92redhatch

i have a b16 in my 92 civic cx with a t3t04e and after about 10 minutes of driving the engine temperature starts to rise. i have the stock radiator. is there anything i can do to fix this without having to buy another radiator. or do i have to buy a dual core radiator? I know having a turbo kit makes the engine hoter but i didnt know if was going to make the temperature rise to really high temperatures. If anyone knows a solution it woould be greatly appreciated.

thanks

urbansi

Was the coolant recently changed...bleeding the coolant is a good step when replacing the coolant or after a new radiator install to prevent over heating.

92redhatch

i heard that from a family member of mine. i took off the cap on the radiator and turned on the car and let all the air bubble out. but still after all of that it still over flows and sprays all over the engine bay. is there anything else i can do to bring down the temperature?

HiProfile

If its actually spraying, its more than simple heat-soak from exhaust to radiator. Sounds more like a blown headgasket. Try this: let the car cool down completely (overnight), take off the rad cap, start the car, and watch the radiator filler. If you start seeing bubbles constantly once its warmed up, thats a symptom of a blown HG. If its spraying violently, its either a badly blown hg, or headlift. Do a compression test just in case.

92redhatch

it only sprays when i beat the hell out of the car. the car has new arp head bolts and a new head gasket.

petty$rep

maybe you need an aftermarket radiator.

does the car overheat when you drive normal, or just when you beat the hell out of it?

92redhatch

when i say it sprays i mean it sprays out of the radiator cap area. I heard about a 160 degree thermostat does would that help?

92redhatch

if i drive normal the temperature stays perfect. when i floor it a few time the temperature goes to the middle of the guage. and the more i floor it the higher it will go. I know eventually i need to buy an aluminum radiator but i just wanted to see if there was anything else that would help it.

petty$rep

check out the entire cooling system: thermostat, radiator, water pump, etc.

i don't know if the 160 degree thermostat would keep the engine from overheating, I WOULD THINK that it would just help the engine warm up faster from a cold start. but i dont know.

if everything in the cooling system checks out i would say get an aftermarket radiator. Its always good to have especially when boosting an engine.

good luck, i had the same problem a while back, it turned out to be a busted radiator

craigbrk

mines always in the middle of the gauge lol thought it was normal

mike1114

iTrader: (1)

start simple, is your lower rad hose getting hot? If not, your thermo could be sticking.

Are your fans working?

This is not the sign of a radiator not being efficient enough. There are plenty of people who run OEM half rad with no problems, me being one of them, 17psi daily driven.

92redhatch

could it be that the thermostat is sticking? i have no oil in the radiator and no water in the oil of my engine so it cant be the head gasket.

PrecisionH23a

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92redhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it only sprays when i beat the hell out of the car. the car has new arp head bolts and a new head gasket.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You have a blown headgasket, toasted pistons, your fans aren't kicking on, or a stuck thermo.

I've had several cars with blown headgaskets that yielded good compression tests and neither had oil/coolant mixing with one another. Basically what happens is when you boost the pressure from the cylinders is leaking into the coolant system and overpressurizing the system. This increased pressure is causing coolant to spew out and temps to skyrocket.

Do you have any fuel management on the engine at all?

92redhatch

i have an fmu. the car is on 6 psi. the car has been boosted for a total of 1 week. before that i had no problems. i took of the radiator cap and bled the cooling system. also when i took off the radiator cap and accelerated the car it would suck in the water and after a few seconds it would spew out. im going to check the thermostat later on today. and the water pump is a ctr and its working perfectly fine.

92redhatch

i checked earlier today and the fan is not kicking in.

PrecisionH23a

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92redhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i checked earlier today and the fan is not kicking in. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Do this... hotwire the fan to make sure it still works. Meaning run a power and ground to the plug. If it does kick on, start the car and let it run for about 10-15 min. Monitor the coolant temps... the fan should kick on around the time the thermostat opens up. Leave the radiator cap off while doing this to release the air pockets inside of the system. After you start to see the coolant flow in the radiator (tstat opens) cap the radiator. If the fans don't kick on after this, replace your coolant sensor on the tstat housing or inspect the wiring there.

92redhatch

thanks i think that might be the problem. but if the thermostat doesnt open up will the fan still turn on?

PrecisionH23a

Depends on if hot or cool fluid is at the tstat housing.

If you aren't sure if the tstat is opening up you can remove the thermostat then run the engine to make sure the fans kick on.

Make sure though to pump the coolant line going to the thermostat in order to get the fluid flowing in that line.

92redhatch

as soon as i get home from work im going to check it out. the hoses seem to be pretty hot so im guessing that water is going through them.

92redhatch

i just touched the bottem hose on the radiator and its not hot at all. the car was off when i checked but the top hose was hot.

b00steds0l

its either the fan switch, or the t-stat.

lower rad hose wont be as hot as the top one will, but it should heat up some. You can always pull the thermostat, put the housing back together, bring car to operating temp, and watch the fan to see if the sensor is telling it to come on when it sees hot coolant.
Or put the t-stat in some hot water and see if it opens up...
Or just wire your fan to an accessory lead.

92redhatch

i was missing the fuse for the fan. so i fixed that. and my radiator has a huge crack in it so im going to buy a 94 del sol radiator tomorow to fix that problem. i was driving after i fixed the fuse and the car doesnt heat up that much anymore. when i really floor the car for a while then the temperature will rise to the middle of the guage but it doesnt go any higher than that. i heard the del sol radiator is a little thicker than the civic radiator is that true? i also heard the ek radiator is also bigger but i have a friend with a 1996 civic hatch and he has the same size radiator as me.

01geeser

ebay has good deals on the dual core radiators. i think i got mine for like 50 shipped.

92redhatch

no way find me that deal and ill buy it right now!

HiProfile

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 01geeser &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ebay has good deals on the dual core radiators. i think i got mine for like 50 shipped.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Same here, cept I used it in my EF.

Here's the seller I think I got mine from. Shipped fast, cheap, the auction says 1" core. Its actually a single core that's twice as long (one wide tube vs two narrow tubes), which is a good thing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...QrdZ1


As for the t-stat, a lower temp stat will run the engine cooler, and it will take a *little* longer for it to overheat. THe problem is that you haven't fixed anything (assuming original t-stat works), and you may be running the engine too cold. I also wouldn't advise running w/o a t-stat, as that will let the engine get much too cold. Clearances get all messed up with cold sleeves, which is why all mpfi cars idle high when they're cold, to heat up fast.