BoostdRex

Apparently the head gasket's been blown for a while, just didn't notice it until I swapped into the EG radiator during the new turbo install. A small hairline head gasket leak must have been kept hidden by the larger wider radiator. Wider must have = cooler. I saw the damage on the old head gasket. #2 combustion leaking into a water jacket underneath the gasket... No steam show, just a little bit of "wet" soot coming out of the exhaust along with the overheating at high RPMs (cools off when I come to a stoplight)...

I never even boosted the new turbo before I noticed her heating up. Charge pipes weren't even connected yet when she started to get hot.

Swapped in the new metal (D16Z6 VTEC motors use metal) head gasket today, and she's still hot. I gutted the thermostat.. Bled the system... Water pump is new... Radiator tested fine... Compression test was good... The fan comes on fine. Then as a last resort, finally swapped the head gasket. At least no more soot out the exhaust... But I can't figure out why she continues to get hot? Maybe I need to machine the head? (was told that since she never hit the HOT mark, that the head should be fine, and not warped...). Someone mentioned maybe a cracked sleeve. But my tuner said that it's very hard to crack a Z6 sleeve before a piston blows... The old turbo only boosted at 5.5psi.

I dunno.

Must have happened prior to my aquisition... Arrrgh!

My tuner even said that if the ignition is off so many degrees, that could cause overheating. I checked it and it was about 5 degrees off. Anyone ever hear of that?

Does anyone have any suggestions what-so-ever?


Modified by BoostdRex at 12:18 PM 8/27/2005

BoostdRex

Bump - please - replies? Ideas?

JarvisW

Well, it sounds just like what I'm in the middle of right now. My car was overheating, it would do it at different times too. Replaced the hoses, checked thermostat, nothing fixed it.

I just pulled the head of my D16z6 and took it to the shop. good news 235k and all it needed was one valve replaced. Bad news, it was warped and needed to be milled .006 (I think thats what they said).

Hopefully, when I get everything back together, this will fix the overheating. You can never tell if the head is warped or not, untill you take to to a shop, so ya may want to try that.

I'll post again next week, when I get the rest of my parts in, then installed, and let you know if it overheats anymore.

Good luck!

AbitAvenger

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoostdRex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
My tuner even said that if the ignition is off so many degrees, that could cause overheating. I checked it and it was about 5 degrees off. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Fix that, then take it from there.

BoostdRex

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AbitAvenger &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Fix that, then take it from there.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ok, thanks, I fixed timing last night then called it a night (been screwing with this thing all day yesterday). I will take it for a drive today... If that's not it, then perhaps I need to have the head machined...

BoostdRex

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JarvisW &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just pulled the head of my D16z6 and took it to the shop. good news 235k and all it needed was one valve replaced. Bad news, it was warped and needed to be milled .006 (I think thats what they said).
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ok, what causes the overheating? Burnt valve or warped head? Or both? (I'm confused).

BoostdRex

Oh, I've also heard that for every .10 milled, that the timing needs to be retarded 1 degree? Is that right?

Does anything need to be done with the timing if I have to mill the head?

slowturbocx

head gaskets blow for a reason so i'd check to see if the head or block are warped

JDM_ROokie

You should check you coolent level to see if it's full, if so then check you recovery tank/resevor to see if it's empty or not, if it is then u have a coolent loss. Then check your radiator cap (pressure test) to see if it's working, then see if your coolent is circlelating to see movement across radiator then if it is the your water pump is good.

BoostdRex

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDM_ROokie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You should check you coolent level to see if it's full, if so then check you recovery tank/resevor to see if it's empty or not, if it is then u have a coolent loss. Then check your radiator cap (pressure test) to see if it's working, then see if your coolent is circlelating to see movement across radiator then if it is the your water pump is good. </TD></TR></TABLE>

2 brand new caps (changed the same day and still did it). Coolant is high in the radiator. The water in the overflow tank boils out before I can check it so that's hard to judge. And because it's an EG radiator, the neck has a 90 degree elbow into the back side of the radiator instead of having it go straight down into the radiator from the top... Hard to see if the water pump flows (new water pump tho). However if I pull the cap off and rev it a little bit, the water moves. Will that work right? Also as I said in my above post, if I come to a stop it cools down to the normal point (wouldn't the water still stay hot if the water pump wasn't working to circulate it toward the radiator to cool it down)?

slowturbocx

make sure your fan is turning on i had that problem check relay

BoostdRex

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slowturbocx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">make sure your fan is turning on i had that problem check relay</TD></TR></TABLE>

The fan's coming on fine.

JarvisW

Yeah, I had checked/replaced the cap, the hoses, the raidatior is a year old, the thermo and switch is working, the fan is working. It would get hot, then boil over into the resevour, then when it cooled off it wouldn't suck the water back in meaning there wasnt a closed system. The pressure was leaking SOMEWHERE.

After checking all those things, and finding out the head is warped, 2+2 ya know.

Like I said, I'm really hoping this is it and my answer ins't 5 or Q lol.

Also I take a head to the shop EVERYTIME I take it off the car. (old V8 builder, my first Honda) Its worth it in the end. If I'm gonna do all that labor, I wanna know the part I'm replacing is in working shape. Do it right the first time, makes it the only time IMO.

Good luck, I'll let ya know later in the week how my math is.

BoostdRex

yeah well, when she cools down, there's no water in the reservoir... I figured it was all boiling out...

