Jaydo

Well, ill try to explain as best as i can. I took my zc crx in to the shop cause she kept overheatin and boilin out the resovoir(dont think its a blown gasket cause i see no oil in coolant/no coolant in oil plus the zc only has about 50k on it from hmotors) . They replaced, the altanator belt, 2 heater hoses, radiator cap, thermostat, riged the fan to stay on when the key is on, and did a flush(For some weird reason he puts a 75to 25% coolant to water even though we live in south Oklahoma). i drive off and dont even make it to corner till it overheates. I take it back to the guy and he says that he has to replace the thermostat again so i come back the next day and he explains to me that my crx is suppose to have a 160 degree thermostat but he says he has trouble finding one so he gets a 185 degree from autozone He says that "the temp gauge may go up about 3/4 since its a higher degree thermostat but itll go back down to normal once open" . So i drive off and everything seems ok. i got about 10 miles north of town to ride my friends 4 wheeler the go about another 10 miles or so west to the lake and everything seems ok. i stay at the lake for like 4 hours and start heading back into town, but before i hit the interstate, bam, the gauge is near red. I pull over at loves and notice the top hoses is really hot and bottom is cold whcih i was told is a symptom of a stuck thermostat. well, we spend about a hour or so there. We took of the cap and started her but as soon as u put it on, it overheated. So we pull the drain plug and put pure water in just in case the 75% percent collant thing was the problem and we let it idle with no cap. It bublled of course and still ovheated when cap is on. We let it idle with cap on and the idle air control vavle start acting up making the cars idleing go up and down but, for some odd reason, the temp slowly goes down. We drive it and it overheats AGAIN. Ok, its about midnight and we were gonna leave the crx there but we wait til it cools of and put some more water in it and it works for some reason. I drive it home safley. Does anybody know if he problem was a air bubble. They say purge it out and the bubble should be gone but, i hate to say it, i really dont know how. Not to mechanicly inclined. Or could it be another stuck autozone thermostat. If so, why would a brand new thermostat stick. could it e the wrong one cause the mechanic could be wrong, it would be his first time, or the 185 degree is wont work. Or either the water pump or the headgasket/ warped head.(from what i hear, water boiling out from the resovoir is a sign but im just hoping its not). I know the topic is long, but im in real desperate need for help. your help is MUCH appreciated. Dont know if this matters but the car is a 90 hf with a DOHC zc I/H/E. Thanks

vitrox

try to just take out the thermostat and put the housing back together, you'll have fluid flowing through all the time, see if it overheats. I noticed you haven't replaced your water pump.. try that if all else fails. If there is any air at the thermostat, it will not open.. Take the thermostat out and put it in a pot of water on the stove and watch it to see if it opens when heated.

thats all i got.

UltimX

iTrader: (1)

h2o pump also. I would also suggest 50/50 ratio instead of 75/25. On my old civ, the cap was torn to ****, i replaced the water pump and it ran fine even though the cap was torn up. Look at kragens or auto zone and look for a water pump and thermostat for a a6. They should have the right degree. I would also suggest the no thermostat and hook it back up. Also, ... i just lost what i was goin to say... but try thos. I think i was going to say that the water pump looked fine when i took it out, just a little rusted. So i replaced it and it worked. Try water pump and no thermo with check in boiling pot of water before u buy a new thermo.

civicdxzc

That sounds oddly familiar to what happend to my zc. The problem for mine was an untightened overflow hose. everytime i turned my car on it gradually sucked air in until a bubble was created then it overheated. Check that hose and then bleed your system.

DXDOHCVTEC

^^^All good advice to check it in order I would
1st take out the thermostat run it without one with 50/50 and run the car while your filling it to get all air out. if it overheats still put the thermostat back in get one the is lower temp its better off. If it doesnt over heat there is your problem.
2nd if it still overheats then it is probabaly the water pump.

How many miles are on the engine/water pump?

Also when you get it figured out I would say it would be a good idea to change the oil.

LudeEFv2.4

Is the radiator in good shape? Sounds like it's clogged. When you said the bottom hose was cold but the top one was hot it kinda made me wonder, ya know? Water pump also could be fucked.

ThatRicerDaniel

i would say flush all the bubbles out. just take the cap off and let the car run while putting water in untill all the bubbles stop comming out.

civicdxzc

the bubles wont stop coming because the waterpump makes too much comotion. There will walways be a little bubblage.

UltimX

iTrader: (1)

I would also dump the antifreeze in a bucket. Do a water flush and see if the radiator is clogged.

