Well from reading the forums for about a year now, It seems I have ran into many similar problems other people have. I have a 99 Civic Si (greddy 18 kit), the car has ran hot since I got the thing. I have done everything from thermostat,radiator,hoses,head gasket...everything but the coolant hoses that run into the IACV, so this week I am gonna pressure test the damn thing and hope something shows.

I have been putting coolant in it about every week, week and a half, it will run nice and cold for a little, but then when I get on it a little bit or even sometimes seem to hit a hard bump the temp gauge spikes for about 10-25 seconds and slowly but steadily will fall to normal or right above normal. The car does not white smoke at start or at all, but sometimes seems to sputter a little on starts, but it will idle up to normal and smooth out after a few seconds. I can smell coolant sometimes but never seem to be able to spot the leak by eye.

Is there any other direction I should be looking towards?


Troubleshooting attempts already:
New fluyidine radiator
Cometic Low Compression Head Gasket
New Radiator Hoses and Thermostat
Coolant Drain and flush(es)


Any Ideas??????

I am so annoyed by this **** over the past year, I am about to sell this damn car..

 

If your reservoir is bubbling, you may want to replace the cap, the cap may be worn and can't handle the pressure therefore it dumps hot coolant into the reservoir

stan

 

The only time the resevoir bubbles is when I take the radiator cap off , and it releases pressure, other than that I don't think it does

 

Dumb question, your fan comes on right?

 

You could try a stock headgasket. When you replaced the headgasket, did it seem okay for a bit? Also, get a water temp guage, the factory temp guage is worthless.

 

The fan does come on, and ya it did seem to be OK, for a little bit after the headgasket

 

mines losing coolant too, no leaks under the car, no noticable white smoke.. i hate troubleshooting this crap too.. other than that , it runs fine..

 

Have you guys run a leakdown test yet ? that tells you if your HG is blown.

 

****, I have done the HG already

 

No headstuds, but the car was running hot like that before I even boosted it. Did the HG and the turbo kit at the same time b/cause that is what we thought it was. I run 5-6 psi to and from work, and occasionally play all the way up to 10-11 psi.

 

dump some stop leak into the radiator.. itll help

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by orange99si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No headstuds, but the car was running hot like that before I even boosted it. Did the HG and the turbo kit at the same time b/cause that is what we thought it was. I run 5-6 psi to and from work, and occasionally play all the way up to 10-11 psi.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You cannot re-use head studs due to bolt stretch. Also, it is a good idea to check to make sure the decks on the head and block are not warped when replacing a blown HG.

Was the car ever tuned after the turbo kit was put on?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrecisionH23a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You cannot re-use head studs due to bolt stretch.</TD></TR></TABLE>


That is only true if you go past the tensile strength of the bolt/stud.

You would need to actually measure the bolt/stud for stretch.

 

True, i re-used mine on my D series twice at 15 psi.

So, it ran hot like this before you even put the turbo on? Cracked head maybe. I think your going to need to pull it apart and have everything checked. Otherwise, i would go to a stock 3 layer metal gasket. Maybe a new water pump, and run a hose through the coolant lines to make sure it is reaching everywhere it should be, and coming out also.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by coneheadsracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">True, i re-used mine on my D series twice at 15 psi.

So, it ran hot like this before you even put the turbo on? Cracked head maybe. I think your going to need to pull it apart and have everything checked. Otherwise, i would go to a stock 3 layer metal gasket. Maybe a new water pump, and run a hose through the coolant lines to make sure it is reaching everywhere it should be, and coming out also. </TD></TR></TABLE> <U></U>

I am thinking a cracked head too....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrecisionH23a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You cannot re-use head studs due to bolt stretch. Also, it is a good idea to check to make sure the decks on the head and block are not warped when replacing a blown HG.

Was the car ever tuned after the turbo kit was put on?</TD></TR></TABLE>
No, just uses factory programmed emanage

 

Damn, I just don't want to take the head off again, but if thats what it takes

 

If it didn't start til you put your turbo on, then i'd get it tuned, and replace the headgasket again. If its always run hot, even before..... i don't know. I had a y7, stuck a y8 head on it. Drove it for a summer, seemed like no issues. Then i was trying to turbo the car, but had some issues with it, and did a track day NA. But i had all my guages in my car, and realized the damned thing was running 200 - 210 normal driving. Stock guage never showed me that. I did the track day, saw 230 + many of times, seemed fine, i knew there was an issue. THen i got the turbo on, and once i did that, it really started to push the coolant into the resivoir. Didn't really care, wasn't my only car, eventualy replaced the headgasket, used copper spray/coating, and then it was perfect after that. 15 psi. I run uberdata though. I've done a few headgaskets since then, i always use stock and copper, been great. So, unfortunetly, i don't know what to tell ya, leakdown test if you can i guess.

 

thanks for the input

 

Well, I just got done reading about the thermostat switch, it would make so much sense! My fan doesn't cut on all the time like it should, it will work everynow and then, but lots of times it will run almost all the way to the "H" and the fan will never come on. ......still doing pressure test tomm. (weather and time permitting) but damn that sounds like it though....

 

Good luck

 

Pressure test was good, must be internal........ <U></U> F*CK!