Coolant system Burst after new radiator and bleed.
06-11-2017, 01:29 PM
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Radiator replaced, idle CEL and overheating? HELP
Hello all, my car is a 2000 EX civic, D16Y8
First of all, my radiator has had the infamous plastic tank crack for a couple weeks. I just made sure to top up the coolant every couple days to keep up with the loss, and the resevoir never reached the low point as far as I know. But other than that everything was working fine. No CEL, no problems with the car. It was even cooling like normal even on long drives and hot days.
i just ordered a replacement DENSO radiator, installed it properly as far as I know, wasn't very hard, i thought I was doing great. I hook up all hoses, take the cap off to burp the system, and turn on the car. I wait and watch the engine for a couple minutes, getting ready to add more coolant, but strangley after a minute or so the level never went down. I go bavk into the car and see the heat level is well over what it had ever been in the past, just sitting in the garage. PLUS I HAVE A CEL!! I read the code and it was a p505, sonething about idle, suggesting an intake sensor. But the idle didn't really seem abnormal, but it could have been, because it usually idles up and down based on the temp of the car, and it could have been doing that I guess.
i turned off the car, disconnected the battery for a sec to clear the computer to try and see if that would help it work better. I started tge car again, let the temp rise to opperating, this time it seemed to stay at normal temp for a while, but i noticed i had never seen tge fan come on after i replaced the rad. I waited a while until it ststed to creep past normal temp snd killed it. The fluid from the top of the open radiator was steaming, the level still unchanged. No CEL this time. I thought that maybe my fan motor is broken or something, so i find the fan swith connection, and jump it with a spare wire, and boom it come on. Rules out a lot of stuff, but leaves a lot of questions.
UPDATE: I figured i needed to bleed the system so i jacked up the front of the car, turned it on with high heat and everything, squeezed the hoses to push out bubbles. The coolant would do this thing where it would bubble up and way out of tge radiator. Like the level would be 2-3 inches out of the radiator into my funnel, (luckily it was a pretty tight fit so i didnt loose much.) And then voilla the fan came on! And the level went back to normal, and I'd add some more, and tje level would rise up again like before and continue the cycle. I did this until the coolant started to melt the plastic bottle i was using for a funnel (~30 mins) I turned tge car off (without adding the cap, i realized later)
i then drove to my girlfiends house, 15 minutes, heat guage behaved fine (like 6 in the afternoon so a little cool outside). Then to the movies, still fine. But on the way home, like 3 minutes from my house, i noticed a sudden spray on my WINSHEILD and immediatley smelled coolant. I finish my drive home and the cat never got hotter than it should have. I then open my hood to see my engine just took a BATH in coolant! Like someone just poured it everywhere. Not only that, the whole front of my car, even down my fron doors and fenders had lines of coolant. UGH. I quick washed it off to protect my paint, the whole time racking my head for what i could have done wrong. I look at the overflow resevoir and the level is just where i filled it, not even overflowed. WTF. I take the rad cap off, cannot see the coolant level in the radiator, I'm thinking it must be almost empty. It didn't look like a hose had burst, or that the rad cap had been bad (not that i really know how to tell)
i am gonna look around early this morning before i decide that i dont have a ride to work because my car isnt fit for transportation. If anyone has any ideas it's greatly appreciated, i tried to include as much info as possible, so it ended up a little long, so thanks to those of you who actually read the whole thing.
please help if you can!!!!
First of all, my radiator has had the infamous plastic tank crack for a couple weeks. I just made sure to top up the coolant every couple days to keep up with the loss, and the resevoir never reached the low point as far as I know. But other than that everything was working fine. No CEL, no problems with the car. It was even cooling like normal even on long drives and hot days.
i just ordered a replacement DENSO radiator, installed it properly as far as I know, wasn't very hard, i thought I was doing great. I hook up all hoses, take the cap off to burp the system, and turn on the car. I wait and watch the engine for a couple minutes, getting ready to add more coolant, but strangley after a minute or so the level never went down. I go bavk into the car and see the heat level is well over what it had ever been in the past, just sitting in the garage. PLUS I HAVE A CEL!! I read the code and it was a p505, sonething about idle, suggesting an intake sensor. But the idle didn't really seem abnormal, but it could have been, because it usually idles up and down based on the temp of the car, and it could have been doing that I guess.
