I recently took my 2005 Accord V6 in for 100K timing belt and water pump replacement svc.

Upon getting the car back I have noticed a Burning smell after it has been driven a while (20 Miles or so). The casing on top of the radiator seems extremly hot to the touch also.

Car was working fine before the maint and I still have no Temp guage problems but Iam worried that this smell and heat issue is not right.

I will be taking it back to the dealer tomorrow but wanted to post this to get any info I could prior to the appt.

Any ideas ?

Thanks Tom

 

Not sure about how hot the radiator is actually getting. The dealership should be able to measure the temperature using an IR temp gun.

The burning smell can come from fluid spilled, or a fluid leak created during the timing belt change.

The fluid could be oil, coolant, or possibly a thread lubricant like PB Blaster.

 

Well I took my car in and was informed that the burning smell is from radiator fluid.

No visible leaks so they told me to just keep an eye on it.

Seems odd to me that this problem did not START until I took it there for the routine Timing belt/Water pump service ealier in the month.

 

And ???? burning smell is from coolant .. did you ask them why there is a burning smell ?? if you had the t-belt done a day earlier i can see that coolant spilled on the block during water pump replacement , but if it has been a few days there should be no more coolant smell ,,,,chk coolant, from time to time . make sure you do so when engine is COLD,,,,,,
no visible leaks they told you.........did they pressure test the system ??

 

Yes, they did do a pressure test and it was OK. The Timing belt job was done 1 month ago but it has had this burning smell ever since.

They told me to just watch it and if I notice fluid going down again I will need to replace radiator. Htey said it may be a very small leak.

 

i would be very careful on replacing the radiator until they can visually see the leak,, ,,,,( it might be a very small leak , like they said) is not reason enough to gamble with your money,,
they need to properly diagnose and verify that the radiator is indeed leaking before spending your money ,and you need to make sure of that,, have them show you the leak ..

 

Keep an eye on the coolant level in the radiator, not only in the reservoir bottle. There's a couple ways for the reservoir to be full while the radiator goes empty.

When it's cold, squeeze the radiator hoses. You'll be able to feel/hear the difference when there's NO AIR AT ALL only liquid inside there like it should be.