Shalka

Brand new to mechanic work myself, starting to replace the thermostat today, i also bought a flush and fill kit. needed some advice on which hose to splice. i noticed 2 coming from the firewall and 1 is connected to the block im assuming its this one?
One last thing, i just replaced the thermostat about 8 months ago. going to try replacing it with a new one maybe it was defective but any advice would be great!

letank

Does it overheat in stop and go traffic or highway speed...? What is the outside temp?

Is the coolant level up to specs, and clean, don't forget to purge the cooling system... Little bolt head by the thermostat housing on the upper hose outlet.

It can be as simple as the fan not kicking in, fuse or wires, clogged or leaky radiator.

Check this layout for the hoses for an 87, but 84 is very similar

10-02

Keep the heater temp lever to max to allow the coolant to circulate

Shalka

i did a complete flush of the system and made sure to get the air out. After replacing the thermostat i was still having overheating issues as of 11/23/14 and i noticed that thermostat is not engaging. Master Mechanic friend of mine said he went through a few thermostats from the place i went to but they were all defective. Going to go to advanced automotive to see if they have a better quality product, or should i get a thermostat from Honda? not sure if it really matters any thoughts?

Thenderson2011

How exactly did you notice the thermostat wasn't opening up? The only way I know to guarantee it is to boil it and see if it opens, visually. Otherwise it can be a variety of different problems.

Are you losing coolant anywhere?

letank

If you touch the upper and lower radiator hoses you should have a temperature gradiant of 50 to 70 degrees if the thermostat is opened, if closed and overheating the lower hose will be hot not luke warm. This is where the infra red thermometer comes in handy.
Putting the heater on and fan to max will lower your temp.

Shalka

Boiled the old thermostat and it didnt open up the new one did. installed the new one (from Honda) And im still having overheating issues. not losing coolant anywhere but when i let it sit for an hour at idle it didnt overheat. the overheating occurs usually when i drive it for right around 10 minutes... after i notice the temperature rising i turn the heater on full blast and for a little bit it will blow hot but after the temp on my gauge gets at about 75% from the top on the heat level. it just starts blowing cold air and all my coolant starts going to the reserve tank. once i come to a complete stop the reserve tank is 95% full and is steaming from all the Coolant..

These are the steps I've taken so far
1. Had my fan tested and it tested out fine and turns on.
2. Coolant levels have been topped off and i used the bleeder bolt to fill it (also burped the system by leaving radiator cap off until no more bubbles happened.
3. I got a new radiator cap (from Honda)
4. Checked for all leaks but not losing any coolant.

So far this is everything I've done and not sure where to go from here!

letank

puzzled too, so no overheating at idle, but start to go overboard while driving, did you try to touch the radiator cooling hoses, at this point there is probably no difference. My first guess would be a waterpump that is worn out. My second guess would be a head gasket because of the steaming in the expansion tank, there is a test for gas vapor in the coolant, ask your local garage.

But the fact that the heater goes from hot to cold, means that either it is blocked or that some pressure prevents the coolant from going to the heater core.... Are both heater hose cold at that point.

The only time I had a heater going from hot to cold was when the heater core leaked, and we had to stop to refill the radiator.

Shalka

It was the head gasket, replaced it as well as the ground to the vehicle and all is well now. thanks all for your help onto my next project. the climate control i can adjust the temperature and the fan speed as well as the Rec button. but i cant control the direction of the fan if its on my face feet or defrost (randomly it will switch all on its own) Not sure how vacuum lines work but my car is Carbureted think it could be a vacuum line?

letank

Thanks for posting your solution, it is always nice to see the solution to problem(s)

As the heater control, it is plain mechanical, no vacuum control system.

I would suspect a disconnect cable and the control vane is flipping around.

Shalka

not sure if it makes that much of a difference but my Climate control is Buttons you press not the slider version to control where the air goes

letank

I have no clues here, did not realize that some have push button, check redpepperracing.com

tamboo

Amazon.com: crx: Books