BoostdRex

Hey that reminds me, how are Honda fans designed to be run? Here is why I ask:

When I pulled the stock radiator fan, and I put in the EG radiator (using the EG's fan), I wired the fan as it was on my stock CRX fan harness, blue for blue, and black for black (matching the black and blue wires on the EG radiator with my CRX's black/blue fan harness...)

I noticed that the fan pushes forward when parked. I got to thinking that perhaps it's supposed to pull air. Is this correct? Because if that's the case, then I have wired it wrong, and that would explain why when I am driving, my car would get hot, and not cool down. Come to think about it, that is when things started to get hot, is when I put that radiator in.

It's when I am driving that it gets hot, therefore making the air shooting into my radiator, become hot because the fan is blowing the opposite direction.

What does everything think? How are these fans designed to be run? Push forward through the radiator? Or pull air into the engine bay? It would just seem weird that it is designed to push forward if the air is being shoved in the opposite direction when driving...

Please let me know if this is my issue?

ek9vboi2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoostdRex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
When I pulled the stock radiator fan, and I put in the EG radiator (using the EG's fan), I wired the fan as it was on my stock CRX fan harness, blue for blue, and black for black (matching the black and blue wires on the EG radiator with my CRX's black/blue fan harness...)

I noticed that the fan pushes forward when parked. I got to thinking that perhaps it's supposed to pull air. Is this correct? Because if that's the case, then I have wired it wrong, and that would explain why when I am driving, my car would get hot, and not cool down. Come to think about it, that is when things started to get hot, is when I put that radiator in.

It's when I am driving that it gets hot, therefore making the air shooting into my radiator, become hot because the fan is blowing the opposite direction.

What does everything think? How are these fans designed to be run? Push forward through the radiator? Or pull air into the engine bay? It would just seem weird that it is designed to push forward if the air is being shoved in the opposite direction when driving...

Please let me know if this is my issue?</TD></TR></TABLE>

dude, i just PM'd u and u already had t figured! damn j0000! rewire it (blue to black...opposite wiring), fan is suppose to pull air, not force air forward...defeats the design of the rad. infront.

dont worry about fwaking something up, most it will do is blow a fuse. good luck buddy!

-eric

ek9vboi2

lol...i did this to my car too. you dont have to pull ur head off anymore! yay!

blackccoupe

had kinda the same issue if it helps was running a z6 with jrc front mount 5 " car was overheating, so i threw back in my teg rad. and a 160 thermo maybe that wil be some help hope u figure it out bra oh yeah also i had a 94 civic

blackccoupe

also try the forced induction they helped me out alot

slammed_93_hatch

number one rule for hondas.


If they over heat, get the head milled to a level surface, don't ask if it needs to be done just do it

ek9vboi2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slammed_93_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">number one rule for hondas.


If they over heat, get the head milled to a level surface, don't ask if it needs to be done just do it</TD></TR></TABLE>

i STRONGLY disagree in this case. as he said the fan isnt pulling air, but pushing. with that in mind it is also pushing the wrong way.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blackccoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">had kinda the same issue if it helps was running a z6 with jrc front mount 5 " car was overheating, so i threw back in my teg rad. and a 160 thermo maybe that wil be some help hope u figure it out bra oh yeah also i had a 94 civic </TD></TR></TABLE>

i have heard of the problems with EGs w/ front mounts. From what I hear its because the FMIC restricts air from flowing properly into the rad., therfore causing it to overheat. happened to a friend on mind, but only 1 time. btw he is using a stock EG rad.

i would think an integra rad. would flow better b/c it has more area for air to go thru, so cooling wouldnt really be a problem. the only way i think people w/ EGs could fix this is by adding an extra fan (pusher) infront of the rad. if there is room (this in conjuction w/ the stock puller fan should cool everything properly).

anyways, rewire the fan and see what happens.

BoostdRex

The fan is mounted on the engine side of the radiator, and is blowing FORWARD (pushing), when it should be SUCKING air into the engine bay (pulling). I had the stock EG fan wired wrong! Dummy me! I bought a damn $75 HG and went through pulling the head and everything when I didn't need to! All I would have had to do was wire the fan to where it was a puller fan (stock EG radiator in my CRX for my huge turbo clearance). See, the stock wiring in the CRX is blue/black, and so I matched up blue/black on the EG radiator to my wiring harness, not thinking that just cuz my CRX wiring was a certain color, that the EG wiring is the same... Apparently the stock fan can be hooked up both ways. Oops.

BoostdRex

Yes I have a FMIC and I thought that was my problem since I want from a full size radiator (stock CRX rad) to a half size one (out fo the EG) with the FMIC. And I thought that maybe I was restricting air flow bcause of the FMIC, and also the fact that I had cuz my radiator size in half as well... When all I had done was wire it wrong.


So should I have the head milled, even though I never let it get too close or on the red mark? If I do, then that means down time, otherwise I'll just put the new head gasket in and call it a day (since I can't take it back).



Modified by BoostdRex at 7:17 PM 8/28/2005

ek9vboi2

Nope. Keep checking you resorvior tank from time to time and if it gets really low, then you might want to get it milled (most likely head lifting issue).

Fix the fan and watch ur temp. gauge. Thats all I have to say for now.

BoostdRex

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ek9vboi2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nope. Keep checking you resorvior tank from time to time and if it gets really low, then you might want to get it milled (most likely head lifting issue).

Fix the fan and watch ur temp. gauge. Thats all I have to say for now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks Eric! I'll check that out!


If I mill it, will that affect timing? I heard timing would have to be set different for each whatever milled?