92HB_HB

K i just took my turbo gsr on a long trip over night.. I recently replaced the teg radiator w/ a civic AUTO radiator because the teg rad developed a hairline crack on the top plastic end piece and would leak coolant..

problem is, when i stopped for gas, i noticed that my overflow tank filled up to the top w/ coolant... It wasn't boiling over, but just filled up to the brim.. I've got a fan on the radiator running constantly.. This was 99% hwy driving in 55-60 degree weather over night..

my temp gauge never went up , nor did i notice any other symptoms , so i'm kinda stumped on why the tank over flowed, since it never did when i had the teg radiator.. I"m assuming its cuz the civic rad can't cool down the coolant fast enough while cruising at hwy speeds..

I may be forced to pick up a PWR civic rad for better cooling, efficient flow, and space savings.. Help me out..

Finest

I would first look at any head gasket issues. There might be a small leak that will pressurize your coolant system and move it to the overflow.

Also, check the thermostat, maybe it's stuck open? Same with the radiator cap.

Otherwise, flush the system, fill er up and check everything again.

ATS*Mark

if it stays filled like that , it might just be overfilled . when it cools check the radiator , if its low and the tank is full , you got a blown headgastet most likely . same thing happened to me.

hatchback_al

is it normal the amount in the overflow to fluctuate sometimes? Sometiems mines right at full, sometimes a tad over, sometimes a tad under.

0xenocron

headgasket...

is there oil in your coolant or vice-versa?

if your car isnt overheating and your coolant is overflowing...something is pressurizing the system to a point it cant take care of...

does it do it even if you dont boost?

92HB_HB

i do see tiny droplets of oil in my coolant, and my overflow tank is somewhat lined w/ an oily residue.. Never had this problem when my motor was still stock.. I am getting kinda fustrated w/ my new motor and these little problems..

anyway, back to the coolant in the oil, its not to the point that its milky.. i did try to bleed the coolant the other night, and at idle i noticed that i had some air bubbling at the radiator cap and the coolant was " dancing " at idle too.. when i opened the bleeder valve by the head, the coolant level dropped a litle and i refilled at the cap opening.. also, when i revved ite motor a bit, the coolant overflowed a little out of the radiator cap opening... when the fan kicked in, the coolant dropped down into the radiator..

when driving around town, it seems fine, no overflowing or anything, nothing too major.. but when i'm cruising on the hwy for long periods of time, the problem tends to arise and i get worried.. i think the reason why i cracked my teg radiator the other week was because i was driving kinda hard on the hwy doing a few pulls and the coolant pressure and heat was too great that the plastic top of the teg radiator cracked and leaked coolant on my way home..

If this crap continues, i may just have to replace the HG, something I hate to do cuz winters coming and i dont wanna work on the car in the garage w/ freezing temps. I guess i just need a good 2nd opiniion on what the dam problem is... ie, a freakin leaking Cometic head gasket, ARRRGHH!!!!

THANKS for your input so far fellas..

JaredH

how about buy a cooling system pressure tester. pressurize your cooling system. see if it holds pressure. also there is a tool that is like a small *** turkey baster that has green liquid in it and while the car is running u have your radiator cap off and u suck up some air right around the rad. cap area (not coolant just air!) and it will change color if it gets any intake of combusion gases. that will tell u if ur head gasket is leaking into your cooling system. if those check out okay. try a new rad cap.

92HB_HB

alright, today i stopped at a rest area after a few hrs of driving around 80 mph.. when i pulled over and let the car idle, my temp gauge started climbing and went to about 1-2 o'clock.. (while cruising, it was sitting at the normal position..) So I turned the temp and blower to max to help cool the engine down, but the needle wasnt moving back to the normal position..

I then went to open the bleeder valve and hot air came spewing out of the valve for a good 30 seconds or so.. the overflow tank was also full again.. ended up pouring all the coolant back into the radiator and topped it off w/ a little more coolant..

I continued on my trip home for about 2.5 hrs and checked it again at a gas station.. this time, the overflow tank did not fill up when i inspected it.. so as you can see, this is getting really annoying...

Oh, and thanks jaredH, i'll look into those things u mentioned b4 i go ahead and open the motor up again..

Johnyquest

My car has been doing the exact same thing for a year and a half now. It started last winter... go figure - went away in the summer -- and began again when it started to get cold here again (<60 degrees).

Fills the overflow, residue in the overflow-- but coolant is clean, only happens sometimes... Compression test was perfect, yada yada yada. I don't know wtf it is. It mostly happens to me after highway trips as well, especially while driving on the higway. Then it stopped for the summer... now it's back. I just can't figure it out.

Changed out the t-stat twice, flushed the system, new water pump a while back, etc. Whenever it happens, though, the weird things is if you open the hood and feel the air coming out the radiator, it's cold... even though the motor is supposedly overheating. The top and bottom hose are hot as ****... but the air coming out is cold. That only happens when the car is doing it's overheating, though.

It's been perplexing me for a while now.

Matt

0xenocron

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92HB_HB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">alright, today i stopped at a rest area after a few hrs of driving around 80 mph.. when i pulled over and let the car idle, my temp gauge started climbing and went to about 1-2 o'clock.. (while cruising, it was sitting at the normal position..) So I turned the temp and blower to max to help cool the engine down, but the needle wasnt moving back to the normal position..

I then went to open the bleeder valve and hot air came spewing out of the valve for a good 30 seconds or so.. the overflow tank was also full again.. ended up pouring all the coolant back into the radiator and topped it off w/ a little more coolant..

I continued on my trip home for about 2.5 hrs and checked it again at a gas station.. this time, the overflow tank did not fill up when i inspected it.. so as you can see, this is getting really annoying...

Oh, and thanks jaredH, i'll look into those things u mentioned b4 i go ahead and open the motor up again..</TD></TR></TABLE>


Have you done a compression or leak down test yet?

92HB_HB

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xenocron &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Have you done a compression or leak down test yet?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah did a compression test already, came out pretty good.. 185-195 across all 4.. i may do it again to get more specific results since i forgot to write down the number individually.. as for a leak down, not sure how to do it yyet..

Finland

Put a new rad cap on it, or maybe even go to a 19lb cap.

92HB_HB

...then the rad hose would probably burst..

Johnyquest

...Changed my radiator cap twice. Didn't really solve anything. Did you try it? (other guy who started the post?)

Matt

Turbo E

your HG is blown garanteed.