i got a 99 accord 4 cyl with a recent fully built motor. We just recently turned up the boost from 7-8 pounds to about 12. and on the way home it started overheating.

heres the things i have done so far:

-checked coolant level and topped off twice
-checked both upper and lower radiator hoses for pressure and heat which there is
-replaced thermostat, coolant temp sensor, and temp gauge sender unit
-topped off coolant again


it still over heats, it only overheats under a larger load on the engine, and it over pressurizes the radiator, so the reservoir over fills and sprays it out.

as far as i can tell no leaks in the hoses, all hoses look fine, and seals are good,

could it be a radiator? i believe it is the second one on the car,

any help is greatly appreciated!

 

i know next to nothing about turbo'ed cars, but it'd seem to me you'd need a better raditor for it to cool properally than the stock one.. if you think about it you're working and heating the engine so much more than it would be at stock.

 

that's kinda what i was thinking, but wasn't quite sure tho, any more suggestions/opinions are greatly appreciated


one other question, is it worth going for a performance radiator, if im soon gonna be running even more boost? advantages/disadvantages?

 

I think it might be your radiator.Your better off with sometin like a fluidyne radiator.

 

there's gotta be some things i should be able to check to at least rule out some things and narrow it down right?

the cooling system is the one thing i don't know much about help me out here!

 

i were you i'd stop driving the car until you find out what' causing you to overheat, could also be a sensor, and like it was said the RAd. i think you should do a pressure test on the rad

 

oh don't worry there, i have stopped driving it since then, and the sensors i have all replaced, so i have ruled that out as far as i know.

how would i go about doing a radiator pressure test? would that tell me if it is the radiator?

one thing i was thinking about today, because i had a built motor just recently installed, could it be old dried up coolant possibly clogging it? maybe i should try flushing it out totally? idk, just a thought

thanks for all of your responses!

 

Failing water pump maybe? Not pumping coolant quick enough through the radiator to get the temp down.

Second guess would be that the OEM radiator isnt designed to cool an engine running that hot. Seems like a logical assumption.

Low oil pressure?

 

did you blow the head gasket?

check your oil

 

well the pressure in the oil is fine, but the oil did seem to 'dissapear' one time i haven't really driven it at all actually, so it could be one of those,

one thing doesn't make sense to me though, is i got a brand new water pump, oil pump etc, etc, and even all new gaskets so youd figure nothing would go bad, but i will double check everything mentioned tho

i could be wrong on some things so im just explaining my thinking

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hotaccord243 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how would i go about doing a radiator pressure test? would that tell me if it is the radiator?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Usually a shop will do a cooling pressure check for relatively cheap. Otherwise you can purchase a kit..

http://inpcars.com/oils-and-fluids/

 

i'm going to midas and have them do a flush and pressure check tomorrow morning at 1230, so ill let ya' all know

thanks for your help!


Modified by hotaccord243 at 4:06 PM 11/6/2007

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by YeuEmMaiMai &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">did you blow the head gasket?

check your oil</TD></TR></TABLE>
i have to agree with yeuemmaimai sounds like a blown head gasket and if you see his events leading to the problem.
my money is on the head gasket

 

i mean that does make sense, but when i check the oil, it looks normal, and nothing is abnormal about it thats why im so confused, but say i do take off my head, what does a blown headgasket look like?

 

it will be cracked when you inspect it or there will be a chunk missing

 

well i had midas check it out and it is a head gasket or cracked head, so im on my way to try to go about figuring out which one it is..... hopefully the head gasket only, but well see......

thanks guys so much for your help!

 

if you have oil and coolant mixed then yes to a 95% chance of a cracked head.
no oil is almost 98% chance of only gasket issues and maybe a head surface.