98 Accord LX, 4 Cyl, 200K miles, AT

According (no pun intended) to my son, the car started running hot, temp gauge very close to red. He left it in a parking lot until we could go back later. Everything looked normal, coolant in radiator and overflow container.
When drving home, not even 1.5 miles, he said it was running hot again. Pulled over, turned car off and smelled coolant from under hood. Popped hood and saw coolant spewing from the left side back of the head.
What could be the problem?

Thanks

 

Don't know if this is related, but the AC stopped working weeks ago despite being charged w/ freon. I bought freon and the gauge showed it was already charged.
Thanks

 

Need new coolant? Issues with engine? Do you maintenance it properly? My dad's old car used to spew coolant too and the engine needed to be rebuilt from what I remember. We have a 96 Accord Lx without that problem. I don't know what is exactly wrong with your car. It's best to take it to a good mechanic shop. It seem to be very serious because the radiator of my Civic 98 leaked or cracked and all of the fluid was gone yet it was able to drive 50 miles at freeway speed with the temperature gauge not even close to half the max temp. So if your car spewing fluid after just 1.5m, that's obviously really bad.

 

back left (if standing at bumper lookin in to engine bay) would be around the thermostat area. Maybe its stuck closed.

 

90, I maintain the car; have a thick folder of receipts to prove it...lol
gator, you're right. the thermostat was stuck shut and i found the hose to the heater core valve ruptured. that's what was spewing the coolant. all is well, except for the AC.

 

I find that around 70,000 miles on up, Hondas start having problems.

 

It's not unusual for the temperature gauge on liquid cooled engines (not just Honda) to indicate low or erratically when the coolant level is low. The sensor needs to be immersed in coolant to show the temperature accurately, and if coolant level drops, or coolant is lost entirely, the temperature gauge may never give the operator an over-temperature warning while the engine is self-destructing. It is common practice to include a cylinder head temperature (CHT) gauge in applications such as aircraft, which indicate actual head or block temperature regardless of coolant condition, but this costs extra money, and automobiles are price-sensitive, so this feature is typically not seen on consumer vehicles.

 

And Hondas in particular do NOT like to have any air-pockets in the cooling systems for a couple of other reasons too.