cainalan03

So i just sold my 99 Civic EX, dude calls me after getting home and tells me its over heating. /facepalm

So i when i decided to sell it i want to replace something to make sure it wa sok to sell.

I put in a new thermo, new water pump, timing belt etc...

Its not leaking any where noticeable, i changed the oil about 500 miles ago, there no was no milky color, not droplets of water, just dirty oil. There is no white smoke coming from the tailpipe which tells me the head gasket is probably ok.

I know the fans work becuase the person before them test drove it and popped the hood when they got back....

So New water pump, new thermo, no white smoke, no droplets in oil, no smell of coolant inside (thought the heater core might be leaking) so what the heck else could it be?

I feel awful for selling him a car with a problem so i am trying to get this resolved as soon as possible... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

-Cain

cainalan03

And before i get toasted for it, i did search for overheating issues... all the post i found either didn't have a definate answer or it was something i have already replaced. I don't want to have to throw parts at this car until it stops considering i sold it to someone else. i'm hoping someone on here has had the same problem and is nice enough to give me some advice to save me time, money and *** pain.

VPUPPY

Did you properly bleed the system after you replaced all the cooling related parts? To do this, you need to start the car and leave the radiator cap on loosely. Before this, make sure the radiator is full and that the engine is cold before you open the radiator cap. If the car is warm or hot, you can get seriously burned so wait until the car is cold before you open the radiator cap. Let the car run at idle and allow the cooling fans to kick on twice while the radiator cap loosely on. Also, you want to move the temperature setting inside the car to it's hottest setting while doing this procedure. Once this has happened, you should top off the coolant in the radiator until it reaches the bottom of the fill neck. Also, make sure the overflow level is correct.

I would attempt this again before anything else. Also, I'd advice against driving the car until you have this squared away before it causes engine damage.

cainalan03

Yes everything was bled correctly. even after getting everything put back together i let it sit and run for about 30 minutes, then drove it about 5 miles home.... made sure i let it rev up more than normal to try to produce more heat.... needle stayed perfectly level...

Now, since my post two different people have told me on hondas such as mine, the AC AND radiator fan are supposed to kick on any time the AC is swiched on. In my case the AC fan kicks on, but the radiator fan does not.....

Now before every points at the radiator fan, i did see it kick on when i drove it home after working on it and i seen it on when the person test drove it and brought it back....

So i am stumped.....Please help....

random-knight

i had a problem with my fan to... i changed it and put a new fuse in it... but i didnt hear it kick in yet :S
i check everything and its all good...
i havent had it over heat yet tho... :S

Ruben19

could be a defective thermostat.

st0xafella

man i have the same probelm..but my fan is connected directly to the battery and i have no termostat..so my engine should be runs pertty cool right??but its not it overheats at a spot light....all the time..no white smoke no milky color under my oil cap..and oil was done about the same time..300 miles ago..im so bumed!!!

subtleshift

so im basically having the same problem...after driving my car up a mountain road it began to overheat and when i popped the hood the overflow tank was boiling...

i filled it with water, i blurpped it and everything, did it with the heat on and the heat off multiple times, and let the fan switch on once, i revved it up a bit to let the engine heat up and to make sure that the water-pump was cycling the water...gave it a while, I noticed the water bubble up a bit, then drop down (i think thats the thermostat opening) and topped it off, as well as topped off the overflow tank...

well after driving back down the mounting it started to over heat again...popped the hood, water was boiling again, and after it cooled down it took a ton of water again because it bubbled out..

after a few repeats of this i finnally got home, and went to bed...then i went to turn it on this morning to slowly drive it to school, i topped off the water which was low (not empty) and started the car and was greeted with a pleasant CEL...

anyway...no white smoke, no milky oil...any ideas...im hoping its just a thermostat, but has anyone had this problem and found the remedy?

st0xafella

danm that sux..u should replace ur thermostat..check ur hoses..is it leaking?..i have this problem still..i found out the thermostat connecting pipe was rusted in the ends..i replaced it and it stoped leaking..but still over heating..ive done everything but replace the head...i heard that if u get the head resurfaced more then 3x it intends to over heat.....hope this help out in some way..

subtleshift

yeah i need to take some time and check all the hoses, waterpump, thermostat, thermostat housing, etc...i really hope it ends up being something easy like the thermostat...i really didnt want to spend my swap money on a new cooling system...eek!

st0xafella

man f this..im droping a rebuild d16y8 in my car...lol

subtleshift

id do that, but at that point why not source a b18c...i mean if you already have the block and stuff out...

id do that too, but i want the mileage to match the odometer, and dont feel like dropping the block.

st0xafella

wel im geting the y8 for $500..thats really my budget..and its my daily driver

subtleshift

thats not bad...for 500 it better be mint though..you said it was built right?

st0xafella

rebuild/refreshed..im geting it from labjunkies.com..firdt time buying from them..

subtleshift

thats not bad, it will be nice having everything freshly machined and milled w/ new gaskets...id want to drive that car to see if it was noticeably smoother than mine after i rebuild it!

gwl

Do a search on labjunkies. Some people have horror stories dealing with them.

n/ahonda97

well i am glad i came accross this. i am having a b#@ch of a time getting my setup to run normal. i had to rebuild the motor used a d16y7 block with my y8 head, new hd gasket, water pump, t-belt, tens. ect. now when i first started the car and test ran it in the driveway it ran like a top. had to do some normal adjusting of some stuff.

i took it out for some normal drive runs around the nieghborhood, some stops, and then it happened it overheated, then took me an hour to start it and get it home. now i have the white sweet smoke....so i know at this piont the hd-g is f$%ked. i still can not figured out the issue.......i went over this thing with a fine tooth comb, did a crap load of troubleshooting and still this cooling problem.

with the thermo in, the guage went hot. with the thermo out the guage read normal but the motor still overheated...........i am really hoping someone can give me some tips or piont me in the right direction......my machanic will look at it later this week
HELP!!!HELP!!!HELP

subtleshift

im no expert, but it sounds a little like your block, head, or both might be warped, which could cause those symptoms...

did you check the block and head with a feeler gauge before your build?

n/ahonda97

just checked the head and block....the head is good but the block deck at #4 cyl is alittle off square. i wanted to what a safe tolorence is for the deck. obviously it's got to be square, but i am wondering with a good head gasket will it run ok for a bit. i can't spend any more moiney on this f#$in thing......anyone have a good d16 block they can sell me..lol