Hey guys, I have a 1992 Si hatchback. Recently my car would warm up, but the temp gauge would go all the way down to cold when I drive. Also the heat would rarely get hot. I decided to install a new thermostat and used this thread:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1424191

After I was done, I drove it around for about 40 minutes and my car would start overheating. I drove home and searched some more and found out I didn't burp the coolant. So I used this thread to help me:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1497515

Towards the end there are some steps on how to burp the coolant. One of the steps is to add more coolant when the coolant level drops. Now here's the thing. I've been running my car for about 30 minutes and the coolant level hasn't dropped yet. I saw all the bubbles come out of it, and it was overflowing a few times when the fan turned on. I then started to rev the motor a little bit and it would either let out one or two more bubbles, or it would just overflow and spill a little bit out of the top.

I pretty sure I installed the thermostat correctly, everything is connected properly and securely and I have new radiator hoses.

So is it okay if I don't see the coolant drop? Or is it showing that my thermostat is blocked somehow? I'm going to drive around a little more in a minute to see if my car overheats again. In the meantime any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

if its overheating, try to bleed the cooling system..you prob have air pockets in the system..

 

if you look at your motor, there's a 12mm screw with a hole on the middle...its located towards the front, left hand side of the head...around there...open it up while the car is warming up and let the air out...it should be bubbles coming out of it...once you see only coolant, then close it back up..

found this pic...the red circle is the location of the bleeder..

 

not all motors have that bleeder.... i just squeeze the hoses lightly and that works great for me.. never had a problem

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Timmay &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not all motors have that bleeder....</TD></TR></TABLE>

oh...didnt know that...good lookin on that....my 1.8 has it, and thats what i do....what motos dont have this bleeder valve?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18CivicEg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

oh...didnt know that...good lookin on that....my 1.8 has it, and thats what i do....what motos dont have this bleeder valve?</TD></TR></TABLE>

this i have yet to find out.. ive had 1/2 and 1/2 with it.. ive seen some motors have one and then the exact same motor not.. i guess it depends on year or something?

 

squeeze the hose..give a few taps...tap the radiator...add more coolant...just keep doing it till u hardly see any bubbles

 

blast the heat while your doing it too...run the coolant threw the whole system..

 

i have never seen a honda without one.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by allricedout &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have never seen a honda without one..... </TD></TR></TABLE>
x's 2

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k_motor &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">blast the heat while your doing it too...run the coolant threw the whole system..</TD></TR></TABLE>

that does nothing lol... all you have to make sure is the heater is on the hot side.. doesnt have to be on

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by allricedout &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have never seen a honda without one..... </TD></TR></TABLE>

really? my past few motors havent had one... and i have a few friends who dont have them aswell

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Timmay &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
really? my past few motors havent had one... and i have a few friends who dont have them aswell</TD></TR></TABLE>

really...well, maybe i never noticed it...i remember seein it on all the motors i've seen...unless i didnt pay attention to certain ones...i dunno

 

yea i havent really found a pattern for what has and what hasnt either.. its wierd

 

Cool, thanks for all the replies. I just got back from driving and it seems okay for now. No overheating so far. If it does, I'm gonna try the bleeding.

I have another question. When I got home, I checked to make sure everything was okay, and noticed that the lower radiator hose is ice cold. The top hose was hot. Is that normal since my car was at normal temp the entire time of driving (about 20 minutes)?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by oo3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cool, thanks for all the replies. I just got back from driving and it seems okay for now. No overheating so far. If it does, I'm gonna try the bleeding.

I have another question. When I got home, I checked to make sure everything was okay, and noticed that the lower radiator hose is ice cold. The top hose was hot. Is that normal since my car was at normal temp the entire time of driving (about 20 minutes)?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i would figure both would get hot since the water is circulating....you sure your thermostat is opening??

 

Is there a way to check without taking it apart? All I know so far is that my car didn't overheat when I drove it around after burping it and the heater was blowing hot wonderful heat...(haha I haven't had heat in my car for a couple weeks)

 

well, if you have heat, then your thermostat is chill....uhm...i dont know yo...if it didnt over heat, then it should be cool i guess...

 

it just hadnt opened yet... if its colder out it will take longer to open.. let it idle with the hood closed for a bit.. it will open

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Timmay &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it just hadnt opened yet... if its colder out it will take longer to open.. let it idle with the hood closed for a bit.. it will open</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks. That makes sense since it was 24 degrees outside when I was driving...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by oo3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Thanks. That makes sense since it was 24 degrees outside when I was driving...</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea if its 24 im sure the air moving was alot cooler... its -2 here or something

 

Well looks like I got the bleeding thing taken care of. Now it looks like I'm leaking a lot of coolant. It looks like it's coming from where the thermostat housing is. I made sure every thing is tighten. Any suggestions?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by oo3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well looks like I got the bleeding thing taken care of. Now it looks like I'm leaking a lot of coolant. It looks like it's coming from where the thermostat housing is. I made sure every thing is tighten. Any suggestions?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

small crack or hole on one of the hoses?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by oo3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well looks like I got the bleeding thing taken care of. Now it looks like I'm leaking a lot of coolant. It looks like it's coming from where the thermostat housing is. I made sure every thing is tighten. Any suggestions?</TD></TR></TABLE>
did you replace the gasket or use the old one? check that you didnt rip the hose when pulling it off...and if you tighten the bolt too much, you could of cracked the housing (ive seen it done)

 

Yeah I got a brand new gasket for the thermostat and I replaced the both of the hoses with new ones. Is there a torque spec I should tighten the nuts to?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by oo3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah I got a brand new gasket for the thermostat and I replaced the both of the hoses with new ones. Is there a torque spec I should tighten the nuts to?</TD></TR></TABLE>

well...if you wanna go by spec...here you go, its off my Helms manual..


make sure all the hoses are being held tight onto the nipples with the clamps...