i turned off the car, disconnected the battery for a sec to clear the computer to try and see if that would help it work better. I started tge car again, let the temp rise to opperating, this time it seemed to stay at normal temp for a while, but i noticed i had never seen tge fan come on after i replaced the rad. I waited a while until it ststed to creep past normal temp snd killed it. The fluid from the top of the open radiator was steaming, the level still unchanged. No CEL this time. I thought that maybe my fan motor is broken or something, so i find the fan swith connection, and jump it with a spare wire, and boom it come on. Rules out a lot of stuff, but leaves a lot of questions.
UPDATE: I figured i needed to bleed the system so i jacked up the front of the car, turned it on with high heat and everything, squeezed the hoses to push out bubbles. The coolant would do this thing where it would bubble up and way out of tge radiator. Like the level would be 2-3 inches out of the radiator into my funnel, (luckily it was a pretty tight fit so i didnt loose much.) And then voilla the fan came on! And the level went back to normal, and I'd add some more, and tje level would rise up again like before and continue the cycle. I did this until the coolant started to melt the plastic bottle i was using for a funnel (~30 mins) I turned tge car off (without adding the cap, i realized later)
i then drove to my girlfiends house, 15 minutes, heat guage behaved fine (like 6 in the afternoon so a little cool outside). Then to the movies, still fine. But on the way home, like 3 minutes from my house, i noticed a sudden spray on my WINSHEILD and immediatley smelled coolant. I finish my drive home and the cat never got hotter than it should have. I then open my hood to see my engine just took a BATH in coolant! Like someone just poured it everywhere. Not only that, the whole front of my car, even down my fron doors and fenders had lines of coolant. UGH. I quick washed it off to protect my paint, the whole time racking my head for what i could have done wrong. I look at the overflow resevoir and the level is just where i filled it, not even overflowed. WTF. I take the rad cap off, cannot see the coolant level in the radiator, I'm thinking it must be almost empty. It didn't look like a hose had burst, or that the rad cap had been bad (not that i really know how to tell)
i am gonna look around early this morning before i decide that i dont have a ride to work because my car isnt fit for transportation. If anyone has any ideas it's greatly appreciated, i tried to include as much info as possible, so it ended up a little long, so thanks to those of you who actually read the whole thing.
please help if you can!!!!
Originally Posted by Jack Murphy
Hello all,
First of all, my radiator has had the infamous plastic tank crack for a couple weeks. I just made sure to top up the coolant every couple days to keep up with the loss, and the resevoir never reached the low point as far as I know. But other than that everything was working fine. No CEL, no problems with the car. It was even cooling like normal even on long drives and hot days.
i just ordered a replacement DENSO radiator, installed it properly as far as I know, wasn't very hard, i thought I was doing great. I hook up all hoses, take the cap off to burp the system, and turn on the car. I wait and watch the engine for a couple minutes, getting ready to add more coolant, but strangley after a minute or so the level never went down. I go bavk into the car and see the heat level is well over what it had ever been in the past, just sitting in the garage. PLUS I HAVE A CEL!! I read the code and it was a p505, sonething about idle, suggesting an intake sensor. But the idle didn't really seem abnormal, but it could have been, because it usually idles up and down based on the temp of the car, and it could have been doing that I guess.
i turned off the car, disconnected the battery for a sec to clear the computer to try and see if that would help it work better. I started tge car again, let the temp rise to opperating, this time it seemed to stay at normal temp for a while, but i noticed i had never seen tge fan come on after i replaced the rad. I waited a while until it ststed to creep past normal temp snd killed it. The fluid from the top of the open radiator was steaming, the level still unchanged. No CEL this time. I thought that maybe my fan motor is broken or something, so i find the fan swith connection, and jump it with a spare wire, and boom it come on. Rules out a lot of stuff, but leaves a lot of questions.
