Car jerks when at idle and is using coolant rapidly
I had the timing belt, water pump, and distributor cap replaced recently (few days ago) and when I began to drive it the car began to jerk forward while at a full stop in idle. Also I hear a slight popping noise from the car when I listen. At one point white smoke came from my tailpipe so when I pulled over all of my coolant was missing but there was no leak. I refilled the radiator and aquifer and after driving only a few miles the coolant in the aquifer once again was boiling over and most of the coolant was missing with once again no leak. What could this possibly be?? Thank you for your time and consideration.
Cars & Trucks - Honda - Civic - 1995 Honda Civic
Answers & Comments
I for the most part agree with the other answer. Somewhere somehow coolant is going into either the air intake or the cylinder directly, and mixing with the gas and air and when it hits the hot piston and cylinder walls it is expanding causing the car to buck forward. Like he said this can happen due to a crack in the head or broken head gasket. Then the white water vapour coming out your tailpipe is of course the steam that used to be coolant.
The damage could have happened when you were leaking all that coolant due to the water pump. Usually a head cracks when coolant or water is added to the cooling system without letting the engine completely cool (takes about two hours) and aluminium engines such as your Civic has are more vulnerable than cars with steel blocks and steel heads. Usually or perhaps almost always the oil and water will be leaking into each other but not always.
Before you give in and replace the head check for any possible ways (hoses, heat exchangers, etc.) that the coolant could be getting into the air intake or intake manifold or anywhere on the engine most importantly before the head. Next preform a compression test on each cylinder. If you have to buy a tester to do this go ahead, they are inexpensive compared to head gasket replacement. If they all check out ok then look elsewhere for the leak because almost certainly a cracked head or gasket will cause one or more cylinders to lose compression. There is also a chance the crack is in the block, so be prepared to replace the entire engine as this may be the least expensive option.
Could be bad install on water pump or wrong pump, Bad install on timing belt, colasping suction hose from rad to water pump. Could be a bad head gasket or cracked head. you did not tell us why you replaced the water pump. was the car running hot before. ? Check your oil to see if there is any water in it. would look like brown mud .. if there is water in it. Post a comment and let us know what you find.
You replaced the dist cap.. are the wires on it correctly ?.. The popping ssound is probably the engine overheating.
Honestly I cannot tell (I am severely a novice when it comes to mechanics for engines). The previous cap had to be replaced because fluid leaked onto the cap causing it to short (this is what my mechanic explained to me and this happened while he was doing repairs). So could the engine be running too hot while the thermostat reads normal? And what are the symptoms of a bad gasket or cracked head?