azciviclx98

Ok, first I am female so please be kind. I know very little about cars. I has a relatively new radiator (replaced with in the last year), new thermostat, sensor, thermostat housing (my boyfriend broke it trying to replace the thermostat) some pipe behind the housing (it had a hole), and water pump. The mechanic, a guy that lives upstairs says the head gasket is not craked or warped. The water still doesnt circulate in the radiator and the hose on top is hot, the one on the bottom is cold. I know someone will lecture me for not going to a real mechanic, but I can't afford it right now. It is possible he has put the water pump on wrong. He says he bleed the lines. I don't know for sure. iT IS STILL OVERHEATING PLEASE PLEASE HELP

motegicivic

Does it always overheat?

You might have a clogged heat core.

shadow4510

If the water doesn't circulate and there's no leaks its either a bad thermostat or air in the cooling system, you can park the car on an angle and remove the radiator cap and let the car idle for like half an hour to make sure there is no air in the system. If the water pump was bad then there should be a leak (thats what i was told). Does the radiator fan come on?

CivicBlacksheep

Sounds like your radiator is clogged

00_EKHatch

Step one: Remove thermostat, then put everything back together without thermostat and purge system of all air.

Step two: See if it still overheats, if so refer to step 3, if not then purchase new thermostat or leave it out.(Not recommended to leave it out)

Step three: Get a block tester kit from Autozone on the free rental tool program and test the antifreeze for exhaust carbons. This test is conclusive, so if you have even a small leak on the head gasket you will find out. If this test shows negative then go to step four

Step Four: Drain cooling system into a container that you can use to re fill the system(thinking you are using new antifreeze and not straight water). Check and flush radiator if necessary. If it does not flow water and appears to be clogged then find a local radiator shop that can "service" and clean the radiator, usually this is about half the cost of a new one. If this still doesn't fix it then refer to step five.

Step five: Take that bitch to a shop or pour gasoline on it and light it with either a road flare or RPG.

azciviclx98

Thank you so much for responding to my post. I will have the "mechanic" do all of those suggestions. I have read everything I could find and even printed out diagrams of the cooling system. I had a feeling that either the water pump is defective (the hot hose on topcold on bottom) but I have never seen anything leaking or the guy didn't properly flush the radiator and get all the air out. I will post the results. Oh yeah, the fan seems to be ok now. It wasnt coming on, the guy said there was a short or something? He ground it? Sorry, I am learning. You guys are awesome.

Texas4door

Yeah, if that thermostat is correct and new, then there's air in the system
Purge it
Good luck!
^^

96dxcrapbox

your t stat is not opening if your lower hose stays cold

Texas4door

Which could be caused by a big air bubble up against it, not heating the thermostat, and therefore no thermostat opening.

Marvin1985

iTrader: (5)

I bet your boyfriend used to much rtv around the water pump or something and it's clogging the t stat.

azciviclx98

He didnt do anything more after he broke the thermostat housing. A man that lives upstairs from me is a "mechanic". I think you are all right. On this site someone gave step by step instructions on how to flush the cooling system and get all the air out. I wrote it all down and will stay with this knucklehead and make sure he does it exactly like the instructions. Again, you guys are so awesome. I have been driving my bfriends Chevy Tahoe. It has some kind of Vortex engine (?) and I have spent over $300 in gas over the last few weeks of driving me my mother and my son all over town. I want my Honda back. By the way, what is RTV?

94EG8

There shouldn't be any RTV around the water pump at all, they use an O-ring style gasket, no additional sealant is necessary (or recommended)

Room Temperature Vulcanizing silicone rubber. Essentially rubber sealant used in place of, and sometimes in addition to paper gaskets.

Btw, when does it overheat? At idle? While driving? Does the idle bounce around? Does it have heat? Also how has it overheated to the point where the needle hit the H?

azciviclx98

The heat works sort of I guess. I live in Arizona so while it is pretty cold in the am, it warms up by noon. The heater takes hours to start blowing warm air and honestly, it may just be because it is warmer outside. I was driving on the freeway. When I got off the exit ramp, at the light I noticed the gauge was at hot. I turned off the car until the light changed and rode my clutch and coasted as much as possible to the first place to pull over. Not far. The car was HOT. I waited unil it cooled and some guy at the restaurant put water in the radiator. I intended to put fluid later. What was weird was that as he was putting water in, it would occasisonally spit up out to the radiator. The water would go in, but every few minutes it would spit or cough out water (I dont know terminology)

94EG8

If you're not getting heat that's a pretty good sign that there's air in the coolant. Like others have said, bleed the coolant. Basically part the car on a hill with the front end facing up, remove the rad cap (use a couple of rags if it's at all warm to cover the cap to prevent burns when remove the cap, remember it may be under pressure. run the car and watch the rad, if the coolant level drops and some as necessary. When you stop getting bubbles and the fan has cycled on and off it's bled, remember to put the cap back on.