h2392si

Hey people, ive got a 94 ex auto and lately its been overheating. When i drive it for a while and i get to a stop light, its starts to overheat at idle. What is weird is that if i just drive and drive it wont overheat til i get somewhere and start idling. It overheated once last month badly because my fioncee doesnt ever check her water. I changed the thermostat 2 weeks ago with a crappy autozone one cause i goota be cheap right now. When i check to see if its leaking or anything i notice the coolant in the reservoir boiling and bubbling?? Theres also some crapp in the reservoir when i checked it last. Going to do a flush this weekend. Searched but little info. Anyways any help would be much appreciated.Thanks and God bless.

JDM_Ej

Go out to your car, open the radiator cap. Start and run the car. Keep topping off the radiator. Let the air bubble out. Keep topping it off until the thermostat opens. Both radiator hoses should be hot and the fan should have turned on once. Top it off once more and close the cap. Hopefully that will sollve your problem.

Also, make sure your radiator fan is turning on. If it isn't you could have a bad fan relay, thermoswitch or fan itself. Good luck.

HondaFanatic708

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDM_Ej &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Go out to your car, open the radiator cap. Start and run the car. Keep topping off the radiator. Let the air bubble out. Keep topping it off until the thermostat opens. Both radiator hoses should be hot and the fan should have turned on once. Top it off once more and close the cap. Hopefully that will sollve your problem.

Also, make sure your radiator fan is turning on. If it isn't you could have a bad fan relay, thermoswitch or fan itself. Good luck. </TD></TR></TABLE> I would also do a flush as well. There may be something wrong with the wiring or fan switch as well if it doesn't turn on. If a flush and top off as described above doesn't help the water pump may be going. How many miles? If it overheated bad as you say the head gasket may be blown. Could even be as simple as a clog somewhere that slightly increases the heat. Since it only overheats at idle you know she's running hot all the time. The air while moving is keeping it just barely cool enough. Hmm also see how the radiator is looking, but unless it's real fucked this most likely wouldn't be it. But first of all make sure the fan comes on and both hoses get hot as mentioned..

h2392si

thanks for the info guys, keep em coming .

Deemeetree

Pull your header and check for any signs of coolant inside the exhaust ports.

Indeed, make sure the fan is working and turning on when it's supposed to. If it is, bleed the air out of the coolant. If that doesn't help, check if there's any blockage in any of the radiator hoses.

Last but not least, pray it isn't your headgasket.

nocturnaldragon

Its propably not a head gasket if he still has coolant in the resivour and what not, you propably have a build up in the system, a flush will help only if the stuff is lose tho, if the stuff is caked onto the walls of the hoses and rad you need something else to clean all that off first and then do a flush.

It could also be air in the system, what kind of stuff do you see in the resivour bottle? that would help determine if it is a head gasket or just corosion from the cooling system.

h2392si

actually i have to add coolant and water all the time but i will try to do what you guys said. Any more opinions??

IHateJDM

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by h2392si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">actually i have to add coolant and water all the time but i will try to do what you guys said. Any more opinions?? </TD></TR></TABLE>
try bleeding your system again, you may have air pockets in the coolant system. if the headgasket is blown, you'll most likely have a ton of white smoke coming out the exhaust.
Other than that, I would think the fan since it really only overheats while stopped.

h2392si

actually it does not blow any kind of smoke. theres is some kind of dirt looing stuff n the radiator and reservoir. does not look like oil lmore like clean dirt? i tried what you guys said but when i ran my car for a while, the hose that connects to the thermostat was not hot at all. it only got hot when i ran it for a while o the streets. Wheres the far relay? how can i check if my fan is not working properly all the time?? it didnt come on today when it was acout to heat up but then later when it was really hot it did come on? any help is much appreciated.

h2392si

bump

Chrisv006

Run a "Block Test"

Its a chemical test that will test your coolant for any trace ammounts of combustion gasses. Its either pass or fail..you dont need a head gasket or you do.

If its overheating at idle, im going to say its most likley your fan...I know on the MR2 I could unplug the fans and they run 100% as long as the key is in...It might be an easy way to test your far?

It should come on with your AC also...

-Chris

memphosfinest

i have a 93 ex and had the same problem.its your fan not coming on.it can be your fuse or the temperature sensors rigth by your thermostat housing on your block.u can either buy a new sensor or hook up a toggle switch inside your car to turn the fan on when ur car starts overheating.I hook up the switch in my car and had no overheating problems any more.

h2392si

where is the fan relay? what is the easiest way to check it.

HondaFanatic708

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by h2392si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">actually it does not blow any kind of smoke. theres is some kind of dirt looing stuff n the radiator and reservoir. does not look like oil lmore like clean dirt? i tried what you guys said but when i ran my car for a while, the hose that connects to the thermostat was not hot at all. it only got hot when i ran it for a while o the streets. Wheres the far relay? how can i check if my fan is not working properly all the time?? it didnt come on today when it was acout to heat up but then later when it was really hot it did come on? any help is much appreciated. </TD></TR></TABLE>The fan switch may be going bad, check the thermostat. If you replaced it and the second hose still isn't hot then it's about time to change the water pump and you might as well do the timing belt as well. **** when you have all that apart it wouldn't be hard to do the head gasket..


But a pressurized flush from a shop is also suggested. My friend had a 94 civic and the heater core got clogged on him. Here is what I would do, if I were you:

-Get the coolant flush/Check for clogs.
-Replace thermostat if not done already.
-Consider replacement of fan components if it doesn't come on until your **** is about to overheat. (switch, relay, check wiring, maybe even fan itself or radiator or any combination)
-No luck at this point your lookin at waterpump or headgasket.

Good luck..

siregcivic

how does the cap look??? i remember i had overheating problems all the time until i replaced my cap then its only when i was going up hill or pushin er.... i also replace my shitty cx 1 row with a autozon special aluminum 2 row cost about 160.

no problem no more... also check ur fan if its not coming on put power to it and see it it goes on if not then u know the problem. if it goes on like everyone else check the thermo switch fuses and wiring

JDM-97CX

one way to check and see if it is a head gasket (which i doubt this is just for future reference) is to remove the radiator cap and start the car, if it bubbles that is a good sign that the head gasket is done.


My guess is that your fan is not working. That is really the number one cause of an overheat condition at idle.

h2392si

i was wondering if the radiator cap might be the problem. which radiator cap are you all using. the one that the car has is just a bronze looking 0.9 one. can someone post a pic of your d16z6 and your oem radiator cap? i also got a 98 ex coupe and the radiator cap says 1.1 on top of it. Any thoughts in this??