Okay had a bit of problem with my work car 1994 Honda Accord EX 5spd Manual Transmission. Okay didn't have any problems up till now.. all of a sudden on friday my car started to overheat which it did a couple months ago and we fixed a problem with the radiator. I let the car cool down and poured some water in the radiator to make it home but it still started to over heat i guess and it would stop in the middle of the road because it was so hot but i managed to safely get it home but the engine light came on which i am guessing from the heat of the engine. Well i didn't drive the car until today and i put radiator fluid and everything back in the car checked for leaks and stuff didn't see anything but wheni turned on the car this morning it had a loud screaming noise coming from the engine which i checked and it seems to be coming from the belts in the engine but can't be for sure. When i rev the engine or drive it goes up and down in loudness with the accelerator. The wierd this is that when i get into 5th gear the sound stops and my engine is back to normal.... Can anyone give me a clue what they might think is wrong with it before i go and take this thing to a mechanic...cuase don't wanna put too much money into it since it's just a work car and stuff...but still don't want it being something big and mess up the engine anymore.
If you've had to refill the radiator, then you have a leak somewhere. The screaming noise you are hearing is either a blown head gasket (expensive) or a blown water pump (semi-expensive), which are ultimately secondary problems caused when your car overheated. I wouldn't drive it anymore and get it to a mechanic ASAP. If you keep driving it while its running hot, youll eventually seize the engine.
So the fact that it's not overheating right now is still not a sign that it's okay lol...cuase before it used to have a small leak and i used to refill it a lot but not as much anymore...but i guess i must have done more to it this time when it over heated....just great.
The screaming noise could be coming from the water pump. The pulley may be seizing, which is somewhat rare, but can happen. That might explain why your overheating problems seems to be intermittent.
to b emore precise....the impeller bushing could be seizing...which would cause the screaming noise... but if that was the case, it wouldnt quit when in a different gear. regardless of all that....summer in Houston...overheating....not a good thing...go ahead and get that sucker checked out...with every time you get the engine too hot..you are increasing your chances for a major engine problem.
My guess about the over heating sounds like a head gasket. I do not know about the noise. Codell sounds right about pulley or bearing. There was a mechanic I had good luck with at the garage in Montrose- on Westheimer near all those antique shops-seemed pretty straight forward about repairs- showed me the old parts and gave me a written estimate before I authorized the repair. Even though the car is a '94- you could not sell it like it is now. Your biggest cost in repairing/ replacing the head gasket is labor. I do not know about the noise problem repair... Repair it and drive it a few months and sell it. You will recover your money and get several months use out of it. Never a good idea to keep a car too long- but I do this every time....
Since we got this thread, let me get my car question in as well I'm pretty sure that my 1995 Honda Passport is starting to get transmission problems. The car shifts at the wrong times and acceleration is a real hassle. Considering that tranny repair is about $1500-$2000, I don't think I'm going to waste the money to repair it. Basically, I am going to drive it as long as I can and then buy a new car. How long do you think the car will last before it cannot be driven anymore? Do trannys deteriorate fast or is it a gradual thing?
exact same thing hppened to my car, the timing belt ended up tearing, pulling the pulleys out my engine... that was a fun day.
I would say if you have to routinely drive through a hilly area then you should expect something sh!tty pretty soon because of the extra grinding/gear shifting taken by your shaken tranny. But if the roads you drive are flat, the Passport probably will last a while.
Stack - also check to see if your engine oil looks "milky"- like thick chocolate milk- radiator water in engine oil -sure sign of head gasket or engine block problem....
