My car started to overheat, so I decided to flush the coolant system. I did that it made my car idle a little lower. I let it run for about 30 minutes and the temp got 1/2 of the way to red and the fan didn't even bother to come on. I need help.

 

Try jumping the fan motor directly to the battery to see if the motor is shot. If it works try jumping the thermosensor switch located either in the bottom of the rad or the back of the block, i think, depending on what car you have. That switch is what completes the circuit to turn on the fan when it detects a certain temp in the coolant.

d

 

What year car?

What year motor?

99-00 B16a2 in a 96-98 EK will do this.......

What you got foo?

 

94 Honda Civic DX

91 JDM B16A1

Original fan/ used radiator.
New thermostat with engine(1,700 miles on it)

What now?

 

well if the temp only went halfway, i wouldn't worry about it...that's not 'hot' yet. does your car get any hotter than that, or do you just shut it off after that?

 

It has gotten up to the top before, but now I just cut it off. I hooked up a wire to turn my fan on whenever I want it. It runs at halfway when idle, but once I start driving it it gets hot. The fan is blowing air to my engine, should it be pulling instead? I just replaced the thermostat today with a brand new one and I still have problems. My upper radiator hose is somewhat warm, hot if you hold it too long(ouch) and the lower is cool, but can get hot after a while. I put a new 2000 Civic SI radiator cap on and I still am lost. What should I do?

 

well from my understanding, if one hose is much warmer than the other, its due to a bad thermo?
this after you replaced it?



[Modified by hybrider93, 6:06 PM 4/21/2002]

 

blowing air onto your engine is right (just like what happens while driving).

I know you said it started to overheat before you flushed the coolant, but did you bleed the air out after (suprising how many people don't know about that). Its also possible that you fixed the original problem, but created another when it overheated. I know those old plastic rads can't take too much. Good job replacing the cap tho. Are you sure there's no leaks. An easy way to prove a significant one (at least) is by checking for bubbles at the rad filler neck (engine idleing, cap off, of course). Some kind of pressure testing tool is the proper way to do it tho.

I know it sucks to have overheating problems. I've cooked two engines pretty good that way and my mom did her civic engine up good several times as well. Its surprising what heat those engines can take, the sucky part is trying to get the spark plugs out after they have been welded to the head (just leave em there in that case)

 

I did try to bleed the coolant system, but I don't know if I did it right. I turned the car on the normal temp and opened the valve a little, then closed it. I don't see any leaks, but I do have a 2000 SI radiator that I could put on, but didn't because they have the same number on the top of them(so I figured they were the same). Should I go buy a Del Sol VTEC radiator? Are there any other problems I could've created while trying to fix the others? Wouldn't when I am driving it would cool off the motor? Instead it just gets hotter. Maybe I do need a new radiator.

 

There is a switch by the thermostat housing that turns on the fan when the coolant reaches a set temperature.It has a two pin brown connector going to it. If that switch is bad, your fans won't come on. You may have other problems as well, but I would fix the fan circuit first and see where that leaves you.

 

I had that problem not too long ago, check the fan relay.

 

Ok, I just got finished outting in a 2000 Civic SI radiator, making a power switch for my fan to come on whenever I want it to, and advancing my timing a tad(I thought my car was retarded). I took it for a run and it was almost at the half way point(which I don't like but is better than in the red). I drove it easy and stayed out of VTEC, but once I hit VTEC it got really hot, about a 1/4 of the way to the red. I took it easy, turned the heater on full blast and drove on. In about 1 minute it cooled back down. Any ideas?

 

did you replace the waterpump when the 1st gen b16 went in? afterall, they are like 10 years old.

 

to bleed the coolant you should run it with the valve open as you did, but keep pouring cooling in the rad to displace all the air in the system. It may spit out the bleeder valve for a minute, but it should turn into a steady stream before too long.

d

 

THanks for the tip. And yes I did replace the water pump with the motor.