dvsblack

Hi, heres roughly what happened so far ill try to include as many details as possible.
Car is 1991 accord wagon f22a6 / 2.2L

Car overheated one day while driving (almost max temperature.)
Topped up with water, overheating issue went away.

Problem came back a few weeks later, replaced thermostat.
Problem went away for a few days.

Problem came back again, removed thermostat (running with no thermostat).
(also noticed at this time that when i started the engine with the rad cap off, water burst out the top of the rad(maybe because plugged or backed up?(no signs of water mixing in oil or visa versa)))
Problem went away for a few days.

Problem came back with no thermostat in, seemed like water was bubbling to top but didnt seem like flowing.
Replaced water pump / timing belt. issue went away for a few days. came back.



Now im thinking something is plugged i guess?
I'm thinking I can turn over the car by hand and see if the water will flow? (im at the point where im only working with water since i constantly have to keep draining it and its summer)
Where would be the places to check if its plugged, the radiator itself? How do I check if its flowing?

Any tips would be great! thanks all.

holmesnmanny

are both fans running at the same time ?

if yes, its possible the head warped

compression test to verify

dvsblack

Hey, so wondering why warped head would cause overheating? doesnt that mean there would be some kind of leak between coolant system and engine?

Because there is really no sign at all that the fluids are mixing either way.

holmesnmanny

dvsblack

Ummmm, so the fan closer to the drivers side is the only one i've ran since i bought the car 2 years ago... I drove in much hotter weather than now without the other fan. The bigger passenger side never ran and it never had heating issues that way for 2 years =/

In terms of what the fans are doing during the overheating issue.. im embarrassed to admit i didnt even check the fans xD... even though i replaced the water pump lmao.

dvsblack

dvsblack

Hi you solved my problem. the one fan i was relying on isnt running... it was running yesterday and today its not so seems like intermittently doesnt run for whatever strange reason. thanks, you should be able to get some tax credit back for community service helping the mentally challenged. thxthx

dvsblack

Nevermind... both fans arent running but despite that the car doesnt overheat...
When I watch the coolant while the rad cap is off it constantly bubbles, little bubbles... it never fully bleeds the air out which makes me guess that somehow air is leaking into the cooling system? which would explain maybe why it slowly builds up to the point that too much air is in the system and my car overheats, or a pocket of air gets near one of the sensors...

Im not sure if that theory is even possible, since no coolant is leaking out i dont know how air can go in without coolant coming out

dvsblack

Yeah these little bubbles probably mean my head gasket is blown and its exhaust gas i guess.... should i try one of these head gasket fix things that you poor into the coolant? doing the head gasket is about the value of the car itself, lol

19Accord97

Did you bleed it properly? There is a bleeder valve that you need to crack open until you have a constant flow of coolant.

dvsblack

oh really? i never knew about that. but i did see a constant flow of little bubbles at the top of the radiator. I usually just bleed it by running with the rad cap off till it stops bubbling.

I saw there is a test kit you can put in the top of the rad with some blue liquid, if it turns yellow it means exhaust is leaking into the cooling system, in other words head gasket. Maybe I should try that kit?

Maybe I can use that gasket repair liquid thing... and redirect the flow of coolant so its not going through and clogging my heater core. might be worth a shot i guess.

holmesnmanny

you compression test to see if the head is warped

still can't tell if your fans are both running when the car starts to overheat

Jonah Klepp

I would have somone cut the head and check the surface of the block unless you wan't to keep putting head gaskets on it.

dvsblack

i explained in earlier posts but...
passenger side fan never runs because i took the fuse out.
drivers side fan seems to have a mind of its own when it wants to run... i was overheating yesterday and it decided that time it didnt want to run.

holmesnmanny

The next time it starts to overheat, with the fan not running, turn off the car, turn the ignition to on without starting the car and jumper the fan switch at the thermostat housing with a paperclip. If the fan turns on then the fan switch is bad.

You also need to get that other fan working.

dvsblack

Well, thanks I think the head gasket is done. I'm seeing one totaled 1994 EX-R for $500 with 110k on the engine. Might be worth to buy that and swap F22B1 in place of my F22A6... but dont know really if its compatible to swap those or whatnot so ill probably make a new post here.

holmesnmanny

compression test to verify