Ohmster

I have a 1995 Honda Civic Del Sol with 199.9K miles on it. It is a good car and I want to keep it. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed the car was running rough on the way home from work, it wanted to stall at every red light. I glanced at the temperature gauge and saw it pinned at H so I stopped the car in the left lane by the railroad tracks and looked under the hood. My upper radiator hose had blown a 1"x2" flap wide open in it and the water was gone. I got AAA to tow me home and my friend brought me over an upper and lower radiator hose, plus a gallon of antifreeze. I changed both hoses, filled the car with the antifreeze, it took almost the whole gallon and was done with it. The next day or so, I noticed it running a little hot and so I had to add quite a bit more water, perhaps there was an air bubble in the engine somewhere. Now it ran great though, no apparent engine damage.

I work about 15 miles from home, some highway, some State Roads. When I got all the way to work this morning, I heard a knocking sound at Dunkin Donuts by my job. I checked the oil and the sound was not steady, not sure what it was. I never remember to look at the temperature gauge. On the way home from work today, the car was running poorly and about 7 miles later, I see the oil light come one, the check engine light, and then finally notice that the temperature gauge was way pinned at H. I pulled off the road into a gas station and checked the coolant. Coolant was bubbling out through the hose into the collection bottle but did not seem to be leaking from the engine.

I opened the radiator cap and steam came out and added water from a gallon jug. The water filled quite a bit of the engine then started turning immediately to steam. After adding water and waiting, I got the radiator filled and the car started and it had cooled down to normal levels, temperature gauge in the middle. Checking for leaks I could not find any. I got on the highway and took it easy with the air conditioning off and the windows open and the car seemed to do alright. As I was getting hot and the car wasn't, I turned on the air conditioning and kept cruising home. The temperature gauge started climbing again. At red lights, the gauge was just below H (The gauge does not get red until you pass the H), not good, this is too hot. I am close to home but not in a good neighborhood so I pull over at a gas station. There is not much I can do here, the car is not pinned at H and home is pretty close so I cut the air conditioning, open the windows, and cruise home slowly, keeping an eye on the temperature gauge the whole time. It would run right below the H, when I would turn a corner and accelerate, it would come down to almost normal levels, leaving me to believe that there might be air in the system.

I am home now and have to do something with this car, this is how I get to work. Is there a thermostat in this car and should it be removed or replaced? This is Florida and it NEVER gets cold here, maybe a tiny bit chilly two days out of the year. Could this be a bad thermostat and if so, where is it located? Should I remove it and not even put it back in again? What other things could cause a seemingly good car to overheat like this? The water appears to be moving in the radiator, leaving me to believe that the water pump is working. I need help fast as the stores are only open for a couple of more hours and I must get to work tomorrow.

Can someone please give some suggestions, pictures, diagrams, details, URLS and links, anything to help me with this at all?

Thank you all so much,
Paul

hatchling37

The water neck that the lower hose goes to is where the thermostat is. Unbolt the neck and remove. Check the gasket for tears or other damage- I've reused all the gaskets on thermostats that I've changed on Honda's. There should be a little breather tab on the inside of the thermostat, make sure that that little thing is at its highest point when you put the neck back on (towards the hood). You sound like it's got a bubble- you might just need to burp it properly. Fire it up and take off the radiator cap. Let it warm up and then squeeze the lower radiator hose. Keep squeezing it until you no longer see bubbles appearing. Then you merely shut it off, top off your coolant and fill your reservoir. Another way is to leave the cap on and undo the bleeder screw while the car is running. It's located on the neck of the upper radiator hose. It's a little banjo bolt on that housing. Good luck.

Ohmster

hatchling37,

I think you are right about the bubble thing. It really seems that way because it will get pretty darned hot, almost over the red H, then turn a corner and accelerate and it drops to normal or close to it. That has to be a bubble in the system. I bought the Chilton book for this car (Waste of money) and they show a diagram, yeah, that is where it is, in back of the engine. I have a 10mm socket, 1/4" ratchet, and a couple of small extensions, might need to pickup a universal joint just to be sure I can get at these bolts.

I really cannot see anything" wrong" with the cooling system so maybe you are right about the bubble thing or that the darned thermostat is just sticking. I don't know, it is an old car, 119K miles and I have had it for about 2 months now. It is getting dark and I have to go to work in the morning. I will burp the system as you suggested for tonight and see if Advanced Auto Parts has a thermostat for it. If not, I will go to
Cam Import Auto Parts. I just called Advanced, they got it for like 8 dollars. I will go and get the thermostat, gasket, and enough of that blue stuff for one gasket job and another gallon of coolant. It pisses me off to see the last gallon of 8 dollar coolant gone now so I will see if I can do this tomorrow, too late for it now.

I will run it with the cap off, get it hot, keep squeezing the bottom hose till no more air bubbles come out. Keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow and then tomorrow night, change the thermostat and add coolant again. Man I lost my glasses and went back under the hood, there they were, on the ridge by the rubber hood seal, not smashed.

