Razr2

Sorry for the obnoxious title, but none of my threads seem to get insight from the big boys that I trust on this site.

My 2000 Civic Si.

Last week, my radiator sprung a leak. I went ahead and replaced the radiator and the thermostat.

I filled up the radiator to the top of the neck and the overflow tank as well. When I went to "bleed" the system by leaving the cap off, coolant immediatly begins rising out of the radiator and begins to pour out.. So I have to quickly cap it off.

I know many people say to bleed the system with the cap off, but I just can't do this without it pouring out. Others say it's normal to pour out.. So I don't know who to believe.

PLEASE guys all info is appreciated on this subject. Is it normal for the coolant to rise and pour out? Is it bad? Mind you, my coolant, and oil look perfectly clean.

Did I fill my radi and overflow tank the wrong way?

Also is it bad to drive with a blown headgasket (if it is that ) My car is not overheating, but what can happen from running with a blown HG?

Thanks guys.


EDIT -<U></U> After letting it run for 10-15 minutes at idle, I went back to check the exhaust and I noticed a bit of white smoke coming out. It's hard to see and you have to get close to really see it. Then I got down low and saw bubbles/water(?) inside the exhaust pipe. I quickly shut my car off and it was still putting out a little white smoke even after the car was off for 2-3 minutes.

This is what it looks like.





What do you guys think about this?



Modified by Razr2 at 12:26 PM 1/19/2008

VRD^don

its normal for it to pour out. i let mines pour out all the time everytime i change the coolant. let it get to operating temp. if your head gasket is blown, look for milky substance in your oil, radiator, valve cover. yes its bad for you to drive on a blown head gasket. lots of things can happen. warpped head/block, spun bearings, ect ect.

Razr2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VRD^don &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its normal for it to pour out. i let mines pour out all the time everytime i change the coolant. let it get to operating temp. if your head gasket is blown, look for milky substance in your oil, radiator, valve cover. yes its bad for you to drive on a blown head gasket. lots of things can happen. warpped head/block, spun bearings, ect ect.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So should I just open up the cap and let it pour out as long is it wants to? How long does it usually take until it will stop pouring out?

Will it eventually stop pouring out? What next?

I guess I will try that tomorrow and wrap some towels around it to absorb the coolant.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

If you had a blown head gasket, you would have seen a HUMONGOUS PLUME of white smoke. Like your car was a steam locomotive on over drive. That would be the coolant pouring into your cylinders. It would also smell sweet coming out of your exhaust. Your oil would be grayish/brownish. Your coolant would be discolored as well. It would look and smell pretty bad. You will have a a complete loss in compression in atleast 1 cylinder. The car will over heat and loose coolant VERY VERY fast.

If this did not happen, your head gasket is most likely fine. From what you described, your head gasket is most likely fine.


If you want to add in a flush/fill step, you have to drain the coolant by removing the petcock (hee heee) on the bottom of the radiator. Once all the coolant is out of there (make damn sure that the car is 100% cooled down), remove the drain bolt from the block. It is located on the block (duh) behind the header. It's a 19mm bolt. That will remove all the coolant from your block as well. Also, dump out the old stuff from the reservior. Put this in a container to take somewhere to be disposed of properly. I used to think that pouring it into a baby seal's mouth WAS recycling + hilarious. But it's illegal. So take it to jiffy lube or something.

I use the genuine honda coolant cuz I get it for free.99, and according to a lot of my Honda dealer tech friends, it does keep everything a lot nicer/cleaner. Mainly, I use it because it's blue and looks rad + I get if for free. Which is cheaper than the $8.99 for the green stuff. If you pay for it straight up, it's like $13.99. The bitch *** part is that you need 1.1 gallons. So you have to buy 2 bottles.

Anyway. To bleed your coolant after that, you:
1.) Put the radiator cap on to its 1ST STOP. 2 stops will close it completely. 1 stop will just kinda have it as a loose cap. (with the car turned off...it should be fully cooled since you're putting in new coolant anyway). Fill the radiator up till it stops burping out at you, etc. Fill the reservior to max. As you are filling, crack the bleeder screw open. It will help. Once the bleeder screw starts pouring a stream with no bubbles, tighten it up again.

2.) Turn on the car. Let it run till the fan comes on once or twice.

3.) Turn off the car.

4.) Take the radiator cap off. Refill the radiator till it's full again.

5.) Close the cap FULLY (2 stops).

6.) Turn on the car, and let it run till the fan comes on.

7.) Turn off the car. Refill the reservior tank if needed. To max.

8.) you're done. However, after you drive it, or do what you gotta do, let the car cool down again fully. Once it's cool, check the level in the radiator and reservior again and fill as nessacary.


It's all in your owners manual.

Wash off any spills before they leave that gross coolanty residue on your ****.

