1993 Acura Legend radiator or thermostat?

CSKOUBIS

MEMBER
1993 ACURA LEGEND
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
12,500 MILES

My car is leaking most of the antifreeze When I drove into the pkg lot I noticed smoke coming out of the grill. About two hours later about a half a gallon of antifreeze leaked out the fluid was under the front end of the car where the radiator is? I filled it back up and this morning again fluid underneath the car. I do not know if it is all of the antifreeze b/c I have not tried to put more in, just got home from work? The men at churh say it is the thermoatat and as a result the coolant is leaking out due to overflow? Can you help me to know what the problem maybe. It is not really over heating the temp gage went up twice four days ago and both times I immediately shut the engine off and when I started it up five minutes later it stayed in the middle where it was suppose to be. Then I find out very low on antifreeze I filled it up and this lasted four days now not even lasting two hours?

1 Reply

BRUCE HUNT

MECHANIC
3,753 POSTS

It is possible that the thermostat is bad, but that does not eliminate the radiator. It should be examined for damage or leaks. Is the overflow tube on the radiator still connected to the overflow bottle? If you can see visible signs of damage to the radiator, replace it. There is no repair of the radiator. The cooling system is a closed or sealed system. It must maintain a pressure to work correctly and efficiently. Restore the closed system and the car will be fine. A crack in the radiator no longer allows the system to be a closed system. Sorry for ranting on this. Do it before you drive it any more. The damage done is driving and overheating is exponential.