porsche

How to Change a Car Thermostat : Refilling Coolant When Changing Thermostat

Learn some options when refilling your coolant for car thermostat repair with expert automotive tips in this free online auto repair and car ...

Car Fluids & Tires : How to Change Radiator Fluid

In order to change radiator fluid, a drain pan is needed that is capable of holding the amount of fluid that the cooling system holds. Get anti ...

A Death in the Family: 2006 Honda Civic

I bought my Dodger Blue Honda Civic EX in October 2006.  I have been very happy with this car.  It drives great, looks great and is quite economical.  Between Kathy and I, this is the 7th Honda we’ve owned.  Hondas 1 – 5 had well over 250,000 miles on them before we parted company with them — only minor issues.  Hondas 6 and 7 not so much.

Honda 6 is our 2002 Odyssey — we love this car BUT it is on transmission #3 and is a story for another day.

Honda 7 is the 2006 Civic.  It died suddenly on Friday, March 26, 2010, at a young age leaving behind a family of 6.   This is the first installment of the story of how our family is coping with our loss.

CLOSE IN SHOT OF MECHANICAL PARTS IN A DARKENED COMPARTMENT:  the engine vibrates and shudders with the arhythmic mechanical and thermodynamic forces of city driving — acceleration, cruising, braking then acceleration again.  The cast aluminum engine block is the beating heart where these energies are released and channeled into useful stuff like forward motion.  A lot of heat is released too — from the burning gasses in the cylinders.  The casting expands and contracts — from extreme heat at full throttle to relative cool when idling.  During one fateful expand/contract cycle on Thursday, March 25, a tiny crack forms in the aluminum walls of coolant channel in the front of the block.  We slowly zoom in on the crack and we see the pressurized coolant seep through the crack.  A menacing puff of steam emits from the hot coolant.

EVENING, Thursday, March 25, 2010:  Kathy, Greg and I were in the Civic in the drive up line at McDonald’s to get dinner for James, who was working at St Bernardine’s.  Right after we ordered, I inched up toward the “first window” when we all noticed a strange sweet, burning smell.  Kathy said “Is that your car?”.  I thought it smelled like a burning Bacon, Egg and Cheese McGriddle – so I blamed it on McDonalds.  Kathy sniffed the air outside — no, the odor was in the car.  I noted my car’s temperature gauge indicated normal operating temperature; so when the smell dissipated, we went on with our business thinking little of it.  Little did we know, that like Apollo 13, catastrophic system failures in the engine compartment had already begun.

...

Read more...