This is as far as I got before i was interrupted. Please if anyone has any clues it would be greatly appreciated. I plan to replace the thermostat
First of all, my radiator has had the infamous plastic tank crack for a couple weeks. I just made sure to top up the coolant every couple days to keep up with the loss, and the resevoir never reached the low point as far as I know. But other than that everything was working fine. No CEL, no problems with the car. It was even cooling like normal even on long drives and hot days.
i just ordered a replacement DENSO radiator, installed it properly as far as I know, wasn't very hard, i thought I was doing great. I hook up all hoses, take the cap off to burp the system, and turn on the car. I wait and watch the engine for a couple minutes, getting ready to add more coolant, but strangley after a minute or so the level never went down. I go bavk into the car and see the heat level is well over what it had ever been in the past, just sitting in the garage. PLUS I HAVE A CEL!! I read the code and it was a p505, sonething about idle, suggesting an intake sensor. But the idle didn't really seem abnormal, but it could have been, because it usually idles up and down based on the temp of the car, and it could have been doing that I guess.
i turned off the car, disconnected the battery for a sec to clear the computer to try and see if that would help it work better. I started tge car again, let the temp rise to opperating, this time it seemed to stay at normal temp for a while, but i noticed i had never seen tge fan come on after i replaced the rad. I waited a while until it ststed to creep past normal temp snd killed it. The fluid from the top of the open radiator was steaming, the level still unchanged. No CEL this time. I thought that maybe my fan motor is broken or something, so i find the fan swith connection, and jump it with a spare wire, and boom it come on. Rules out a lot of stuff, but leaves a lot of questions.
This is as far as I got before i was interrupted. Please if anyone has any clues it would be greatly appreciated. I plan to replace the thermostat
Last edited by TomCat39; 06-12-2017 at 05:31 AM.
06-11-2017, 01:57 PM
#2
Re: Radiator replaced, idle CEL and overheating? HELP
What car?
06-11-2017, 04:21 PM
#3
Re: Radiator replaced, idle CEL and overheating? HELP
For all technical questions, the following information MUST be included in the first post: vehicle (year, make, model) and engine (if not stock, year, make, model, OBD type). Other pertinent information includes check engine light (CEL) codes as well as engine modifications, such as a turbo kit tuned at 18 psi or a specific throttle body, large injectors, big cams, etc. This information is absolutely essential because, in many instances, members wishing to help in a thread waste their time by posting detailed replies, only to find out the next day that the topic starter left out CRITICAL information. Please respect members wishing to help by taking the time to list or mention crucial information about your car.
Remove your thermostat, let the car idle to operating temperature, and see if you can see coolant flowing. If you can't, then you have bigger issues. When bleeding, make sure the front end of your car is elevated, either by jack stands, rolling ramps, or a hill and chocks. There's a page in the FSM for testing your fan switch, but I'm at work and don't have my FSM available. Unless someone beats me to it (*cough* @TomCat39 *cough*
), I'll try to post the pages for you in a few hours.
06-11-2017, 05:08 PM
#4
Re: Radiator replaced, idle CEL and overheating? HELP
Don't worry, I won't be posting any FSM page until car information is posted.
I mean what's the point of posting honda info for a chevy blazer or whatnot.
I mean what's the point of posting honda info for a chevy blazer or whatnot.
06-12-2017, 01:33 AM
#6
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Coolant system Burst after new radiator and bleed.
Hello all, my car is a 2000 EX civic, D16Y8
First of all, my radiator has had the infamous plastic tank crack for a couple weeks. I just made sure to top up the coolant every couple days to keep up with the loss, and the resevoir never reached the low point as far as I know. But other than that everything was working fine. No CEL, no problems with the car. It was even cooling like normal even on long drives and hot days.
i just ordered a replacement DENSO radiator, installed it properly as far as I know, wasn't very hard, i thought I was doing great. I hook up all hoses, take the cap off to burp the system, and turn on the car. I wait and watch the engine for a couple minutes, getting ready to add more coolant, but strangley after a minute or so the level never went down. I go bavk into the car and see the heat level is well over what it had ever been in the past, just sitting in the garage. PLUS I HAVE A CEL!! I read the code and it was a p505, sonething about idle, suggesting an intake sensor. But the idle didn't really seem abnormal, but it could have been, because it usually idles up and down based on the temp of the car, and it could have been doing that I guess.
i turned off the car, disconnected the battery for a sec to clear the computer to try and see if that would help it work better. I started tge car again, let the temp rise to opperating, this time it seemed to stay at normal temp for a while, but i noticed i had never seen tge fan come on after i replaced the rad. I waited a while until it ststed to creep past normal temp snd killed it. The fluid from the top of the open radiator was steaming, the level still unchanged. No CEL this time. I thought that maybe my fan motor is broken or something, so i find the fan swith connection, and jump it with a spare wire, and boom it come on. Rules out a lot of stuff, but leaves a lot of questions.