SoLowCRX

I would have to say these are your options. Clogged radiator (not too likely), bad water pump (most likely), hairline crak in head or block (always a possability, compression temps would go out of combustion chamber through crack right to coolant.) Keep 185 thermostat in. Thats not the problem.

Jaydo

Thanks for the help guys. I will try alot of things u guys recommended and let you know how it works out. Also, is there a way to tell if your water pump isnt working properly

Jaydo

Well, i boiled the thermostat in water and it opened so its good. I forgot to mentiion that before i took it to the "cheap" mechanic, i took it to a pretty good shop in town for a system coolant check. The techs said it was either 2 or 3 hoses, i forget. But would this check identify if the problem was a clogged radiator, a defective water pump, and a broken/ leaking headgasket. Or does it just see if the problem consist of a cracked hose or messed up thermostat.

UltimX

iTrader: (1)

What do you mean 2 or 3 hoses?

Kasper.

okay just so you guys know, in most all cases ESPECIALLY on our cars when you have a bad water pump it will leak externally mainly because the seals are pushing out of one the pump pulley.

just fyi......not to say thats always the way it happens just a more common coincidence.

it really sounds to me like youve got a radiator/air in the system problem.

Even though its hot....have you checked to see if youve got heat??? alot of times if the air pockets are big enough you wont get any flow to the heater core and it wont produce heat. Or it could be just that = your heater core, most likely not and im spitting out ideans now but it could be clogged, but in most cases when the heater core gets clogged its aluminum fittings will break and youll get a water leak inside the car.

Id just take it back again and make sure they get all the air out of the system there are certain ways to do it and somtimes it may take a good long time....just depends on the heatlh and age of the cooling system.

Jaydo

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by UltimX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What do you mean 2 or 3 hoses?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I believe the upper and lower radiator hose.

Now, i got the thermastat off and next i plan on purging the system free of air. So in order to do this, i put thermastat back on, fill the radiator with water and start it with no radiator cap on. is that the proper way to do it or am i miising anything cause i want to do it right. Thanks

vitrox

there should be a bleeder valve near the thermostat housing (i think, its been a while).. looks like a bleeder valve for your brakes.. but its for the cooling system.. just open that up a bit, then start pouring antifreeze in the radiator until it starts to come out of the valve. Then close the valve and start the car up with the cap still off.. make sure your heat is turned on inside the car to full. let the car run until you do not see any bubbles inside the radiator. Fill as necessary, you will see the water levels drop repeatedly, thats air coming out of the system and filling with water.. just keep adding antifreeze until the levels no longer drop. Then you should be good.

Jaydo

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vitrox &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">there should be a bleeder valve near the thermostat housing (i think, its been a while).. looks like a bleeder valve for your brakes.. but its for the cooling system.. just open that up a bit, then start pouring antifreeze in the radiator until it starts to come out of the valve. Then close the valve and start the car up with the cap still off.. make sure your heat is turned on inside the car to full. let the car run until you do not see any bubbles inside the radiator. Fill as necessary, you will see the water levels drop repeatedly, thats air coming out of the system and filling with water.. just keep adding antifreeze until the levels no longer drop. Then you should be good.

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Well, i looked everywhere and dont see anything that resembles a bleeder vavle by the thermostat housing. I also looked in my hanes manual and couldnt find it. Is there any other sure way to get the air out.

crx_88_si

with the cap off the rad let it warm up, keep the RAD topped up at all times, once in a while you will see a bubble come out and the rad level DROP. refill to the rad neck quickly.

you might have an air bubble trapped in the head somewhere. the reason you let it warm up comlpletely is so the t-stat opens and lets the bubble out. keep checkin the rad level and fillin it up until the fan comes on and goes off.

Also, make sure the heat select is on COLD. My Cavalier was doin this last week. be fine 1 momment and over heat like a **** the next. Heater core solved the problem.

UltimX

iTrader: (1)

Wrong place man. Stand right in front of the car. Where the top radiator hose is, it connects to the engine. Right there is a valve on top of it. Open that up.

Jaydo

Ok, we flushed and flushed, but its still overheating. But, i did notice something. Is the bottom radiator hose suppose to be cold. Also, when we drained the radiator after the car had been ran, the collant/water was cold for the first 5 seconds or so. My bud said this could be a faulty water pump. Is that true. Thanks agian for the help guys.

UltimX

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by UltimX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">h2o pump</TD></TR></TABLE>

like i said. Buy one and swap. It sounds like it is the pump but it could be a clog also. Sometimes the pump looks good just oxidized but its the problem. Just replace it, fill it, and see if it over heats.