d16trexin

okay so i been having trouble fight this overheating problem now for 2 weeks. i have a 89 crx si with a d16a6. when it first ran hot on me 2 weeks ago i pulled over and looked everything over and noticed that my lower radiator hose was not getting hot,so i assumed the thermostat was not opening. i replaced it with another one test drove it and it still ran hot. so then i thought maybe it was just a bad thermostat, so i took it out and ran no thermostat test drove it and still overheating lower radiator hose is still not getting hot which i totally don't how it couldn't be because the coolant should be constantly flowing. I then thought maybe the water pump was bad and wasn't pumping the coolant through the engine properly i replaced it and test drove it with and without a thermostat and still overheats. i have wired my fan up to a switch and is on the whole time im test driving it trying all these different test. i replaced the headgasket like a week before i started having all these problems no white smoke out of the exhaust at all. there is no coolant in oil or oil in coolant. im am bleeding the system when i fill the radiator. i am totally stumped and so frustrated with this. if the coolant tempeture sensor under the dizzy go bad would that cause me to run hot? that the only other thing i can think of i did change it out like a month ago because i had hard cold starts and was hoping by replacing it would fix it but it didn't. but the tempeture sensor i got was out of a car at the junkyard so it might have been bad. can anyone think of anything else because i am totally stumped and i really need to be able to drive my car to work and ****. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!

dr_latino999

Have you checked to see if coolant is actually flowing out of your radiator, and for that matter flowing out of the engine into the radiator? Some sort of blockage in the radiator could potentially bring the whole system to a halt.

mangina

clogged radiator?
are the fans coming on?

d16trexin

so would i just pour fluid in the top and see if it comes out the lower hole? also what about the coolant tempeture sensor underneath the dizzy if that was bad could that make me run hot?

d16trexin

I have the fan wired to a switch it is on the whole time



so i tried poring water into the radiator to see if if it flowing out of the drain hole at the bottom and it's flowing out fine so i no the radiator is not clogged. i also put my oringinal coolant tempeture sensor that's underneath the dizzy and i test drove it an still the same thing the tempeture seems to only creep up when im setting still( this is with no thermostat and the fan constantly on) but if i kinda punching it it drops right back down to where it's suppose to be. anything else people im totally out of options. also my heat works fine so i know it's not the heater core

d16trexin

bump anyone?

shaggyeg6si

Are the fins straight on the radiator? Is the airflow to the radiator clogged by leaves or debris? A definite way to tell if your radiator is clogged is to get a infrared thermometer and take readings from the center and the sides. A variance of 10 degrees or more means you should probably change out your radiator.

RVD9431

do a leakdown test, see if theres an internal leak. Also try flushing your radiator out, just cause you pour water into it and it drains fine doesnt mean its not clogged in other areas.

sanimalp

Do you by any chance have your heater core removed and your coolant lines blocked off? If you do, you need to unblock them and loop them.

Just a thought, but i have seen 3(!) other threads about cars constantly overheating, and the end result was they removed their heater core and didn't loop the lines.

d16trexin

heater core is still hooked up

crx22

So lemme get this straight....

The upper hose is hot correct?
The lower hose is cold.

You replace the coolant temp sensor...the one with 1 wire?

When you open the cap on the radiator is the coolant down ie loosing coolant after a test drive?

716pro

↑HG, again?

crx22

Yep if there was a cracked head, warpage etc.
Hell something could of gotten into the jackets take a water hose with the tstat housing apart and flush through the block and see if the lower hose is flowing free, then if not start back tracking through the system from there. Just make sure you run your coolant mix strong when you put it back in because of the water in the system. Sounds like he has pretty much replaced everything that normally fails and it should be getting some heat in the lower hose when the t-stat opens.
The temp sensor for the gauge can act funny like that (thats the one wire under the dist.) but im guessin thats the one he replaced.

