Hi,

I have a 1995 Ej2 coupe (Honda Civic DX coupe) and it has a D16z6 engine in it.

Everything else is pretty much stock on the engine (minus the exhaust and header).

Problem:
Loss of Coolant
Overheating (even when fan is on)
Radiator coils cool to the touch (top and bottom tanks hot when overheating)
When overheating, the top hose is hot to the touch but the bottom is barely warm

Symptoms:
Coolant is disappearing every few days
Coolant is rather dirty and oily

Things that have been done:
Changed thermostat
Radiator flushed
Checked compression on each cylinder (150 all across)

On a side note: Also, whenever I start my car or just let it idle, it will fluctuate in idle rpms. It will stay at 700, then slowly jump upto 1200 then come back down. And keep doing it, then sometimes it will go away.

Can anyone help?

Jon

 

Have you thought about something like a small leak, that expands when the coolant is hot?
That would let air into the system and mess with your idle speed, along with leading to your missing coolant, that Im guessing isnt burning(?)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pdiggitydogg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Have you thought about something like a small leak, that expands when the coolant is hot?
That would let air into the system and mess with your idle speed, along with leading to your missing coolant, that Im guessing isnt burning(?)</TD></TR></TABLE>

I pondered about some kind of small leak in the vacuum lines that might be causing an erratic idle.

Although, I guess I should check the heater core (smell of coolant inside) for a leak. I tried to rent a radiator pressure tester from Autozone but it doesnt fit over Honda sized radiators.

Yes, the coolant isnt burning (no smoke or residue coming out of the back end).

Hmm, need to fix arghh! Thanks for the reply pdiggitydogg

 

hmm, anyone have a clue to where other leaks might be?

 

yeah check the heater core, and the hoses going to it. my car use to do that when it warmed up, turned out the heater hose had a pinhole sized hole that would squirt coolant out when it warmed up.

 

Mine does the exact same thing, head gasket.

 

no, if it were the headgasket it would be burning...and its not

 

DId another radiator flush - the bottom and top hoses get hot now but now the car still overheats after a longer period of time even w/ the fan on. The Radiator gets semi hot

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pdiggitydogg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">no, if it were the headgasket it would be burning...and its not</TD></TR></TABLE>
but the dirty and oily coolant that might still be a head gasket. Pull the plugs are any of them cleaner then the others. He might also just have a nice air pocket in coolant system. AS far as the idel issue pull your iacv and give it a good cleaning. Also check the fitv that will cause idle hunting after the engine is warm

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by instructor74 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
but the dirty and oily coolant that might still be a head gasket.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's what I am thinking. Although, it does have the smell of gas and oil. Kinda odd, might have made my headgasket leak when I overheated.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by instructor74 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Pull the plugs are any of them cleaner then the others. He might also just have a nice air pocket in coolant system. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Plugs are normal. I bled my coolant system but might've done it incorrectly. What I did was opened the valve and let the car run until a smooth stream came out. However, I havent re bled it after I flushed (time was of a concern). So Ill do another flush and rebleed it.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by instructor74 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
AS far as the idel issue pull your iacv and give it a good cleaning. Also check the fitv that will cause idle hunting after the engine is warm</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did clean out the IACV with carb cleaner (let it soak in a puddle of it) and the FITV i readjusted. Its odd sometimes my car will idle at the 700 rpm and sometimes it will just idle high at 1000rpm and start hunting from 1000-1300 rpm. And sometimes, the idle is extremely low at 500 rpm.

I need to also disconnect the coolant hoses to the heater core and re-route them together to bypass the heater core.

 

Rerouted the heater hose from the head to the thermostat housing to by pass the heater core.

Radiator fluid looks kinda like a murky green and smells like oily and antifreeze like.

Oil has no milky residue and spark plugs look normal.

However, when my car is cold in the morning, I can pop open the radiator cap and there no fluid in my radiator (visible upto the neck) but theres a good amount in the reservoir. I did notice that the overflow keeps popping ( I can see residue marks on the intake from the antifreeze getting all over it)

 

Symptoms are indicative of a blown headgasket; at worst crack in block or head. But usually, blown headgasket.

 

Ahh man not another headgasket problem grr.

Well I rerouted the hoses from the head to the block bypassing the heater core and I filled up the reservoir to the middle between max and min, and I filled the radiator up to the neck with antifreeze.

Now the car overheated and the fluid inside was boiling hot even with the fan on. The car was driving for about a good hour.

The radiator was pretty hot as well - the lower hose was warm and the top hose was burning hot.

Any more input?

 

Ugh i dont have time haha - man no EIBACH meet for me =\