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Accord overheating/smoking in under a mile

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gorcorps

gorcorps

aka Brandon
My car is basically useless right now as I can't drive a mile without it overheating. The fluids seems fine, except for the loss of oil when it overheats. The radiator doesn't seem to be hot at all, and the fluid is filled. The fans all seem to be working, but heat isn't being transferred from the engine for some reason. Are there things I can check/replace myself with parts from a local shop before seeking a professional?

I'm driving a '90 Accord
 
Sounds like it needs a thermostat.

Second thought - what do you mean by loss of oil? And the smoking, explain that.
 
Waterpump possibly. What's the history on that?

If it is the thermostat, you will get more than a mile at least.
 
boomerang said:
Sounds like it needs a thermostat.

Second thought - what do you mean by loss of oil? And the smoking, explain that.
Click to expand...

Well the engine is getting so hot that I assume it's burning some oil, which is why the engine is also smoking when I stop.

I'm not the original owner so I'm not sure what all has been done to it, but I doubt the water pump has been changed.
 
HarryLui said:
Waterpump possibly. What's the history on that?

If it is the thermostat, you will get more than a mile at least.
Click to expand...

Sounds like water pump to me as well. And if you're the water pump replaced spend the extra couple bucks for a new thermostat & radiator hoses.

You could try just replacing the thermostat first as it's cheap and the symptoms are pretty much the same as a bad water pump, but I agree with HarryLui that you'd get more than a mile out of it. Thermostats take longer than that to open when they're working correctly. Sounds more like the water pump isn't working and there's some cavitation happening in the engine as a result which is why it happens so quick. Not sure about an Accord in particular, but in 1990 closed-systems weren't the norm yet.
 
The original water pump on my 1991 Accord kicked the bucket at around 120,000 miles. It got leaky rather than stopping completely, though.
 
Turns out it was just a busted hose which I couldn't see @4am. Thanks for the info all, and I'll look into a new waterpump as well as I'm sure that'll be an issue soon enough too.
 
I think the "smoking" OP was referring to was just oil/grease on the engine starting to smoke when the block got so hot..
 
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