hey guys as title says ... i changed out my t-stat today and now my damn idle is jumping ... it bounces from about 1300-2000 then drops down and goes back up ... it continues to do this .. i left car running for about 3 mins with the radiator cap off to try n get any bubbles out ... but still did it so i disconnected the plug on top of the throttle body and the car would hard idle around 500 or so and within 3 seconds it would start the jumping again and throw a CEL. IDK what to do i've searched and read posts and idk :-\ another 20 min job taken a bad turn ....

sounds like VROOM ... hmmmmm .... VROOOM .... hmmmmm .... VROOM .... hmmm

 

first off running with no map sensor is gona mess all kinds of things up. Are you talking about the map sensor or the tps.

 

Any codes? Sounds like an IACV problem.

 

you need to let it run for more than 3 minutes.. you have to wait for the thermostat to open. also, clear the code.

 

you might have to clear the code, and bleed the coolant using the bleeder screw on the thermostat housing

 

check the area you were working on, around the thermostat, there are alot of connectors there, and sensors, you are working around the TB so logically you could have bumped or damaged something.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Archidictus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any codes? Sounds like an IACV problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>

My money is on that too. but its on the back of the intake manifold not really much cause for that to be clogged/damaged if it was working before, but the diagnosis matches the symptons. did you disconnect any other hoses while you were working on, maybe to make access easier?

Clear the code, then check around the TB, maybe MAP sensor is FUBAR or clogged too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kyden &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you need to let it run for more than 3 minutes.. you have to wait for the thermostat to open. also, clear the code.</TD></TR></TABLE>
To get the air out it is recommended that you let the car warm up and go through one fan cycle with the radiator cap off. As the temp rises the coolant level will rise and if you give one of the rad hoses a gentle squeeze it will force some of the air out and the coolant level will drop. just repeat this until the fan comes on and goes off.

 

there's a single connector on the tob of my TB right by the idle adjust flathead screw thing ... when i start the car without it it idles really low then starts to jump again ... i tried adjusting the screw to set the idle ... but it didn't change at all ... who knows what my idle's set to now i tried to put it back how it was before ... but the peopel i bought the thermostat said i didn't need any silicone stuff as i read on HT ... so i didn't get it ... could that be it? could there be air coming in around the rubber grommet thing? .. anyway im gonna let the car run for about 10 mins to see if a cycle starts up or not ... if in ten mins the fan doesn't come on im gonna turn it off and call it a night ... :-\ gl to me thanx for all ur help guys

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ntrider &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">To get the air out it is recommended that you let the car warm up and go through one fan cycle with the radiator cap off. As the temp rises the coolant level will rise and if you give one of the rad hoses a gentle squeeze it will force some of the air out and the coolant level will drop. just repeat this until the fan comes on and goes off. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Do what this guy said.

 

ok ... i let the car idle for about 10 mins reved it a bit too ... and the temp gauge started to rise ... i thought wow could be starting to work now .. but the jumping idle continued ... and still not hot air blowing frm fan ... a few mins later smoke started coming from the open radiator cap valve ... i let it run a bit more and i noticed the temp started to rise higher above the middle marker .. i let run for about a minute more then i turned it off ... didn't wanna overheat or anything :-\ ... and the fan never came on ... i didn't squeeze the hoses or anything was just keeping an eye on the coolant resorvoir level ... seems like it never moved ... my friend said could be a bad thermostat ...

 

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the temp gauge won't move much if the thermostat stays closed.

You probably just have bubbles in your cooling system, assuming you didn't disconnect anything when installing the thermostat. Maybe raising the front end will help in working them out. But I would seriously look around to make you you didn't nudge anything loose... if it all looks fine, work your way around the area and push everything down to make sure it's got a solid connection.

