90 accord lx.....when car is running the upper/lower radiator hoses are very squishy and dont feel like any water is running through them.....temp gauge is pegged at the red, I have installed a new t-stat but nothing changed....could this be a bad water pump or a clog in the cooling system somewhere? thanks

 

did you completely fill and bleed the coolant system? If not you may have warped your head as well by letting it "peg at the red"...

sohc

 

Yes I did drain, refill and bled the cooling system. I hope my head is not warped that would be very bad!.......basically I failed the emissions test for high nox and it's because the cooling system isn't flowing (at all).....you can feel there is no pressure in both hoses which in turn leads to high combustion temps and higher nox Im told.... my egr system is clean and everything else is in order and operating normally....it's just this major cooling issue .....I'm just wondering if the cooling passages in the block are blocked and/or can it be the water pump or blockage from the radiator?..im not sure

forgot to mention I just purchased the car for $500 and it was sitting since 12/06
when I first drained the cooling system there was nothing but water in it so I dont know if that could contribute to this problem at all.

 

The top hose should get warmed up first and the bottom hose doesn't warm up until the T-stat opens.
Plugged up radiator will give more pressure in the upper hose, and less in the lower hose, as well as the temp difference.

I have seen water pumps with the vanes corroded off.

you can start the car from a cool condition with the radiator cap off and then watch for the coolant flow when the T-stat opens.

The temp gauge and sender is all checked out and you know that the head is actually going over 215?

 

I actually just tried to run the engine without a t-stat and it still was going towards red on the temp gauge there is absolutley no or very little coolant flow through the hoses!.....I'm going to replace the water pump anyhow.... hopefully it stops this problem.....if not then the engine is coming out because it might be a head gasket or a bad block so might as well overhaul her.....all over stupid smog ****!!!!

 

just change the head gasket

 

Do your fans come on like they're suppoed to?
with the radiator cap off (when its cool) and coolant topped of slightlt rev the engine to check for water flow.....
Corroded fins likely
pressure test the coolant sys with tools from your local parts (loaner) program..AZ Advanced, NAPA, O'reiley's, usually they will loan you the tools w/deposit..

 

my cooling fans [B]only work when the ac is engaged[/B], which is strange because I swapped out the sending units and other cooling sensors (for the fans/cooling system) and although maybe not brand new, i seriously doubt that they are all faulty (Im not ruling this out tho), but its a slim chance because would 1 sensor make it run overly hot and not pass smog (high nox) because of it and also there would be a CEL and mine is fine!!!!... to top it off I have absolutley no pressure in BOTH RADIATOR HOSES when running... but since both radiator hoses have no to very little water/coolant flowing in them im leaning towards what Casper says about the head gasket since it's probably bad which really sucks but hey you buy a car for $500 bucks there's gotta be a reason right...if changing the head gasket, water pump, timing belt, balance shaft belt and everything else doesnt work I dont know what else will besides a major overhaul because you know there is warpage, especially if whoever drove it before me drove it around while overheating!....I can take/both an engine/tranny and suspension off and put them on the car but when it's related to the timing and internals Im screwed! I have seriously been thinking about buying another engine/tranny just to learn how to rebuild them so that way I can always have my 2 Accords running someday as I really miss driving them. I would save every 90-93 accord I could touch if I could work on them blindfolded ( I love these cars)... ! my dodge ram 360 cant cut it on the gas anymore! plus I hate trucks but its my only transportation right now! CB7 effiN RULES man!

 

Good luck, and I hope it all works out