Razr2

B-serious - So are you saying that it's normal for the coolant to flow over with the cap off?

Also you kinda lost me on the bleeding part.

Put the radiator cap on to its 1ST STOP. 2 stops will close it completely. 1 stop will just kinda have it as a loose cap. (with the car turned off...it should be fully cooled since you're putting in new coolant anyway). Fill the radiator up till it stops burping out at you, etc. Fill the reservior to max. As you are filling, crack the bleeder screw open. It will help. Once the bleeder screw starts pouring a stream with no bubbles, tighten it up again.

This part kinda confused me..

And my fan doesn't kick on quickly at all.. I let my car idle and I drove it around for about 10 minutes and then let it idle again, and the fan still did not kick on.. But it go no where near overheating.. It stays right at 1/4 on the temp guage.

What do you reccomend I do?
I have the radiator full to the neck and the reservoir filled about half way. Should I drain it out AGAIN, and re-do it or can I bleed the system in it's current state. Also do B16's have bleeder screws? I didn't see one on the thermo housing.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Razr2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">B-serious - So are you saying that it's normal for the coolant to flow over with the cap off?

Also you kinda lost me on the bleeding part.

Put the radiator cap on to its 1ST STOP. 2 stops will close it completely. 1 stop will just kinda have it as a loose cap. (with the car turned off...it should be fully cooled since you're putting in new coolant anyway). Fill the radiator up till it stops burping out at you, etc. Fill the reservior to max. As you are filling, crack the bleeder screw open. It will help. Once the bleeder screw starts pouring a stream with no bubbles, tighten it up again.

This part kinda confused me..

And my fan doesn't kick on quickly at all.. I let my car idle and I drove it around for about 10 minutes and then let it idle again, and the fan still did not kick on.. But it go no where near overheating.. It stays right at 1/4 on the temp guage.

What do you reccomend I do?
I have the radiator full to the neck and the reservoir filled about half way. Should I drain it out AGAIN, and re-do it or can I bleed the system in it's current state. Also do B16's have bleeder screws? I didn't see one on the thermo housing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just re bleed it in it's current state. It's easier. I just figured you still had old *** coolant hanging out in the block, as you probably only drained the radiator.

Put your cap on till the 1st stop. It has 2 stops in it.

The FIRST TIME you feel resistance, you're at the 1st stop. Turn it a little past the 1st stop, and it will turn freely again. Turn it more, and it will COMPLETELY stop (2nd stop). At the second stop, the cap is fully on.

You dont want the cap fully on because you dont want it to build up pressure.

You dont want the cap fully off the radiator, because coolant will fly everywhere.

You just want the cap loosely on the filler neck.

Go out and do it, and you'll see what I'm saying.

If you have the cap at the 1st stop, it will not build pressure. The coolant/water will boil easier, and your fan will come on in about 5-10 min. It will kinda flow out a little bit and bubble and stuff. Put a rag around the neck to catch the overflowing coolant.

Dont rev it. Just let it idle.

Razr2

Okay, I see what you're saying now. Yea the coolant is fresh, only 2 or 3 days old.. and I also ran the hose through my engine so it's also clean.

So should I just not even mess with the bleeder valve, and just do it via the radiator cap?

Also I noticed that when I run my engine, the radiator pushed coolant into the reservoir, and after my car has sat all night, it goes back into the radiator. This normal?

Razr2

bump, just added more info and some pics.

lnyt9

i had the same problem on my civic ..but mines was when i stopped at a light smoke would come out ..and when drivenn no smoke at all...a shop said it was normal due to weather change...

jaypanEG6

i think its called vapor... all cars do it.

Razr2

So you guys think that looks like vapor/condensation...?

I'm going to start the car tomorrow during the day when the humidity will be lowest and see what it does.

Other than this I don't have any other symptoms of a blown HG, besides alot of pressure in my coolany system, but I guess that's somewhat normal.

boosted92hatch

another way to tell if your motor has a bad gasket is do a compression test. u can get a tester at any auto part store, but just cause the compression is bad dont definitly mean its the gasket, just could be. i always like to know how strong my engine is

Razr2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boosted92hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">another way to tell if your motor has a bad gasket is do a compression test. u can get a tester at any auto part store, but just cause the compression is bad dont definitly mean its the gasket, just could be. i always like to know how strong my engine is</TD></TR></TABLE>

So if the gasket is bad, the compression test will definitely show so in at least one cylinder right? Do you know if autozone will rent them out, or do you have to buy it?

What is the normal compression for a b16a2? What exactly should they be across all 4 cylinders?

I'll be stopping at autozone tomorrow.

boosted92hatch

just buy it, its a good tool for someone thats into tuning, they are only like 20.00 or 25.00 and yes one cylinder should definitly be lower than the rest. i doubt your gasket is bad, how many miles are on that thing