bradman0087

Well i give you all the details kinda long so be patient.. My wife has a 00 civic ex 5spd, her radiator began to leak, I took it to a place and they told me for rad hoses flush and fill $646.00 I about ****, so o decided to do it my self, here is what happened before i worked on it, Radiator definably leaking in need of replace, lower radiator hose was cold and top was warm. I put a new rad. in and a new thermostat (because i heard if the lower rad hose is cold then you need new thermo) and filled with coolant ran with cap off to bleed air because no bleeder on the y8, rad fan never came on and it took forever to get up to temp, granted it was like 30's today and idling in the garage.. In the chilton manual it says let ran run cycle twice, the only fan that came on is the one on the right side as looking at engine not the rad. fan.. So my question is should the lower radiator hose be cool? and should the rad fan kick on? what else could it be clogged heater core???

I hope i didnt mess anything up trying to save money i have about $125 in it so far...


Also i would like to add that i have a 98 civic ex 5spd with y8 and the lower rad. hose is also cool.... I didnt check on rad fan yet... I also hear the lower rad hose is ok to be cool it supplys coolant to engine to heat up, and top is hot and it puts it back in rad...




Help!!!

thumper64

Civics take a long time to warm up especially when idling. Just make sure you bleed the system correctly and you should be fine. My 1994 took forever to heat up and in the winter it would take about 10 minutes while driving (keeping the engine between 2k and 3k) to get warm air blowing.

Watch your temperature gauge and keep an eye out for leaks, but you should be fine.

boxeocampeon

you made sure to hook up the fan switch correctly right? and you should be fine x2 on the civics take a while to warm up.

thumper64

I guess you could make sure your temperature sensor and it's plug along with the fan and it's plug are free of corrosion and are working correctly. I'd take it for a spin and see if it warms up. If nothing else, you could run a switch to the fan and manually turn it on until you get it sorted out. Not ideal, but hey, I ran around for a week with a D series alternator on a B18C1 for a week using a ghetto upper bracket. Gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.

Kidnkorner

doing this procedure takes 20 mins on mild temp day, cant imagine how long it would take for cold day.

bradman0087

ok i tested the old thermo i took out and it works, still now heat on lower rad. hose on my wifes or my car either??? does it get warm neither cars have ever over heated and both are at normal op temp and lower hose still cold.... how do i bleed system there is no bleeder screw?? i assume the rad fan works before i changed rad, car never over heated or anything.. Should the rad fan come on during normal operation??


Thanks for help so far

Vindicator9000

WAT!? Holy crap, I must be out of touch. My car hasn't seen a shop in so long, I forgot what it was like.

Anyway -

So I take it that the car's not overheating at all, right? They do take a very long time to warm up, especially in the cold. I know all of the manuals say 30 minutes, but if it's below about 35 degrees, mine can take an hour or more at idle to reach operating temp. Seriously, on mine at idle on a cold day, the fan will just never come on. Ever. And mine's a B18 on a D series radiator, so it should theoretically run considerably hotter than most cars. Still runs cold in the winter.

So, if it's not overheating, I'd say just bleed it. On a Civic, you want to start with a cold car. Turn the heater full blast, remove the radiator cap. Start the car and let it run. Any air in the system bubbles to the top and escapes out the radiator cap. Make sure that you run the heater on full the entire time. Add coolant to the radiator as needed.

That's it. You're supposed to let it run for 2 full fan cycles, but it'll take forever to get there at idle if it's sufficiently cold out. I usually let it go about 20 minutes, cap it, and it's fine. Try that.

bradman0087

not over heating i idled yesterday for 30 mins with rad cap off fan never kicked on it was in low 30's.. So the lower rad. hose should in fact get hot? my other car does not either and neither one over heat.. The car finally got up to operating temp but fan never came on... should i drive it around and let it heat up that way???

shogee

its gonna take forever to heat up during idle, just rev the enine up to 2000 and hold it there for 2-3 min and feel if the lower hose heats up, it should be cold until termostat opens, especially on cold days the thermo might not even open during idle

shogee

for fan to come on coolant temp has to above like 200 degrees or somthing around there