92civichatch1

ok so i finished my Ls swap into my hatch a few days ago. my only concern now is this....(swap was obd2 motor into obd1 hatch if it matters it was kept obd1)

I am using the 92 hatch radiator and i replaced the water pump and thermostat before putting the motor in. The temp guage for some reason isnt working. Im thinking its the sensor. My concern is the car overheating. I dont really have much money so i was wondering if there was any "cheap ways" to make the engine run a little cooler to prevent an overheat. dont tell me to run with no hood. I live in jersey and its getting cold now, but the other night i was on the motor pretty hard and it was only like a 5-10 min ride and the lower rad hose was hot like the top one.

any ideas will be def. appreciated.
thanks.

SigmaOmega

i replaced my radiator on my 94 civic ex and it barely gets hot (just the head of the engine gets hot)...i just got a regular oem radiator from advanced auto parts...i dont believe performance should ever be considered when buying a radiator. O and id clean the engine both inside and out (BG all the way woot), grime and carbon deposits trap heat in or around the engine.

92civichatch1

im not woried if the rad is messed up (knock on wood). i just wanna know if the stock little *** rad can keep the ls cooled properly. again the ect or cts watever u prefer isnt sending the signal to the temp guage, so the temp guage never moves.

what do u recommend to clean off the motor and clean the insides?

EG2Driver

well, think about it this way.....if ur rad is too small to cool your engine in the first place, wouldnt it be cheaper to just get a bigger one from a junk yard? You car will overheat regardless of if it is clean or not. Might help a tiny bit, but bigger rad will do it. Make sure your thermostat is working too

92civichatch1

well this was my next question... what radiators fit in a 1992 civic hatch without alot of custom work. basically im asking which rads will direct bolt up? again i have an LS swap.

92civichatch1

will the ls rad fit and where besides the junkyards is a good place to order one? thanks

92civichatch1

bump

92civichatch1

i just need a bigger radiator where and what should i get?

EG2Driver

Junkyard (make sure it doesnt leak) and one from any B series engine. What is the code on ur block?

xEnderx

I ran both a B18B and a B16B in Phoenix AZ through 2 summers of 110+ degree heat on a stock civic radiator with a broken temp gauge....no overheating. I think that as long as you keep your engien maintained properly and your water/oil pumps are in good condition you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Seriously man....most of the time an aftermarket radiator is an overkill....Honda does a damn fine job of engineering their cooling systems.

Bond

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xEnderx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I ran both a B18B and a B16B in Phoenix AZ through 2 summers of 110+ degree heat on a stock civic radiator with a broken temp gauge....no overheating. I think that as long as you keep your engien maintained properly and your water/oil pumps are in good condition you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Seriously man....most of the time an aftermarket radiator is an overkill....Honda does a damn fine job of engineering their cooling systems.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup. A buddy of mine has a turbo d and a water cooled turbo and it has never gone above half. Those little rads do a very nice job.

SigmaOmega

id just check the temp gauge (or buy a new one) because if the radiator works fine (just check your engine after you ran it for a little while to see how hot it gets) then its just your temp gauge. Aftermarket radiators will just make your engine look all shiny, not much of a power gain, seeing that the stock radiators are pretty powerful.