So one of my team members is having an issue with his car. He knows a little about cars, but not a ton. He e-mailed me this video of his car running. I forget what year it is, but I think it's '07 or '08, it's an Acura TL
Acura running
Also sent this photo
I asked him to look under the car and he said there is coolant right next to the right wheel. He said he had it idling for a minute or two to warm up before it suddenly started doing this. I had him check the dipstick, he said the oil looked normal (though I don't have a picture of it). He pulled the radiator cap (I had him make sure it wasn't super hot first) and said it still looked green inside, but was somewhat low level.
Thoughts?
Somebody lit a string of firecrackers and threw them under the hood?
If there is coolant up by the water pump area, maybe its failed and one cam jumped time? Its a pretty bizarre noise.
What's the water look like? Wendy's Frosty?
Edit: looked at the video. That is NOT a good sound, obviously. Sounds like timing slipped mixed with pistons and valves doing battle against each other.
Streetwiseguy wrote:
Somebody lit a string of firecrackers and threw them under the hood?
Yeah, sure does sound like that, doesn't it? I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but I can tell it's mechanical and it ain't good. Is the water pump on that side of the car?
When I spoke to him, he said coolant was normal green, not milkshake like. However, it was only idling for a minute or two and he shut it off right after he made the video (hope he didn't leave it running too long while the video was being shot)...
Pressure test with cardboard underneath.
I think he was having it towed to a shop. I suspect it won't be a cheap repair. Poor guy. This happened the morning that he was getting set to leave for a 10+ day vacation in Asia. So he blew a bunch of cash on that trip and now this...
That white-ish stuff on the engine cover, overflow tank, and fan shroud is dried coolant that got sprayed out from somewhere while it was hot and under pressure. Based on the noise, the head/heads (v-6?) has to come off. And it's not going to be pretty inside when it does.
I'm not sure I would pay a mechanic to disassemble it. There are a bazillion of those engines around because they don't usually do ^this. Just get a low mileage longblock out of the yard for $500-600 and swap it.
