tgraeter

okay so im new here and i have a problem with my damn engine. i have a 1996 honda civic, i believe the first year of the ek coupe, anyways ive had some issues with the cooling system hoses, i've busted one hose and blown a radiator (OEM) so its shitty. i did notice that the hoses were starting to get a bit rough looking, but im thinking blown head gasket. any suggestions?

mattliston

what condition is the cooling system at right now. leaks? hoses still need replacement? thermostat stuck and causing issues?

tgraeter

well when i first replaced the radiator there was **** in the radiator and clogging the thermostat but its clean now and then the bottom of the radiator blew out of the metal casing.

tgraeter

oh and i have replaced the hoses that blew.

mattliston

well if it has a good radiator, good hoses, and a good thermo, whats up? are you losing coolant without any apparent leaks? if so, it could be a bad water pump gasket, the pump going bad and its leaking out of the relief hole, or the head gasket could be bad.

if there are apparent leaks, where are they? back of the motor? check the water pipe that goes between teh thermostat and waterpump. there are some coolant lions on teh throttlebody/intake manifold, and also to the climate control and heater core

tgraeter

well the hoses that had leaks were raplaced. i thought i had the problem fixed but the radiator blew i havent gotten a new one yet but that one was a week old, there is also a small oil leak under the distributor and the hose that connects to the engine directly under the distributor blew, the engine has over heated a few times dew to hoses and radiators getting blown.

mattliston

oil leak around the disty? clean that area nad try to confirm if its the valve cover or the distributor. if it is the disty, take a marker and make a line across one of the bolt spots (to keep track of where it is, turning the disty changes ignition timing)

unbolt it, and take the o ring off the shaft, and replace it.


if its the vc, take it off, replace it after cleaning the channels really good (you;kll know what I mean when the VC is off)


Once you replace the radiator, fill it up with coolant, and then where the top hose goes to on teh block, there is a bleeder screw that you loosen a little bit. leave the radiator cap off, and fill with coolant as it leaks out the bleeder. you want the system to be air free, which can cause random overheating and can have a crappy idle.


once you do this and its still overheating, then you can worry about the headgasket.


generally headgaskets wont leak from overheating UNLESS you see it climb on the temp gauge, and go gee, I should do something, but keep driving. when it overheated, did you turn it off right away, or were you forced to drive it for a few more seconds to get off the road or whatever?

tgraeter

i might have had to drive it a few seconds to get it off the road about twice because of where i was at but usually i just put it in neutral and shut the engine off and coast to a safe spot to stop. i have confirmed the leak from the dizzy already but i will try what you say because i do have a pretty bad idle. the thing that worries me is the pressure that is being caused to bust the radiator like it did.

mattliston

well ebay has radiators for like 40 bucks, and they work okay for a stock setup. I wouldnt trust it for any turbo or allmotor builds, but should be fine for stock setups.

one thing though, is the radiator plugged, leaking, or did the plastic tanks seperate? You can get teh plastic tank crimped back on, but it would be ONLY for temporary use. it wont last long at all

tgraeter

yeah tell me about it! no man the plastic on the radiator was melted into a nice big gaping hole, i have a new radiator though. just dont want the same thing to happen.

mattliston

melted? maybe its time to wrap teh exhaust up lol


its not normal to melt. it is possible it retained some coolant, got super heated from not cooling the motor good, and then sat in the bottom of the radiator and therefore melted

tgraeter

i was thinking that, i was talking to my father the other day and he seems to think it is a head gasket issue, but im hoping not. when i saw the damn radiator was melted i was like what the hell? its melted? i have had a lot of problems with the cooling system in this car so i will be happy when its all said and done. thanks for the help. hopefully i can get this all taken care off and be backmon the road soon!