teflon_don

After a weekend of hard driving my car just isn't the same. There doesn't seem to be any power loss, but the whole tone of the car is different. It's a bit raspier and a little louder. My car has been running really hot since I got it. Through normal traffic it's fine, but if I sit at a light for a long time or something the temp skyrockets. It'll easily get up to the H line, and it's been in the red a coulpe times. Anyway this weekend I traveled down south for a car meet, and since my car has a stock D15, it was a real bitch to keep up (average speed was 90, lol) so I was pushing my car more than I usually would. Anyway, last night I guess is when I started to notice the problem, it became really obious today. I rode the entire return trip with the radio off and windows down just to listen to the car.

I popped the hood earlier and notice this leak.



So what damage do you think was done to the engine?

SolObsession

Sounds like a blown headgasket.

98k20ex

when i had a d16 in my car, i drove it hard one weekend and after that, the motor didn't sound right. i dunno about your cooling system problem but on my car, it turned out that i stretched the timing belt. i slapped a new one in and it sounded fine. do you have a lot of miles on ur timing belt? might be worth lookin into.

TABIAS

motor looks clean

toolowsol

why were you driving it with a temp problem....

Now you gotta pull the head, check the gasket and make sure you didn't warp the head itself by overheating it

teflon_don

I'm not gonna cry over a warped D15 head. The timing belt should be fairly new. The water pump is new, so I'd assume the timing belt was changed at the same time.

AWDxBOOST

head gasket is the most likely problem....but just do a quick cooling system checkover first

Andres-eh2

when the temperature goes up, put the heater on in your car full blast. this should help. also replace your thermostat and top off your coolant if you need any

teflon_don

So this is is what I got so far.

Problem:
Cooling
Blown Headgasket
Timing belt (doubt it, but still possible)

Solution:
1.) Flush out fluids in cooling system, then refill. Drive around a bit and see how that works.
2.) Take off head. Replace head gasket, check for warpage.

Sound good?

I just might throw on a D16 head while I'm at it. Why not...

teflon_don

What would you guys tihnk is the average cost of repairing a blown headgasket?

AWDxBOOST

if u do it urself, just whatever the price of gasket....

civicmon

turn the car on w/o the radiator cap on and that'll tell you if you got a blown head gasket.

rodrez.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by teflon_don &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So this is is what I got so far.

Problem:
Cooling
Blown Headgasket
Timing belt (doubt it, but still possible)

Solution:
1.) Flush out fluids in cooling system, then refill. Drive around a bit and see how that works.
2.) Take off head. Replace head gasket, check for warpage.

Sound good?

I just might throw on a D16 head while I'm at it. Why not...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I can't really tell what the picture is showing, is the overflow tank boiling over?
Just curious. Before pulling the head off, and spending money, are you sure that your radiator fan is even turning on? If it's not, the car will overheat while idling, and usually the overflow tank will "throw up." The reason I'm suggesting this, is because I had a similar problem, with my fan not clicking on, and my car started to overheat at long light's, until I got moving again.

JDM R

check your thermostat, the check your coolant level, by takin off the radiator cap not checkin the reservoir. id check the head as a last resort

WangChung

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by toolowsol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Now you gotta pull the head, check the gasket and make sure you didn't warp the head itself by overheating it </TD></TR></TABLE>

way OT, but that sounded so Vin Deisel. "Now the mad scientist has to rip apart the block and replace the piston rings ya fried!"[crowd chanting]

drunknbass

when i had my single cam i had a half size radiator and when id push the car realllly hard for a long period it would heat up. i think its normal; cause you should drive it that hard with that dinky radiator.. and when the temp gets hot and the pressure builds in the cooling system thats it.. once your coolant starts to boil its all over.. itll all leak out theoverflow. what you need to do is make sure you got the right mixture of coolant and bleed the system to get the air out.

Tad

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drunknbass &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">when i had my single cam i had a half size radiator and when id push the car realllly hard for a long period it would heat up. i think its normal; cause you should drive it that hard with that dinky radiator.. and when the temp gets hot and the pressure builds in the cooling system thats it.. once your coolant starts to boil its all over.. itll all leak out theoverflow. what you need to do is make sure you got the right mixture of coolant and bleed the system to get the air out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

no its not normal,
the car should not overheat ever.

that "dinky" radiator is more than enough for any normal application.

Most people with EG's run that radiator, and plenty ******* MASH on em daily without overheating problems.

Tad

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by teflon_don &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So this is is what I got so far.

Problem:
Cooling
Blown Headgasket
Timing belt (doubt it, but still possible)

Solution:
1.) Flush out fluids in cooling system, then refill. Drive around a bit and see how that works.
2.) Take off head. Replace head gasket, check for warpage.

Sound good?

I just might throw on a D16 head while I'm at it. Why not...</TD></TR></TABLE>
do you have a d15b7 or b8??
but yeah, this would be a good time to get a jdm d15b vtec head(if you can find one)
just like the z6 but has a gnarlier cam to start out with,
I recommend

make sure ur cooling system is all good tho,
a new head wont solve cooling problems.
yo are you losing coolant?
any odd noises? could be water pump, thermostat, radiator itself.
usually you wont overheat unless ur ACTUALLY low on coolant.
you should really check ur levels often, top off the radiator and see how much coolant it takes..
if its alot, frequently, then yeah.. u got a leak sumwhere..

blue2ksi

id check something at least

94civicDX

hey i have a question too i put on a stainless steel header from dc sports.. and well when i turn my car on and sit in the driveway for like 5-10 mins... i notice my temp in my car is right below the symbol on the tem gauge and by the way i have a 94 honda civic dx (d15b7).. and does that raditor fan turn on auto. when u just turn on the car.. or dose it turn on its self if ur driving down the road cuz i noticed my fan doesnt turn on when im sittin in the driveway.... help if u can.. thanks..

delScho

Rodrez, that sounds spot on. He said no power loss, so I don't see how this could be a blown head gasket. And he's just getting hot, not eating coolant in a cylinder or anything. Either his fan isn't turning on or he's got a blockage in the radiator and needs a flush. If it gets hot when you're sitting still, but no other time, this sound to me like water is moving just fine, but the fan isn't kicking on. Test the relay, test the fan, all of that. And if it ends up that the fan works but the car won't kick it on, at least install a manual switch so that you can drive the thing without siezing it up... until you figure it out.

snoochtodanooch

never drive a vehicle when it is overheating. a simple thermostat issue may now have turned into a blown headgasket. definently change the thermostat, and pray that you didn't kill the head gasket. i've had two cars go with headgaskets, and i will never drive an overheating car ever again, no matter what someone says the problem is.

snoochtodanooch

just change the thermostat first, its easy and is most likely your problem

xavior66

When my brother's 99 Dodge Dakota was overheating only when it was sitting still in traffic, we thought his thermostat was bad. Changed it like 3 times, and flushed and refilled the coolant along with the recommended mixture ratio. His fan would come on as normal though. Turns out his radiator had stopped up cuz there was a lil crack on the top so he figured he could keep coolant from coming outta that crack by pouring in this stuff in the coolant that's supposed to seal up cracks in the radiator. lol, guess he must've poured too much of that stuff in there!

jonle28

When i had a similar problem, my Radiator would not turn on. For the time being i went ahead and ran 12 volts to the radiator harness, so that it would turn on. after that it ran nice and cool, but of course that was a temp. fix.

I got a new tempsensor and it would turn my engine on as good as new, so no more rigging it to work.