boosteddohczc

ok i have a 93 civic lx with a 00 civic si swap. last weekend i put 9.1 compression supertech pistons eagle rods arp head studs and a full turbo kit on my car. now ive built tons of motors for myself and people around town. Been building and tuning since 05. But anyway i have about 110 miles on the motor since i built it ive been tuning it with crome pro and tonight the temp gauge went a lil higher then the symbol in the middle. it normally sits just under the symbol so i pulled in my driveway and poped the hood and both upper and lower hoses were hot and had a lot of pressure in them. so i shut it off put a towel over the cap and lightly cracked the cap open to let the air out. once all the air was out i topped the antifreeze off and let it sit for about 2 hours with the cap off. then i went back out to see what would happen and it seemed fine so i drove around for like a hour logging and it never got hot but i was curious and pulled over and checked the hoses and they were full of air again but the temp gauge was still normal. so when i went home i checked the oil and it still looks brand new. (gold color with no milky look) so then i checked the overflow jug and it was fine. had the same amount of antifreeze in it that i put in it and the antifreeze in the radiator was still green.

now i just put this together so im really hoping its not the head gasket. i put a new radiator cap on it like 5 months ago and the thermostat is about just as old. before i built the motor it never did this so does anyone have any ideas? id really hate to pull it all apart again.

Dc4LsTeG

iTrader: (7)

Are you sure your fan is working. Doesn't really sound like a headgasket

boosteddohczc

may sound stupid but im waiting on my slim fan to come in the mail. i couldn't use the stock one cuz the turbo is in the way. now its still kinda winter where i live and i haven't let it sit and idle for to long. it should be getting enough air driving to cool it since im just driving on back roads to tune it right now. ive done this a few times on other cars and they never did this. my buddies turboed civic wago doesn't have a fan right now for the same reason but hes been driving it for a while like that and his never gets hot.

boosteddohczc

anyone?

boosteddohczc

well i guess ill try a thermostat tomorrow and see where that gets me for now till i hear more back on here.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

So you're running WITHOUT a fan? That sound smart to you? Oh, and if you don't have a shroud for that slimfan you WILL most likely oveheat.

boosteddohczc

no i dont have a radiator fan right now. while driving there is more air blowing threw the radiator the a fan can even blow so while moving it shouldnt b a problem. im not a noob to this, ive built and tuned 100s' of hondas and im a mechanic for a living.

anyway back on topic i boght a radiator cap today on lunch break and put it on and it still seems to make pressure, but the car hasn't gotten hot. im starting to think im gonna have to rip the head off it again and change the head gasket but i just built the motor 3 days ago so it seems a lil weird to me that it would be blown already. it also has arp head studs and its not a timing problem. i know to much ignition timing can blow head gaskets but im also not a noob to tuning. been tuning since 05. does anyone have any other idea before i rip the head off for nothing?

dpetro1

i would suggest bleeding the cooling system. but thats hard to do without a fan.

mayfly

so is it loosing coolant or is it just pressure build up

boosteddohczc

its not loosing fluid at all. and fluids are not mixing. it runs great but the top and bottom hoses get rock hard. i bought a radiator cap that has a lever on top that will open the valve to the resivore and thats how ive been letting the pressure out but if it was air bound id think that the air would be gone by now... ive even let it idle with the cap off till there was no more bubbles coming out. but once i drive it for a bit it builds pressure again??

boosteddohczc

well everything im reading on here is basicalysaying im leaking boost pressure into my water jacket... fml! guess im buying a headgasket and changing it tomorrow.

boosteddohczc

ok so i changed the head gasket the other night and its still doing the same thing. ive never had this problem and its driving me nuts... everything it torqued right and the block deck was perfictly clean. then i cleaned the hell outa the head. there ws not a drop of oil or antifreeze in or on the head. I put it all back together drove it around town for a few mins and then went hime cuz it was late. when i got home i poped the hood and checked the hoses and they were kinda pressurized then the next day i drove it and it did it again but not to bad. then today i drover it on a back road with a friend to show him what it was doing and it still ran fine but then i could smell hot antifreeze so i pulled over, shut it off and popped the hood and my resivor was overfull and sprayed all over in the engine bay... wtf is going on?? i work in a mechein shop so the next thing im gonna do is pull the head again and mill it like .005" and change the head gasket again but it seems kinda weird that its doing it again... what is going on????

OTDRacing

We had a crx in we used to race that did this, would run fine for a few laps and then it woudl start to run hot, bring it in, fans working, head gasket good, but would be overflowing. It was cavitating and creating air pockets in the system.We ellimnated the thermostat and it helped, but still occured somewhat. I will try and get in touch with the tech who work on it and see what finally solved the issue as I left jamaica before it got sorted.

solis153

Which water pump are you using???

crvtectim

You def need a fan. If you must drive without one, you should def remove the thermostat. But I would never beat on my turbo Honda without a fan on my radiator, regardless of the temps outside.

boosteddohczc

Just put a fan in. I haven't drove it yet but I'm betting it still does it, because i left my friends house to go home which is right down the road, the car was barely up to temp and it already had pressure in the hoses. The bottom hose was still cold because the thermostat hadn't opened yet and there was pressure in it already... wtf is causing this? Ive built tons of motors and never had this problem.

boosteddohczc

also its a oem stock replacement water pump and it works...

boosteddohczc

anyone?

OTDRacing

did you swap radiators by chance, if not are you sure that you are getting proper flow through the rad you have now?

bmg_customz

Just had a similar problem on my 95 hatch with a 91 d16a6 swap. The hoses would get rock hard while driving.....turns out that the stock d15b7 cooling system used a 16lb radiator cap while the d16a6 cooling system used a 13lb radiator cap. I couldnt find a 13lb cap that would work, so I took my 16lb cap apart and cut a coil off the spring, then heated and flattened the cut end so it would sit flush in the cap and put it all back together. So far, it works like a charm!!

boosteddohczc

well i pulled the head again yesterday and it was leaking cylinder pressure into the water jacket. it was clear as day on the head and gasket on cylinders 2 and 3. i work in a mechien shop so i brought the head to work and milled the head .005" and bought a genuin honda head gasket off a friend and put it all back together. i also put the stock fan back in. I had to trim the shroud it fits. when i first started tuning it i had to add like a scary amount of timing to get it not to break up and ive been talking to chris harris from xenocron and he said the leaking head gasket is most likaly the reason that i had to add so much but then it prob mad the gasket worse... now that i milled the head i was able t go back to 1 degree per pound and it doesnt break up anymore. kinda weid that i had no problems when it was all motor with ctr pistons but i hope its good this time. i seem to get a lil pressure in the hoses but not bad. i can squeeze them now before i couldnt even squeeze them. the pressure makes me nervous but i think im just overthinking it since ive torn it apart 3 times now lol... well thanks for al the replies and help. ill keep you gys posted on how it turns out.

boosteddohczc

ok so ive tuned it up to 15 psi and it runs great and pulls strong but now tonight i was cruzing around and noticed that it all of a sudden got rich... like my idle is now 12.6-12.9 and i had it idling around 14.5-14.7. then my light partial throttle (barely on the gas) sometimes drops to 11.8 but then it would change to 12.6 and then in full boost itll be 10.8-11.2, wtf is going on now?

boosteddohczc

ok ive already fixed that problem and said so if you read...

Turbo-LS

iTrader: (4)

Sorry bro its late but dont need to be a dick when people are trying to help.

ANYHOW - have ambient temps recently changed? Being that your in NH and im originally from CT im going to say yes? Check temp corrections for low throttle

Got traction

pressurize the coolant system and see if it leaks