GoatBible

Okay so I installed a brand new thermostat in my integra this morning. Stock b18b1. Tested it in some boiling water to make sure it opened and it was good. Bled the system of air by leaving the cap off and running the motor till the lower hose got hot and then put my heat on full blast for about 20 mins and it stopped bubbling. Everything was fine, lower rad hose was hot so everything was flowing okay. Let it run for a bit longer to make sure it wasn't gonna over heat and everything was okay. Drove around for about 3-4 hours no problems and then I started to overheat a bit sitting at a red light. Parked up and checked my lower hose and it was cold. Not leaking any coolant anywhere. This is the third thermostat I've had stop working in the last 2 months. The 2nd time it stopped working I assumed it was the water pump as the thermostat was about a week old. Installed a brand new water pump last night and realized there was nothing wrong with it but I replaced it anyways as I had the new one and everything was taken apart. Radiator and radiator cap are also under 300 miles. Is it just shitty luck with thermostats or could it be something else? Oh the newest thermostat is also a different brand from the previous two.

B_Swapped93

What brands are the t-stats OEM Honda is the way to go and so the temp gauge shows it's over heating but it's not actually ? could be the ECT/temp dash sending unit if that's the case.

GoatBible

Uhh I forget the brand but they were all from autozone. Why I tested the newest one before I put it in to make sure it worked. The temp gauge shows it's heating up and I'm assuming it actually is because i was delivering food in it for about 4 hours and the lower hose was cold when I checked it after seeing it getting too hot at the stop light. So it had been driving for quite awhile without the lower hose getting hot.

GoatBible

Also the ect was replaced fairly recently. Within the last 3 months as well.

littleme13

not trying to sound like a jerk but, which direction are you putting the thermostat in? I have seen this several times where people put the tstat in backwards and it doesnt work correctly. Sometimes it works, some times it doesnt.

GoatBible

Idk how to describe the way I'm putting it in really. I put the longer side of the tstat facing the drivers side. As far as I know it's the only possible way to install it. I don't think it could be flipped if I tried due to the housing and the cover that connects to the lower hose.

TheRealTegger

That's not how you test a thermostat. The thermostat is supposed to open well BEFORE the water boils. That is the point of the thermostat: to PREVENT boiling.

The correct thermostat for your car is 78C (172F).

That is an OPENING temperature, which means you will be able to see the thermostat starting to open at 174. The thermostat will be fully-open at 194, which is obviously far below 212!!!! Therefore, you need a thermometer in your pot of water in order to test the thermostat.

Forget the AZ thermostats. Buy an OE one from the dealer and be done with this job.

silvertaxasteg

All testing does is verify that it worked up to that point. :D

"Previous performance is no guarantee of future success".

But that's trolling...

I used Stant, it's lasted longer than the Honda t-stat.

GoatBible

The water wasn't quite boiling. I stuck a thermometer in the water to make sure it was at 180 and the car tstat opened when I tested it before installing it.

But I went and removed said tstat last night and put it back together without one so I dont have to worry about it till winter. I tested the tstat again and it was working so idk what would of caused it not to open when it was installed, unless I didnt get all the air out of the system when I bled it. I let it bleed for a good 45 mins after removing it last night though.