Hi,
I have a year 2000 S2000, which i have owned for the last 3 or 4 years, and recently the car overheated when sitting in traffic, although it cooled down as soon as we started moving again. My immediate assumption was the fan's were not kicking in, however a lot of testing has now been done by myself and my local garage, which rules out any problems with the fans and the cooling system in general.

The interesting thing is, that both times the car has overheated, it has been preceded with a coolant smell in the cabin, and steam visibly rising from the vents on the top of the dash on the passenger side, followed by a bubbling (liquid escaping) sound on the passenger side footwell.

Having had a look, there is blue residue in the passenger side footwell, which looks like coolant residue. The guys at the garage (not Honda) have suggested it could be the heater matrix, as it would be located in this area and recieved coolant... the leak could have caused an airlock which caused the overheating, as the coolant levels do seam to drop a little every time it is topped up.

Honda Stealership have said, they have never ever fitted or sold a new Heater Matrix and although they have guide-times for fitting it looks like it would be a huge job to replace.

Any insight offered would be tremendously helpful.

Thanks, Nick

 

It sounds like your coolant system needs to be bled. That bubble noise you hear are actually air bubbles.

 

might only be air, in that case just needs to be bled.

if that doesn't help I'm afraid if there's a smell and residue, that your heater radiator inside the dashboard has cracked.

having done it on a couple off cars (opel's and ford's) it might be a PITA to replace it...

your coolant level going down slightly might be an indicater?

correct me if i'm wrong here...

if your car starts overheating do not shut it down, just put the heater and blower to maximum. (open your windows or roof if it get's to hot in there )

hope it can help...

 

overheating may be due to the thermostat or water pump.

smell inside of the cabin may be a leak with the heater core inside of the car. if you see and smell coolant in the car, thats the problem. it is a big job to do. easiest is to rmove the dash but there are ways to get around it to get it out but its a pain in the a**

if you need a heater core, i have one. pm me

 

Thanks guys,

It has been bled several times now, and had a brand new stat because the stat went a few weeks before this problem reared its ugly head.

It sounds like it is the heater core then. There is definitely coolant escaping inside the car in the passenger side foot-well, and at times it bubbles and evaporates, smelling and making visible steam.

Sounds like i need switch it out... does anyone have any tips or advice... i don't even know what this thing looks like?

Hoa... i may be interested in that part... ill get back to you.

Thanks

 

it is inside of this:



it looks like this when removed:

 

Thanks, that really helps!!

 

It does sound like a leak in the heater is letting an air bubble form, which then causes the overheating. The leak, though, could be just in the rubber hoses or connections. You will find out when you do the disassembly.

 

 

You may try to put in metallic radiator sealer that comes in a plastic cylinder to see if it will solve your problem rather than have to replace the heater core.