Ive done a search and havnt really made any conclusions. I would like to be sure this is the problem before I go through the pain of removing it.

Lately I have been driving in traffic going 40+ and my car starts overheating. Now its not, if barely, going over the middle line on the temp gauge, but it starts climbing. I occasionally smell coolant through the air vents. Now Im not losing coolant at all. The resivour is nearly where I left it. I recently just replaced my thermostat with a OEM honda thermostat so Im pretty sure its fine.

Today when I parked my car I left it idling and went to check the lower radiator hose and it was cold and full of pressure... then I turned off the car and sat there for 1 minute and checked it again and it was hot as the upper.

Now another reason it might be water pump is that there is a noise coming from near it sounds like a super charger. When I start driving and getting into higher rpms you can hear it almost like the sound of the super charger. Kinda a rattling sound.

Also lately I have been starting my car and it doesnt do cold starts very well. I dont know if this has anything to do with the pump, but just throwing it out there!

 

check for leaks first...then do a radiator pressure test...should help determine your problem.

 

The water pump is driven off the timing belt, all it is, is a pulley on the otside that runs on the belt, a shaft that goes through the "pump", that shaft connects to the other side where there is a prop. Unless the pulley has broken away from the shaft, or the prop has broken away from the shaft. I dont see how it can fail. By broken away i mean the pulley is spinning on the shaft, but not moving it. Or the shaft is moving and the it is just spinning inside the prop.

When you replaced the thermostat did you belled the system? You could have an air bubble, that would explain the cold hose. And when you shut off the car the system is no longer under preasure, so the fluid could run into the hose. That would explain the hot hose after the car is shut off.

I would try to bleed the system first, then see is anything happens

 

if you look at your water pump from below the car, and you see tons of dirt on the outside of the pump, it's most likely failed. The dirt sticking to it would be from SMALL amounts of coolant leaking out of the weep hole on the pump. Take a look at it.

 

hondas are notorious for climing gauges with air bubble in the system..ive done a few motor swap with b-series motors and everytime i get them together i always have the same problem for a day or so till i get all the air out...if it just started happening after u replaced the thermostat and wasnt doing it before ..i would def start with a bubble..its very common...if you replaced the thermostat because u were experiencing a problem previously i would then check for other problems in the cooling system... usually when honda water pumps go bad they leak ...every one i had goes bad leaks..ive never seen a broken one..but thats just me...a leaking water pump wont cause it to overheat until the coolant level drops from leaking...a leaking heater core will also not cause it to overheat until is leaks enough but can cause a coolant smell inside the car..but like i said..if u replaced the thermostat and did not have problems before then it is possible that excess coolant leaked down onto the exhaust or back of the block and is gradually burning off causing the smell...start with the air bubbles..the easiest way is hit up an auto zone..they have these bowl type reserviors that sit on top of the radiator fill ..put it on and fill with coolant about 6 inches up..fill the overflow bottle to full and let the bowl sit on there overnight with the coolant in it..since u already drove it and the therostat has opened letting it sit with allow gravity to force the bubble up through the bowl and replace the air with coolant...then remove it in the morning..top the coolant to the very top of the fill hole ..put the cap on and u should be fine... i do swaps all the time and this always works for me..its the easiest surefire way to get bubbles out completely...if it doesnt help then u will have to pressurize the system and check for leaks or clogs..but this is what it sound like to me...good luck

 

Well... it might be air bubbles, but I dont understand how air bubbles can cause it to smell like coolant in my car. Next I replaced the thermostat and bleed the coolant lines for about 15-20 minutes, but that might not of been long enough. Now the reason I changed the thermostat in the car before was because it was getting warm, and it still is! I know it has to be a small problem I just cant solve it! I mean the thermostat opened once the car was off so maybe it is a air bubble... but that still doesnt explain why it gets hotter when Im crusing at higher speeds and not when im below 45!

 

easy way to get air bubbles out of your system.

from a cold start, take off your radiator cap

then start your car with the cap still off.

let it run for 10 to 20 mins.

you'll see bubbles inside the radiator (if there's air in your system)

when you see no bubbles, put the cap back on

 

first.. the reason i said coolant smell is it is a poss. that when u changed the thermostat coolant got on hot components..and is burning..that will smell inside the car...secondly...when u have air pockets in the system even small..the system is under pressure water and air in a pressurized system to not compliment eachother..u cannot compress a fluid..so when there is air in the system it pressurizes as temp increases and tries to pressurize the fluid which causes gaps in the cooling process because there are spots where coolant isnt cooling the engine...if u said u were xperiencing this problem before u replaced the thermostat.. so even if u do get all the air out you could still have a problem elsewhere...bleed the system if after u do the bowl method u feel like there might be air still...let it run cap ON till the thermo opens and both hoses get hot then crack open the 12 mm bleeder on the waterneck and make sure there is no sputtering or air it should flow str8 coolant... if u still have probs start checking each component of the cooling system...another possibility...rare but possible..is the sender to the gauge could be malfunctioning...if i remember correctly there is one for the fan switch operation on the bottom of the fans...one for the gauge and i think depending on the year another one for the light not sure about the last one if some had a temp light...but if it goes bad it can cause the fans not to kick on and/or the gauge to read wrongs...a bubble will also do this if an airpocket hits around the gauge because it will not read the coolant temp correctly