UPDATE: I figured i needed to bleed the system so i jacked up the front of the car, turned it on with high heat and everything, squeezed the hoses to push out bubbles. The coolant would do this thing where it would bubble up and way out of tge radiator. Like the level would be 2-3 inches out of the radiator into my funnel, (luckily it was a pretty tight fit so i didnt loose much.) And then voilla the fan came on! And the level went back to normal, and I'd add some more, and tje level would rise up again like before and continue the cycle. I did this until the coolant started to melt the plastic bottle i was using for a funnel (~30 mins) I turned tge car off (without adding the cap, i realized later)
i then drove to my girlfiends house, 15 minutes, heat guage behaved fine (like 6 in the afternoon so a little cool outside). Then to the movies, still fine. But on the way home, like 3 minutes from my house, i noticed a sudden spray on my WINSHEILD and immediatley smelled coolant. I finish my drive home and the cat never got hotter than it should have. I then open my hood to see my engine just took a BATH in coolant! Like someone just poured it everywhere. Not only that, the whole front of my car, even down my fron doors and fenders had lines of coolant. UGH. I quick washed it off to protect my paint, the whole time racking my head for what i could have done wrong. I look at the overflow resevoir and the level is just where i filled it, not even overflowed. WTF. I take the rad cap off, cannot see the coolant level in the radiator, I'm thinking it must be almost empty. It didn't look like a hose had burst, or that the rad cap had been bad (not that i really know how to tell)
i am gonna look around early this morning before i decide that i dont have a ride to work because my car isnt fit for transportation. If anyone has any ideas it's greatly appreciated, i tried to include as much info as possible, so it ended up a little long, so thanks to those of you who actually read the whole thing.
please help if you can!!!!
First of all, my radiator has had the infamous plastic tank crack for a couple weeks. I just made sure to top up the coolant every couple days to keep up with the loss, and the resevoir never reached the low point as far as I know. But other than that everything was working fine. No CEL, no problems with the car. It was even cooling like normal even on long drives and hot days.
i just ordered a replacement DENSO radiator, installed it properly as far as I know, wasn't very hard, i thought I was doing great. I hook up all hoses, take the cap off to burp the system, and turn on the car. I wait and watch the engine for a couple minutes, getting ready to add more coolant, but strangley after a minute or so the level never went down. I go bavk into the car and see the heat level is well over what it had ever been in the past, just sitting in the garage. PLUS I HAVE A CEL!! I read the code and it was a p505, sonething about idle, suggesting an intake sensor. But the idle didn't really seem abnormal, but it could have been, because it usually idles up and down based on the temp of the car, and it could have been doing that I guess.
i turned off the car, disconnected the battery for a sec to clear the computer to try and see if that would help it work better. I started tge car again, let the temp rise to opperating, this time it seemed to stay at normal temp for a while, but i noticed i had never seen tge fan come on after i replaced the rad. I waited a while until it ststed to creep past normal temp snd killed it. The fluid from the top of the open radiator was steaming, the level still unchanged. No CEL this time. I thought that maybe my fan motor is broken or something, so i find the fan swith connection, and jump it with a spare wire, and boom it come on. Rules out a lot of stuff, but leaves a lot of questions.