It sounds like a failed IACV, but for it to go bad immediately after thermostat replacement is awfully fishy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ibe2fly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok ... i let the car idle for about 10 mins reved it a bit too ... and the temp gauge started to rise ... i thought wow could be starting to work now .. but the jumping idle continued ... and still not hot air blowing frm fan ... a few mins later smoke started coming from the open radiator cap valve ... i let it run a bit more and i noticed the temp started to rise higher above the middle marker .. i let run for about a minute more then i turned it off ... didn't wanna overheat or anything :-\ ... and the fan never came on ... i didn't squeeze the hoses or anything was just keeping an eye on the coolant resorvoir level ... seems like it never moved ... my friend said could be a bad thermostat ... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Did you check the code yet? Jesus, man: do the easy stuff first and make life difficult for yourself later. If the CEL is on, check it so you know what to fix. It might be the coolant temperature switch since that's on the thermo housing/water neck. It's possible that you jiggled a wire loose or plugged a connector in wrong or something.

Don't make it more difficult than you have to.

 

word ... im gonna wake up round 11 and check EVERY connector and wire i can find ... but you guys don't think the silicone would have anything to do with it right?

 

Reset the ecu, fix the connections. Bleed the system for 15min or so and let us know.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ibe2fly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">word ... im gonna wake up round 11 and check EVERY connector and wire i can find ... but you guys don't think the silicone would have anything to do with it right? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I've never siliconed a thermostat in if it had a rubber surround like ours do. You're not supposed to. If you were, there would be something in the Helms about using Hondabond on the two halves of the housing and...there's not.

 

i'm overheating now after about 10 mins ... still no hot air ... still no fan action ... im gonna take out thermostat and try to reinstall AGAIN ... bbl guys

 

Ugh...yeah man, sounds to me like your thermostat is stuck closed. GL with reinstalling it man!!!

 

make sure the jiggle pin is at the top when you put it in.

 

what's the jiggle pin? instructions don't say anything about a jiggle pin ... all it says is the way to have it facing ....

i think my prob is a vacuum leak .... while car was running i unplugged TPS and car started high idling around 2k ... i could adjust only a little but up to about 2300 but couldn't get it lower than that ...

i remember when first starting i disconnected the uppser hose from the engine and then found out that it was the lower hose that i needed to remove ... i didn't re-silicone the upper hose i just bolted back on ... could this be where the vacuum leak is coming from? :-\

btw i reinstalled (when i took out the thermostat, the front circle part was like bent, i had to push it back to get it springy ... does this means it's bad or i just installed it wrong last time?) and let sit for about 10 mins ... for the first 2-3 mins idle was perfect!!! around 1300 and just chilling then i decided to go inside for a snack ... by the time i got about 15 feet away to the garage door the first decline in rpms was heard then it idled steady for about 10 seconds then jumped again ... then did it about 5 times ina row then steadied then started to do it and didn't stop for about 5 mins ... while this was going on it took a while but engine temp began to rise again ... was about 75% to the top .... i was letting car sit the rad pressure cap off to try and remove any air bubbles if any. I'm so stuck :-\ ...

is the ONLY over heating symptom a bad thermostat? cuz if so i'm gonna return it tomorrow. thanx for reading ... sorry for the long post

 

when you look at the thermostat the spring should be towards the engine. on top of the thermostat where the ring runs around where the 2 arms meet it, it should have what look like a little pin on the ring. make sure that is at the top of the housing.

 

check out this link
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=876298
There is a picture of the thermostat in the housing and at the top of it there is a half circle in the rubber gasket right there is the jiggle pin.

 

never knew that pin was a marker ... gonna go pull it out and drop it BACK in lol ... thanx brb in about 20-30 ish

 

back ... i think i put in right .... it's too late to leave car running i dun wanna hear neighbor's bytchin ... but i let it run for about 5 mins ... first 2 mins idling around 1500 then steady rose to 2k then after about 2 mins @ 2k it started to drop that VROOM hmmm VROOM hmmm again and i just shut it off .... discouraged, tired, cold and civic-less i'm calling it a night ... i have some sql server work to do

 

also when you bleed it, make sure that your climate control is set on the hot position so that you can get the air bubbles out of the heater core.

 

ok here's where we stand ... i'm overheating and idle surging ... my friend who has a b18 that lives about 4 mins from me says he's surging too ... could it be the climate or something ? :'( he says his started last weekend ...


here are some pics of where i am ...

this is the hose i took off by mistake at first....





here's my tstat housing ....





HELPPPP




Modified by ibe2fly at 8:36 PM 11/21/2005