My main radiator fan started making noise and went out, so I replaced it, but now it seems I have a new problem which may have been caused by the failed fan. Has anyone experienced this??? My fans do kick on and off, sometimes sporatically. Also - when my car hits half way on the temp gauge, the air conditioner craps out and blows hot, and most times once this happens, the temp shoots toward HOT right away. Sometimes when the car is HOT, I can just rev the motor some and temp will go back down. Car will stay over half way on temp, even when the fans are spinning. Sorry about the long post, but I wanted to be thorough.

Any help is appreciated greatly. - Mike


[Modified by MIKEGSR95, 9:07 PM 7/9/2002]


[Modified by MIKEGSR95, 9:07 PM 7/9/2002]

 

when was the last time you flushed your coolant?

 

A month ago..

 

To clarify, I drained the coolant and re-filled it..

 

you should try getting it flushed and have them pressure check your radiator for any leaks while they are flushing it. You also might have a messed up thermostat.....thats an easy part to check and replace if you do. I'd check that before I got it flushed...hav eyou noticed any coolant on the ground or in the engine bay at any point?

 

Thermostat was replaced in february.. but I have no doubt that it could have failed by now. I never lose any coolant. I only use the honda coolant etc...

 

i think it must be your radiator if your fans work ok now....your car is old enough to see the radiator fail.

 

That was replaced last summer... It still looks perfect..

 

sounds like you got everything replaced but yet you still have a problem. Just cause its been replaced doesnt mean its not broken again. Is your water pump working?

 

That I don't know... It (should) be working, it was replaced about 30 K miles ago..

 

Mine did this, but instead of my a/c not working...it was my heater....try to bleed the coolant...just a thought.

 

anybody else? I'm just gonna take out the thermostat completely and see what happens..

 

Ok, I took out the thermostat... It STILL overheats!! There is pressure in both the upper and lower radiator hoses, and radiator is full of coolant.. Both fans are spinning and it wont cool..

 

could be the waterpump going out, that might explain why when you rev the engine the temp goes down because it's spining the pump faster

 

is the water moving?...if it's not bled properly it won't flow...take the radiator cap off...(cold engin of course) and start the car and let the fans kick in...watch your temp also...but when the fans kick in watch for the movement in the radiator.

 

Bleed it by leaving the cap off??

 

no sorry. You can also check for water movement. if you have any obstrucktions...like rust or air pockets, it will stop flow. then bleed it.

 

how do i bleed it though...

 

I cranked it up, while it still had a little heat left, no pressure in radiator though, and let it run without the cap... it ran about 45 seconds or so then the coolant started surging out of the hole about 4 inches high or so then i shut it off...

 

Since you replaced the thermostat already, and the hoses looks fine and your fans work. It could be one of the two:

1.) Water pump

2.) radiator cap (A bad radiator cap will also make the tempature rise and overheat, it is most overlooked replacement item when a car overheats. You should defintely get a new radiator cap first and put it on. If it still overheat, I would replace the waterpump next.)

 

 

Is your water pump leaking?

 

A bad radiator cap will not allow pressure to build in the cooling system. IF the radiator cap is bad he will notice that the hoses aren't as "firm" as they should be when the car is hot, and the overflow bottle will have a LOT more fluid in it than it should. IMHO if the cap is bad it should be fairly obvious.

I think he really should try bleeding it again. The BEST way to bleed the system is to purchase a special funnel from either Matco or Snap On. Both carry a special funnel that is designed to hold coolant and screw on to the top of the radiator. This way you can run the car up to full temperature and allow the thermostat to open, rev the car a few times... open the bleader screw... and allow all the air bubbles to make their way out of the system. This method also makes no mess because you have a huge funnel on the top, and makes it nearly idiot proof to fill the system properly.

Also I would be tempted to replace the thermostat again.

I'm not so sure the water pump is bad... I haven't seen the design of ours, but if it's the "normal" metal impeller that I've seen on nearly every other car that I've worked on... then it really CAN'T break. Basically it has a metal shaft that goes to a metal impeller. Neither of those parts break easily... in fact I would say that unless an object went though it... it's fairly impossible to break. The only things that are likely to go bad in a water pump are bearings and seals. The bearings you will hear if they are bad, and the seals will leak if they are bad. All this goes out the window if Honda was crazy and did a "Mazda" and made the impeller plastic or REALLY low grade metal.

BTW- Removing the thermostat on some cars will actually REDUCE it's ability to cool and will CAUSE the car to overheat. If coolant is flowing too quickly through the system, it will not have enough time to transfer the heat from the block to the coolant... also the same applies to the radiator... if the coolant is moving too fast there isn't enough time for the coolant to be cooled down before returning the to block. In other words in a good # of modern day cars... it's not a good idea to remove the thermostat.

Good luck,


[Modified by Brian_TII, 11:05 PM 7/10/2002]

 

this is how I bled mine...car cold....opend the bleder valeve should be on the block near the top radiator hose....open it and procede to pour coolant into the radiator...when there is a steady stream then it's bled. cleose valve. if I'm wrong my bad, but it worked for me. hope it helps.

 

That is how you bleed that portion of the system, that should work ok, but if you want to make sure you get the absolute best bleed... you can do it the way I mentioned. Basically all you do is run the car until the thermostat opens with the radiator cap off. Then you rev up the car a few times the whole time keeping the coolant level full. Without the special funnel, you WILL make a mess all over the place because coolant will want to bubble out, etc...