if it's generic ones (like Spectra-premium)...

Q.

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: Quest
(1) use UV dye to pinpoint leaks in your case.

(2) In my 2+ decades of servicing, I've never consider buying used (junkyard or whatever) rad hoses for jobs, no matter how well visually it/they look. All rad jobs always go with fresh new (aftermarket mainly) rad hoses and new stainless steel (trico mainly) hose clamps, period.

(3) also: when old plastic rad is in-question: I always pursure new replacements, even if it's generic ones (like Spectra-premium)...

Q.


I agree with you but, 2 years ago I didn't know anything about cars and my friend who was a mechanic(from Madagascar) suggested I use used OEM rather then new AEM radiator hose so I went ahead n used it.

I'm thinking he over tightened the hose clamp & maybe damaged the replacement hose, so I'm going to buy an OEM hose & hose clamp tomorrow, if that doesn't solve it then new radiator from AAP as mine came with a limited lifetime warranty.

I have never replaced a radiator before so I will need to find a DIY, anyone has any links?

 

[Quest]

First and foremost: determine the leak by getting a UV dye kit first (shop around or online : typically comes with a bottle of dye, a LED based UV lamp and a yellow coloured filtering eyeglasses)..

Get that bottle of dye into your rad first, run it and then in an overcast/indoor environment with engine off and somewhat cooled (not to burn yourself), locate the leaks from the dye (fluorsecent) and see if it's coming from a crack from the upper rad hose neck or seam.

Unless you are a ricer or somekind: I typically go with factory (Denso or Toyo) or Spectra-Premium (aftermarket) radiator.

Rad hoses are very long living so long as (a) the don't come into contact with mineral oil or similar (e.g. water pump lubricant or motor oil in coolant, etc.) (b) their internal didn't collapse. Any aftermarket brands from GAtes to Dayco or Goodyear will be fine in your case.

Shop around Utoob for any DIY rad hose (or rad) replacement tutorial.

Good luck.

Q.

 

[AKhan87]

Okay Update, upon replacing the upper radiator hose with an OEM one I realized the older one was a universal one that was cut to size, all irregularly.

2.5 months later now I'm picking up the car back from the person I loaned it to, the original problem still exist even after I had change to a new OEM upper radiator hose.

Possibilities left from my understanding.

1. The AEM hose clamp is not holding enough tension and is letting very very small amount of coolant by.

2. The upper radiator plastic part where the hose attaches, or the radiator cap screws on to is seeping.

I'm thinking 2. even though the radiator is 1.5 years old and this coolant seepage has existed since then.

It's an AAP radiator with lifetime warranty.

Should I use the radiator dye to diagnose? If so how much and where?

If the radiator needs replacing, can I DIY? What cautions and heads up do I need to know about? Other then doing this when engine is cold.

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: 01_celica_gt
Okay Update, upon replacing the upper radiator hose with an OEM one I realized the older one was a universal one that was cut to size, all irregularly.

2.5 months later now I'm picking up the car back from the person I loaned it to, the original problem still exist even after I had change to a new OEM upper radiator hose.

Possibilities left from my understanding.

1. The AEM hose clamp is not holding enough tension and is letting very very small amount of coolant by.

2. The upper radiator plastic part where the hose attaches, or the radiator cap screws on to is seeping.

I'm thinking 2. even though the radiator is 1.5 years old and this coolant seepage has existed since then.

It's an AAP radiator with lifetime warranty.

Should I use the radiator dye to diagnose? If so how much and where?

If the radiator needs replacing, can I DIY? What cautions and heads up do I need to know about? Other then doing this when engine is cold.


Problem resolved it was possibility 1. as listed above. after market hose clamps are no where near in quality like OEM Honda hose clamps, I still have 95% original hose clamps, which are working just fine.

Just wanted to update for anyone who may have an issue similar to this.

 

[JamesBond]

Thanks for updating your post, I wish everyone did this.

Also, on my civic I put a tiny hose clamp on the hose that goes from the reservoir to the top of the radiator because I was getting some leaking from there eventually making the radiator a little low.

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: JamesBond
Thanks for updating your post, I wish everyone did this.

Also, on my civic I put a tiny hose clamp on the hose that goes from the reservoir to the top of the radiator because I was getting some leaking from there eventually making the radiator a little low.


I did that on my 00 civic and it was pointless because the rubber is too thin for clamp usage. If it was necessary Honda would have put it on, the civics from that generation were still well built and reliable.

Most likely your hose has gotten old, it's what 5 bucks from Honda dealer?

I have an extra one in good condition that I can mail you if you pay shipping.