Tiny fluid leaks, now high engine temp.

[treg50]

So for a few weeks now my car has been dripping small dots of dark coloured fluid. It looks more black than a colour. What is wrong with the engine? The engine is a 2002 Honda 4-cyl.

AND, just last night my engine temp gauge went really high, then after a several minutes of driving it went to normal temp., it stayed normal for most of the drive, then it went high again. For a sense of what the temp gauge was showing, let's say if the H mark = "100", and the C mark = "0"... when I say it went high it was around "85-90". Normally it's around "45".

What's wrong with my engine? Are these two seperate things? Or is the temp issue related to the ongoing leak?

[Cooked Rice]

Get under it and start looking, it could be coming from anywhere to be honest.

[89s1]

How long did it take to settle back to normal temp?


what were the climate controls of the car set to?


If the two things are related its something like the waerpump failing, starting to leak inside the timing covers and washing dirt/oil from inside of them off which then leaks out and appears black.

Coolant is green or orange. ATF/PS fluid is red, oil is brown

The older a fluid gets the more black it looks.

Hows the oil consumption?

[revelations]

Originally posted by treg50
So for a few weeks now my car has been dripping small dots of dark coloured fluid. It looks more black than a colour. What is wrong with the engine? The engine is a 2002 Honda 4-cyl.

AND, just last night my engine temp gauge went really high, then after a several minutes of driving it went to normal temp., it stayed normal for most of the drive, then it went high again. For a sense of what the temp gauge was showing, let's say if the H mark = "100", and the C mark = "0"... when I say it went high it was around "85-90". Normally it's around "45".

What's wrong with my engine? Are these two seperate things? Or is the temp issue related to the ongoing leak?

Any work done to the engine recently?

[slinkie]

This is pretty basic advice, but just mentioning it in case. If you put some cardboard under it overnight, you may be able to pinpoint the leak easily.

When the car is cold, open the radiator cap slowly and you should be able to see coolant inside, right at the top.