Gustavo's EK

whats up everyone i am new to the forum and did my research but i couldnt find and answer to my problem. i drive a 97 civic coupe dx model d16y7 motor.

My car would over heat after 15+ mins of driving. At first i didnt have a thermostat and had a stock radiator. i then replaced the radiator and made the cooling fan run automatically 24/7. id take the car to OC from IE without a problem and ahad a relaxed idle.

BROTHER DROVE THE CAR WITH RADIATOR CAP OFF TO THE SIDE.
NOW i cant even get to TACO BELL without the car overheating. and when im at idle the car seems to vibrate on and off.

This time it has a new thermostat and bled the cooling system. when i bled the system bubbles only came out when i reved the engine. FAN was running 24/7. I stopped after 30 mintutes. idk if i shouldve kept going.

i went from overheating in 10 minutes from a cold start to overheating after 15 minutes of driving on the highway. i would get an idle surge from time to time.

p.s im not sure if the head gasket is blown. im not showing white exhaust smoke,milky oil and im not losing coolant.

Should i bleed the system again?
PLEASE HELP thank you in advance and god bless.

Gustavo's EK

any insight or suggestions are greatly apreciated

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

How exactly did you bleed the coolant? Something isn't adding up. Either you aren't fully bleeding the system, or you have a leak, or you have a damaged head gasket. Follow the following coolant bleed procedure, and buy/borrow/rent a block testing kit from your local parts store to test the head gasket.

Bleeding done right:
Put the front end of the car on jack stands (or park facing up a hill)
Remove the radiator cap
Start the car
Fill the radiator, and continue filling it until bubbles are no longer present
Let the engine run for two fan cycles after this, to verify that there are no leaks (since you have your fan hacked up, just let it run for 15 minutes after totally filling)
Turn off engine, replace radiator cap, lower car, done.

Total time in your case should be about 45 minutes to an hour.

JarvisW

Sounds like (edit) head may have been warped the whole time

Take the cap off, let it warm up enough to get the thermo to open, then rev the engine while watching the fluid in the radiator.

If it bubbles, you have a bad head gasket. If not, do what NAR said above.

Oaken81

We use those spill free funnels at work when bleeding honda cooling systems.

I would make sure there is no air in the system as well as pressure testing for leaks.

If you are still overheating after the above, i would then check for hydrocarbons in the coolant.

Gustavo's EK

thanks for the responses guys.
I bled the system again yesterday. i did it exactly how you explained it. i was able to get to work today with no overheating but did start to go over the OT point when i was parking it.

when i was bleeding the system i noticed that the cooling system will rise and a lot of air will shoot out ONLY WHEN I REVED it.

Im going to go rent the gasket leak testing tool after work.

i will let you guys know what happened. THANKS AGAIN much appreciated god bless!

Heisenberg

Could be broken/disintegrated water pump blade? If you use water as coolant, and hasn't replaced the water pump ever, that could be it. The need to rev the engine could have somehow allowed a bit of a flow of coolant. But come idle speed, no chance. Have your water pump inspected.

Former User

The head gasket is blown.

Gustavo's EK

im going to get the water pump inspected along with the head gasket test.

slomofo

iTrader: (1)

How much gas is in the tank?

Gustavo's EK

around half a gallon

slomofo

iTrader: (1)

You should def top it off cause I heard gas prices were on the rise. Get in now while it's cheap.

Gustavo's EK

lol alright thanks

Former User

I thought slomo was going to come through with one of his useful insights.

Gustavo's EK

haha he saved me a few bucks

slomofo

iTrader: (1)

Let's just say you saved $20 in gas.


Take that $20 and boom, Fel Pro head gasket.

Take that Fel Pro head gasket, slap it in your car and boom, no more overheating.

Full tank of gas, no more overheating, and now you can hit the streets in your fully gassed up non-overheating Civic.

Former User

Haha...slomo wins with the trap door spider maneuver.

Gustavo's EK

**** yeah. then i will be able to continue with more mods. thanks man!