Well, so I just recently rebuilt this car, a 96 4 door EX 5 speed, and have been driving it a bit.. figured out the rad was leaking, so I replaced it.. when I refilled the coolant, I tried to do the whole process of turning the car on, letting it idle, have the fan kick on twice, and then refill the rad.. well, it idled for like 45 minutes and the fan wouldn't kick on.. I even held the RPM's at 2k trying to get it to go on, but to no avail.. I know it's cold here, but it should've come on doing that I'd think..

so I turned the a/c on and both fans work.. I jumped the wire at the fan switch and the fan came on.. my question is this: does this mean a bad fan switch, or a bad thermostat(which I did replace with an OEM part when putting the engine back together)? could both be busted? are they directly related in any way, as in one should activate the other..

Secondary info is that the lower hose felt noticeably cooler than the upper, even with the car warmed.. the temp gauge in the car never moves above that "slightly below middle" spot that most hondas all seem to sit at, and finally, the heat in the car works, but doesn't heat up very much.. I can have it on full hot and the fan all the way up and leave it like that while driving on a cold day - never had a car do that before..

what do you guys think?

 

after replacing radiator did you bleed the system ??? 12 mm nipple on top of t-stat housing??? loosing it up till only coolant comes out , tighten, refill radiator, retry ..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda-Master &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">after replacing radiator did you bleed the system ??? 12 mm nipple on top of t-stat housing??? loosing it up till only coolant comes out , tighten, refill radiator, retry ..</TD></TR></TABLE>

sorry, I left that out of the original post..

yes, I did that, before turning the car on to let it cycle...

 

anyone? bueller?

 

Sounds like your thermostat. Replace it with a Honda thermostat or you may be doing it again.

 

the current one (I just put it in when redoing the motor) IS an OEM one.. lol..

 

wow this sounds so familiar check out this thread it will solve your problem because this happend to me before!

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1457521

see how that works out for you!.

 

I would guess that it is "built to OEM specifications" whatever that means, but is not a honda. If it's not your thermostat your only other option is that the impeller has corroded off the water pump. I think you would have more overheating if this was the case. I'd put a honda thermostat in it first.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by accordisslow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wow this sounds so familiar check out this thread it will solve your problem because this happend to me before!

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1457521

see how that works out for you!.</TD></TR></TABLE>This doesn't explain the cool lower hose or the lack of heat coming off the heater core. A bad temp switch will leave you with hot hoses and a very hot heater and an overly hot engine as well. Cool lower hose and little heat = bad thermostat or bad circulation.

 

How about a clogged radiator? Low flow rate means the coolant has time to get cold before coming back thru the lower hose. But the flow rate is too low to provide much cooling to the engine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JimBlake &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How about a clogged radiator? Low flow rate means the coolant has time to get cold before coming back thru the lower hose. But the flow rate is too low to provide much cooling to the engine.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

if radiator were plugged it would have overheating issues,,,,,,,,,and besides he said he replaced the radiator...........

Have you checked the heater valve???

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by amckee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would guess that it is "built to OEM specifications" whatever that means, but is not a honda. If it's not your thermostat your only other option is that the impeller has corroded off the water pump. I think you would have more overheating if this was the case. I'd put a honda thermostat in it first.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I bought it at the dealer.. it better be honda.. looks identical to the one I just bought to put in tomorrow.. shouldn't be the water pump either.. brand new OEM one put in at the same time as the theoretically bad thermostat..

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda-Master &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Have you checked the heater valve???</TD></TR></TABLE>

the valve in the engine bay is working.. i assume this is the heater valve you're talking about..? and yeah, the radiator is brand new..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda-Master &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">,,,,and besides he said he replaced the radiator.......</TD></TR></TABLE>Wow, how did I miss that??

 

well, new fan switch and thermostat have not solved the problem.. the heat still doesn't work very well.. like it gets warm, but not HOT like it should.. I did double check that the valve was working while I was in there and it appears that it was..

 

Look under the dash on the right side of the console where the carpet meets the firewall. Actuate the temp **** while you are looking to see the lever that it is connected to. Make sure the **** is fully actuating the lever by pushing the lever in the full hot position. This is the air mixture door and if the temp **** is stripped out it will not fully close and you will get lukewarm air in the winter and hot air in the summer. If this is not the problem make sure the bypass valve under the hood also actuates when you move the temp ****. If this is not the problem, I would disconnect the inlet and outlet hoses from the heater core and run water through it with a garden hose and see if it is restricted. If it appears restricted, alternate the hose back and forth between the inlet and outlet with good pressure until it breaks free. The heater core and the IACV and FITV are on passive loops of the cooling system. Water does not HAVE to pass through them if it can find a path of less resistance. This is why air bubbles can easily vapor lock these portions of the system.

 

yeah, the valves were moving full open and close..

time to break out the garden hose I guess..

 

Not to thread hijack, but him and I are having almost the same problem..

It's kinda funny that we made our threads on the same day.

Because of the comment of the lower hose being cooler than the top hose, I checked it when I got home: I'd burn my hand if I left it on the top hose for too long but the botton hose, while hot, is very much cooler than the top.

I woudl have never cheked that if it hadn't been mentioned earlier.

I however, have blistering hott heat. So I suppose my radiator could just be bad??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mac_24_seven &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Not to thread hijack, but him and I are having almost the same problem..

It's kinda funny that we made our threads on the same day.

Because of the comment of the lower hose being cooler than the top hose, I checked it when I got home: I'd burn my hand if I left it on the top hose for too long but the botton hose, while hot, is very much cooler than the top.

I woudl have never cheked that if it hadn't been mentioned earlier.

I however, have blistering hott heat. So I suppose my radiator could just be bad??</TD></TR></TABLE>Not likely. I went over and read your thread again and the difference here is you're overheating and mstewar is not. Jump the fan switch as JimBlake suggested and drive it for a while in traffic.(if the fan comes on, that is) If your problem disappears, replace the fan switch. If you still have it, then you have a restriction or low flow. It could be a bad thermostat. It is possible that you have a corroded impeller on the water pump that has a very low flow at idle, but increases enough to cool at higher RPM. How old is that thermostat, by the way, and what kind is it?


Modified by amckee at 6:23 AM 1/24/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mac_24_seven &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I however, have blistering hott heat. So I suppose my radiator could just be bad??</TD></TR></TABLE>NO! You said yours cools down within 100 feet of driving. That wouldn't happen with a bad radiator or obstructed water flow.