Ej2guy28

I recently purchased my 2nd Eg8 5spd! I love this car, but it does need alot of work...like my wife almost divorced me when I pulled up in the driveway with it type of work! LoL! I noticed that there was the bronze flake block sealant in the cooling system. So I cleaned the IACV, FITV, Throttle Body, replaced the water outlet w/ new coolant temp sensor, thermostat, new lower radiator hose, and I flushed the radiator of the block sealant. Ok, everything has new gaskets and the 1-3000rpm surging idle is fixed now.

My problem is that I noticed that the lower radiator hose and the radiator itself is staying ice cold, and the engine and the upper hose is getting really hot and building up pressure on the cap. I am thinking that either the water pump is bad, or I have a bigger issue. The worst part is, im guessing, that since the coolant on the radiator side of the lower hose is cold...which may be why the guage does not work inside the car. So I can not tell how hot the car is running. I did the whole redneck thermostat test in a pot of boiling water and the thermostat is working. When in the car, it seems like it is not working.

Any help on this will be greatly appreciated. I was thinking about going ahead and getting the JDM D15B VTEC anyways, but that is going to be a little while until I see my money off of the Ej2 that was totaled.

axis11

Are you loosing coolant?

Ej2guy28

There is no coolant leaking, the only thing that is leaking is the oil out of the dizzy. Which I have the O-Ring that I bought for my coupe that I had, so I am just going to use that one to fix that.

axis11

Are you overheating or you're just assuming you are overheating?

Ej2guy28

Considering the guage does not work inside the car I am unable to tell if the car is actually overheating. The engine and upper radiator hose gets really hot to the touch, while the radiator and the lower hose is cold. With the coolant not circulating, I am assuming that the engine is running hot! I was talking to a couple of our techs here, and they said to remove the thermostat(although this is a commercial truck dealership, maybe it works on the big trucks)! Is that something that I could do to my car to see if the coolant starts circulating? Or what else can I do?

axis11

If you are not loosing the coolant in anyway, you are fine. If you are overheating, coolant and steam would be all over the place. Winter is keeping your thermostat closed to keep your engine temp at optimum levels.

Ej2guy28

Well last night I let the car idle for about 10 minutes to see if the fan came on, and it did not. Although it was 29 degree's outside, but if a car is idling...the fan should come on to keep this engine coolant cool. I am thinking that there is a bigger problem. You think that maybe the block is stopped up with that sealant?

axis11

My radiator fan kicks on at about 95*C. Thermostat starts to open at about 80*C. Let the car run at about 2K rpm until you hear the fan run or you see steam. Others have run their car at idling without the fan coming on. Or buy one of these to know the exact coolant temps and stop panicking.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Round-1-5V-D...item416731489f