d16trexin

yes the upper hose is HOT like it's supposed to be and the lower hose is cold with no tstat at all. you say the coolant tempeture sensor is a 1 wire sensor? the one was talking about was the 2 wire 19mm sensor under the dizzy. are you talking about the needle looking sensor because if you are no i have not touched or replaced that sensor but even it it was bad i think the car is definitly still running hot because when it starts to run hot and i pull over the over flow tank starts to fill up up so i don't think the gauge is just going crazy or anything. does 1 wire sensor do anything other then send readings to the gauge cluster. also what is the two wire sensor then that i was talking about because on i was looking on autozone website and searched for it t came up with the two wire snsor

ef-hatchcrap

Head gasket again did you torque the head properly? My buddy had the same problem even though we did a hg like a month before.

d16trexin

can someone post the proper torque specs so i can compare them to what i torqued the head to?

d16trexin

so i ran another test i took the upper radiator hose of the the head and the lower off the thermostat housing and took a garden hose and flow water throughthe opening at the head full blast and it flowing out of the thermostat housing good. so does that tell me that the there is no clogs in the engine anywhere. so im guessing that maybe the water pump might have been defective possibly what do yall think? also what is the proper tourqe specs so i can compare to what i did when i tourqed the head down

hybridmiklo

water pump taking a crap on you? Probably not even moving coolant around? Fill up the radiator and start the car with the cap off. Look inside the radiator and confirm that coolant is moving.

d16trexin

when it's moving around should it be like gushing around because so it not basically i can't tell if it's moving around if the water pump was working right should i definitly be able to tell if it's moving around just by looking at it

d16trexin

i put a new eg radiator in and the lower hose seems to be getting hot but still running hot and the water at the top of the radiator is not gushing around it kinda sitting still

tony7626

i have the same prob on my b16, if i sit in traffic it will overheat. one day i had to sit for a while, probably 30 mins and when i went to move again all my coolant burt out, i noticed my needle was at red and i now am in the process of changing my head gasket, thermostat, and im going to get my head checked for warpage as well. let me know if you figure it out!

d16trexin

so today i got a z6 headgasket put it on got everything back together started it up and and water is leaking into the cylinders some how my oil and coolant looks like a chocolate milkshake. so at this point im pissed i take the head back off all four cylinders are full of water i cleaned everything out made sure there was nothing in between the head and gasket and block and gasket put everything back together once again start it up and i notice the water and oil mixture is pouring out of the back of the block im guessing where the head meets the block. im so frusterated i've never had this much trouble in my life for something so simple. does anyone think my head is warped but even if it was warped a little would it be pouring out like it is. is the anything special you have to do with a z6 headgasket on a d16a6? im so tempted to just get rid of the motor im tired of putting money into this ****.

tony7626

take a straight edge to your head and see if you can see any light going through. that shoud give you an idea as to if its warped or not. if it is only slightly warped you can get it milled.

716pro

So you wasted another HG, why didnt you get a straight edge and some feeler gauges and see if it was straight? It must be warped.

jimbo89

Your throwing parts at it before you have diagnosed the problem which is a bad and expensive way to fix things.. You haven't verified that the car is overheating for sure which is the first step in strategy based diagnostics. Verify the problem FIRST!
-If a coolant sensor goes out it will not cause the car to run hot, it will just cause the gauge reading to be off or not work. Sensors are really easy to check if you have a multimeter and a manual you can look a spec up in. Same thing goes with your gauge.
-When someone says the water pump goes out it means seals are going out (leaking), or bearings are going out (squealing or seizing). It does not mean that the pump is not creating flow which is VERY unlikely. And because your car only overheats in certain conditions (sitting still) it means that there is coolant flow, there just isn't enough heat being exchanged in the radiator.
-You replaced your full size radiator with a half radiator and now your lower hose is getting warm, so you have diagnosed that your old radiator did have a restriction and was not flowing properly, but you have replaced the original radiator with a smaller heat exchanger. There is enough air flow when moving combined with the fan's flow to cool the engine, but sitting still with the half sized radiator with the fan alone does not provide enough cooling for the engine.
-Chances are when you changed the head gasket you contaminated the system with something that clogged the radiator since the problem started around the time you changed the head gasket.
-Oh and its very unlikely a warped head will cause overheating, overheating causes warped heads though, which causes milky oil. But judging by the your bad luck with head gaskets I would say your doing something wrong during installation, either not torquing the head properly or you putting the gasket in wrong or something..
-I would suggest getting jdm crate engine in your car so you know it is a good engine, and have a certified mechanic do you engine work from now on..
Good luck with your problem!