UPDATE: I figured i needed to bleed the system so i jacked up the front of the car, turned it on with high heat and everything, squeezed the hoses to push out bubbles. The coolant would do this thing where it would bubble up and way out of tge radiator. Like the level would be 2-3 inches out of the radiator into my funnel, (luckily it was a pretty tight fit so i didnt loose much.) And then voilla the fan came on! And the level went back to normal, and I'd add some more, and tje level would rise up again like before and continue the cycle. I did this until the coolant started to melt the plastic bottle i was using for a funnel (~30 mins) I turned tge car off (without adding the cap, i realized later)
i then drove to my girlfiends house, 15 minutes, heat guage behaved fine (like 6 in the afternoon so a little cool outside). Then to the movies, still fine. But on the way home, like 3 minutes from my house, i noticed a sudden spray on my WINSHEILD and immediatley smelled coolant. I finish my drive home and the cat never got hotter than it should have. I then open my hood to see my engine just took a BATH in coolant! Like someone just poured it everywhere. Not only that, the whole front of my car, even down my fron doors and fenders had lines of coolant. UGH. I quick washed it off to protect my paint, the whole time racking my head for what i could have done wrong. I look at the overflow resevoir and the level is just where i filled it, not even overflowed. WTF. I take the rad cap off, cannot see the coolant level in the radiator, I'm thinking it must be almost empty. It didn't look like a hose had burst, or that the rad cap had been bad (not that i really know how to tell)
i am gonna look around early this morning before i decide that i dont have a ride to work because my car isnt fit for transportation. If anyone has any ideas it's greatly appreciated, i tried to include as much info as possible, so it ended up a little long, so thanks to those of you who actually read the whole thing.
please help if you can!!!!
06-12-2017, 05:34 AM
#7
Re: Coolant system Burst after new radiator and bleed.
It sounds by your two posts that you've overheated your car a time or two. Quite likely the head has warped and you are now pushing compression gasses into the cooling system which over pressurizes the system and one of your hoses split spraying coolant all over.
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06-12-2017, 06:49 AM
#8
Re: Coolant system Burst after new radiator and bleed.
Find and replace the blown part, likely it is one of the hoses. Then refill and bleed. If you find that coolant gushes out of the radiator when you rev the engine cold, it's almost certainly a blown head gasket.
06-12-2017, 06:52 AM
#9
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Re: Coolant system Burst after new radiator and bleed.
I discovered a small pinhole in my upper coolant hose this morning
I went to autozone and picked up a new one and installed it, with a new gallon of coolant bled to the best of my ability using the same method as before
I just drove to work and everything seems to be fine so far. As for overheating the car, It's never been anything abnormal while driving. The highest I've seen it get was in my last post when it was sitting in the garage, and that was just under half the gauge.
I've done a compression test in the past and got all normal numbers. I don't think I have a bad head gasket but I could be wrong
I went to autozone and picked up a new one and installed it, with a new gallon of coolant bled to the best of my ability using the same method as before
I just drove to work and everything seems to be fine so far. As for overheating the car, It's never been anything abnormal while driving. The highest I've seen it get was in my last post when it was sitting in the garage, and that was just under half the gauge.
I've done a compression test in the past and got all normal numbers. I don't think I have a bad head gasket but I could be wrong
06-12-2017, 07:02 AM
#10
Re: Coolant system Burst after new radiator and bleed.
Did you install a new radiator cap with the new radiator?
The spring & plunger in the radiator cap is what holds a specific pressure in the cooling system whenever temperature is rising. If the cap is working correctly, the system CANNOT go over a normal pressure no matter what the temp reaches. During an overheat event with a properly functioning cap, the reservoir will simply overflow and make a mess as the over-expanding or boiling fluid pushes it's way out past the cap.
If you still have problems with the system after replacing the hose, buy a new OEM cap. They are about $20. The OEM cap is the best you can buy. Don't buy an aftermarket high-pressure cap or you may face more broken parts.
The spring & plunger in the radiator cap is what holds a specific pressure in the cooling system whenever temperature is rising. If the cap is working correctly, the system CANNOT go over a normal pressure no matter what the temp reaches. During an overheat event with a properly functioning cap, the reservoir will simply overflow and make a mess as the over-expanding or boiling fluid pushes it's way out past the cap.
If you still have problems with the system after replacing the hose, buy a new OEM cap. They are about $20. The OEM cap is the best you can buy. Don't buy an aftermarket high-pressure cap or you may face more broken parts.
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