So give me a rundown on what to do for changing the thermostat if you can please/

Drain the system
Pull the lower hose from where it meets the engine
Take out the two 10mm bolts
Remove the thermostat
Scrape or clean the surfaces if necessary
Install new thermostat
Coat new gasket with blue RTV stuff and put on new gasket
Bolt it all back on
Put hose back
Then fill with what, water to test it or just go ahead and fill with the gallon of coolant?

Then how do I burp this thing once and for all?

Thanks, you have been a big help. On my way to Advance Auto Parts now.

Paul

Ohmster

Okay, here's what I did. I bought a new thermostat from Advance along with a new gasket and some gasket sealer, although I was assured I would not need this, a gallon of antifreeze, 1 1/4" universal joint, and some cooling system flush.
I took the cap off of the radiator to let out what little pressure there was from running to the auto parts store, then removed that "banjo plug" you were talking about at the bottom of the radiator. The cooling system emptied pretty fast that way.

I changed the thermostat and put the new gasket on it. Strange gasket, it had a slit all around the inside of it where the flange of the thermostat goes and it sits real tight in that gasket. I put that part into the engine block with "the little tiny hole and brass plug" at the very top like you said, it fit right into place. Bolted it all back together, 2 10 mm bolts is all that holds it on.

I filled it with water and started it up and ran it for a while, adding more water as necessary. Then I squeezed the bottom hose a few times until it did not produce any more bubbles and topped it off. Shut off the engine and finished topping it off. Cleaned out the reservoir and added water to the fill marks. Now I will take it to work tomorrow, all the while watching that darned temperature gauge, to see if everything is okay. I will be on the watch for bubbles and add more water if necessary.

If I make it to the weekend like this and all seems good and solid, I will do the flush thing, empty radiator, add flush, run to get it hot, empty it, refill with water, run to heat it, empty, and then refill with real coolant and if there is anymore room, water.

This seems like a pretty good plan and I will let you know how it goes, I am like that and will fill in the blanks as I go along.

Thanks hatchling37.
Paul

(Now I have to find the post where I asked for help with the door handles. I got the handles today and they went in like a breeze, just like that 15 year old kid said it would and he deserves a big THANKS for that.)

tx_ej8_49

If it still overheats, you prolly have a headgasket problem. Lucky for you, you own a civic/del sol. Headgaskets on most honda/acuras are easy and cheap.

Make sure your fans are turning on with a/c on at cold starts and with a/c off at normal operating temp.

Ohmster

tx_ej8_49,

Oh yeah, I did not check the fan, I will do what you say and make sure it is working. That is something really important and I did not check that. Thanks for the tip, buddy. If anyone has more fan tips, post away, I will be doing this tomorrow and again on the weekend. Thanks all!

I found this '95 Honda Civic Del Sol, 119K miles, in the paper for $2,500 and that was more than I had to spend but I borrowed the money from mom and got the car, it looked really good, seemed like the original owner, and it did run great. Only thing wrong was paint peeling on the hood (This is Florida), 1 small dent on fender, horn and cruise control don't work, and it needs tires. Other than that, it looked and ran really great. This is my car now and I take good care of it. Put new tires on it, changed the clock spring myself with help from here to fix horn and cruise control, got the clock spring on ebay for $21 instead of the dealer $326. Changed the VSS with help from here and even the broken door handle/inside lock. This car has to be fixed and I will take good care of it.

I did what I said in my last post and this morning on way to work, the temperature was completely normal the whole way. Got to work and then had to come home in the heat of the late afternoon. I drove the whole way with the air off and the temp stayed perfectly normal. I then switched on the A/C when I got closer to home and the temp gauge stayed perfectly normal. All of this with plain water in the cooling system. No overheating, no knocking, nothing bad at all. I am cautiously overjoyed. If it stays good like this till the weekend, I will add radiator flush and follow the directions to flush the cooling system, clean with fresh water, then add coolant again. I took great care to get out any bubbles like hatchling37 said and really am having great success with it.

No crap, this is a dammed good car, man. I had a 2,000 Honda Civic before that I got for my girl at the time and although it seemed like "a girl's car", it did run really well, everything always worked, it ran great, was easy to fix, a regular dream car to have, so that is what made me buy the Del Sol when I saw it. Heck, $30 or less will completely fill the tank and I can go to work for a week on that. The car is a dream come true. It has a V-Tech engine in it, not sure what that is but it is supposed to be something good, has a 4 speed automatic transmission though. That is okay because it is a pain to drive a stick when you are going to work with a cup of coffee in your hand.

I really think the car is going to be alright, no strange noises, no more overheating, oil is good but should change it now, overheating an engine is not good for the oil. Will flush cooling system and fill with coolant this weekend if all is well.

Has anyone had any experience with cooling system flush? Is it a good thing to do with a 119K mile engine? Is this something I should do or no, just drain the water and add coolant? The gallon of coolant just about fills the entire system, maybe a couple of ounces left in the gallon when added, then have to check the next day for bubbles and add more coolant and water. What do you guys think about flushing the cooling system, good idea or waste of time? Potentially harmful if it breaks chunks loose or not to worry and just do it?

Thanks for all of your help everybody, you guys sure do rock!

Ohmster
(Paul)


Modified by Ohmster at 6:06 AM 8/11/2007