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DAguyLS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">easy way to get air bubbles out of your system.

from a cold start, take off your radiator cap

then start your car with the cap still off.

let it run for 10 to 20 mins.

you'll see bubbles inside the radiator (if there's air in your system)

when you see no bubbles, put the cap back on</TD></TR></TABLE>

usually true but does not work EVERY time...i have experienced many cooling problems doing swaps..draining motors completely and putting them back together... one instance i had problems for 6 days i bled it 4 times...with 4 run cycles with the cap off...used the bowl method 2 times and the bleeder and still had problem then i beat the **** out of it..popped the cap threw the bowl on again and let it sit overnight and the hidden little bastard bubble popped out and its been fine ever since... a lot of times the problem with running with the cap off is if the bubble stays in and the motor heats up too much before it can come out it will start to spew coolant like 2 feet in the air and will still not release the bubble then the engine will overheat...**** sucks sometimes

 

Well I think Imma go try to bleed it out maybe it might work... You could be right about the bubble I mean the lower radiator hose was cold untill I turned off the car, but still doesnt explain the weird noise coming from the water pump...

 

yea bud i could be wrong... ive done quite a lot with these cars and ive never seen a honda water pump go bad without leaking...just personal experience... im 23 and ive worked for dealers as a technician since i was 15 and the one thing i know for sure is anything and everything with cars is possible no matter how fucked up sounding..so its very possible maybe the pump/gear is starting to fall apart and sporacially not being able to keep up with the timing belt as the rpms increase...it could be.. just start with the easiest first to save urself a headache... i worked for VW for like 4 years and the germans cannot design a water pump for ****...they use a metal gear drive off the belt with a PLASTIC turbine to flow the coolant...******* plastic....the damn things grenade in the motor all the time...then the gear starts to break off around the the t-belt and cockeye out..the timing starts to slip...check engine light comes on..starts misfiring and overheating...u think theyd use a metal turbine?... thank a god for honda

 

sporadically..sorry my keyboard sucks and i hate to spell words wrong

 

theres been some great info in this thread..

i too work in a shop as a tech, and everytime i flush a cooling system, i always bleed the system just to make sure there isnt any air in the system..

also when for some reason adding coolant, i always add it when cold and when the engine is running with the cap off..top it off then put the cap on..

air is a great enemy of cooling systems..

when my water pump went. the shaft actually split in two, right between the gear and the pump housing. when i took the belt off, the gear just fell off and landed on the ground..

i also do the bowl trick..use the cap fitting and the adapter , the the bowl and the plug also goes into the bowl. i think this is what you are talkin about correct? then when the coolant gets full, stick the plug into the hole and pull off the bowl correct? or no? im just trying to get a picture of what you are talking about?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JH4DC4-2GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">theres been some great info in this thread..

i too work in a shop as a tech, and everytime i flush a cooling system, i always bleed the system just to make sure there isnt any air in the system..

also when for some reason adding coolant, i always add it when cold and when the engine is running with the cap off..top it off then put the cap on..

air is a great enemy of cooling systems..

when my water pump went. the shaft actually split in two, right between the gear and the pump housing. when i took the belt off, the gear just fell off and landed on the ground..

i also do the bowl trick..use the cap fitting and the adapter , the the bowl and the plug also goes into the bowl. i think this is what you are talkin about correct? then when the coolant gets full, stick the plug into the hole and pull off the bowl correct? or no? im just trying to get a picture of what you are talking about?</TD></TR></TABLE>

exactly...and if u have experienced a honda water pump actually breaking without leaking..then i have learned something from this thread as well....usually when it happens on VW's i know exactly what it is but on a b-series i usually never lean toward the pump because they are usually good or bad..i am glad i participated in this thread...also if it is making a noise this might actually be the problem then..pull of that timing and valve cover..slam a new pump and belt in that bitch and call it a day..and if there hasnt been leaks im still leaning toward coolant spillage on the rear of the motor burning off the exhaust as the smell... i hope this **** helps fix ur car...p.s you should save this thread or print it..i think weve covered pretty much the entire functions and flaws of cooling system

 

Well... The smell of coolant came 2 weeks or so after I had put the thermostat on so it would of come up sooner Im thinking. Recently the car has started making a supercharger souned every time I give it gas but above or around 3 it mostly goes away. So I think its the pump not being able to keep up with the motor then again im not sure. Its happen before were if you have a high hp car you can spin the water pump bearing... and considering I have 410hp to the wheels it could happen. I just still cant figure it out. I might try bleeding the coolant system... anymore suggestions?

 

is there really a bearing inside that pump?
hmm..

usually w/p sounds like when its about to go is more of a grinding, hollow sound..that corresponds to engine rpm.. i once thought it was my alt..

boy i was wrong..

my friends integra w/p just was gettin ready to go out until he came here and is like man im gonna need a new alt.. im like o yea, i dont think you do!

 

just replace that bastard...u got no leaks?...ur not losing coolant or low coolant...u got a new thermostat...if ur sure u have no leaks anywhere(smell)...and u are sure u bled it completely..and the turd is making noise near the timing cover...thats what id do logically by process of elimination... from what ur saying everything else is cancelling eachother out and pointing to the pump...weird its not leaking but like i said anythings possible...at least that way ull have a new t-belt too