I got a K20 swap in my EH2 and all it does when it gets warm is surge. I tried to bleed the cooling system and it went away for a minute so I put the radiator cap back on it and it started to do the same. Bubbles keep coming out so Im going to assume I have a head gasket leaking. Im going to do a leak down test in a few minutes to see if it is the head gasket.

Anybody else have this problem?

http://youtu.be/pjqQNvpaiq4

 

If bubbles keep coming out let them come out, maybe alot of air in there. Is it throwing an IACV code? Is there coolant in the oil, milk looking?
Have you driven it yet.. Does it get hot after you cruise for a little bit?

 

Thanks for the reply JW racing

I had a half tank of gas when I started, now I have a quarter tank. Thats how long I was bleeding the cooling system. Probably a good 35-40 minutes. Ive been messing with Hondas for over 12 years and all the other swaps would have been done by the time the fan turned on the 3rd or 4th time. Then again this is my first K. It did throw a code but when I went to check it, it already erased. No coolant in the oil, that would be an extreme case blown headgasket. Oil doesnt always have to mix with the water for it to be a headgasket. I drove it, raped 2nd and 3rd, and there was no overheating, it has a lot of power. The needle stayed pegged in the middle like always. Kpro read the same thing, that it wasnt overheating.

So I dont know, lol but ill keep at it till I figure it out. I just cleaned the throttle body, IACV was a little dirty. I gotta go to Acura to pick up the base gasket and fire it up again. I guess Ill continue bleeding. Its not going to hurt it any cause it isnt overheating.

 

OK if it still does it try swapping a iacv with someone, I might have one laying around, and see if it goes away. But you are right-coolant and oil dont have to mix- and if you get bubbles alot it very well could be the gasket.The surging idle doesnt usually happen because of that,im leaning towards iacv or map or tps sensor.
Another place coolant can be pressurized from is leaks in the water housing area,which also contains the pcv system. I have seen a few issues there over the years.Check the clamps on your rad hoses and make sure if you have a sensor adapter for the coolant temp or fan switch, that its not leaking either.

 

Thanks for the help. I wanted to work on the motor today but I broke the throttle body base gasket taking the throttle body off and no one will have one till tomorrow morning. Ill continue to bleed it tomorrow. Funny you mentioned the coolant temp switch cause it was leaking there but I corrected the problem quickly.

I really hope its not the head gasket and its only a vacuum leak. Ill keep you posted.

 

Good luck, Ill keep thinking of ideas as well.

 

Thanks

I fixed the problem, I dont know which one did it but the problem got fixed. I finally got the base gasket for the TB, I broke it cleaning out the IACV. Last night I was searching the forum for about two hours. Came across an interesting thread about TPS's going out because of the ceramic piece with the contacts inside breaking due to vibration. In that post some people posted about there idle surging problems as well. [I tried looking for the thread but I cant find it] One of the guys said he recalibrated his tps with the kpro and his idle problems went away. I tried it before I turned the car on and havent had a problem with the idle since.
Hondata is all new to me because I used to do all my tuning with Crome.

New problem, lol. The O2 sensor is not being read so Im trying to figure that out now. Thats why my gas tank is reading 1/4 tank right now.

Hey, thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

 

No prob. Yeah I made a TPS thread on k20,it seemed to help alot and its a common problem on k motors. I remember it took a while to work out the bugs when I did a first k swap.

 

The thread was actually on K20, I found it on there.

I found out that when I plug in the primary o2 sensor I get a readout on my secondary. So Im going to check what part number I have to see if I accidentally bought a secondary instead of a primary o2 sensor.

 

Yea I definitely got a primary o2 sensor, I called tech support for the harness. They got my info and said they will give me a call tomorrow.

 

So two days later I gotta call tech support and they say they had a couple batches made incorrectly so I have to send it in for the warranty repair. Hopefully that will be the last hiccup.