Hi ya'll, my dx coupe with 140,000 miles is running extra hot lately...The fan works, it has a new radiator and the water pump isn't leaking anything so i have no idea whats wrong? Is it a sensor of some sort? Thanks for the help, i'm new to these cars.

 

if the water pump is not leaking the pumps propeller that actually pushes the water could be shot. check with a temp guage(not in you car) to see if your actually overheating. if not,faulty guage/temp sending unit? if it is overheating i would look into the water pump and thermostat...

 

well the guy i bought it form claims he has a new thermostat on it, i doubt its oem though. So the only thing wrong would have to be the water pump? What is that a $250-$300 job?

 

May also be a blown headgasket.

 

well the coolant has no oil in it and oil has no coolant so i doubt its that, but if it is how much does that run.

 

I've seen a fair number of them blow with no obvious coolant/oil contamination. Price is going to vary depending on location, what you buy for a gasket, headbolts, labour etc. Normally I replace the engine due to amount i've seen the blew headgaskets repeatedly after the first one let go. Do a compression test before you start panicing though.

 

after the car warms up to were the thermostat should open, grab the hose that goes to the bottom of the radiator from the thermostat housing to see if it's pressurized with hot coolant to see if it's in fact opening.

 

so pretty much of it isn't the water pump or thermostat, its the head gasket and i'm screwed? its an auto so whats the ball park figure of doing a manual jdm d15b swap, $2,000??? the car is rust free which is why i'm considering dumping all this money.......is it possible for me and my dad to do the gasket ourselves? i have no mechanical experience and he is use to working on domestic cars.

 

If you don't mind doing the work yourself you can probably pull off a manual D15B vtec swap for under $2000. figure around $700 - $800 for the engine, $120 for a water pump and timing belt. $300 - $500 for manual parts car. $300 for a new clutch. And optionally $300 for a JDM D15B vtec/EX/Si tranny. Which leaves you at $2020 when using the higher prices. $1420 when using the lower prices and using whatever tranny was in the parts car.

Edit, forgot the ECU add in another $50 - $120 for that.

 

If it's the head gasket trying pulling off the radiator cap and starting the car up and see if coolant sprays out. That will tell you if there is a compression leak into the cooling system through a blown head gasket. Check and see if the lower rad hose is hot after the fans come on. If not its the thermostat. Also make sure the cooling system is bled properly.

 

check to see if overflow tank starts boiling. You can also do leak down test. If you have a bore scope you can pressurise the cooling system and check to see if the head gasket is seaping. How far did it over heat? If you want to swap it you can do it under $1000 in parts but you might as well look around for LS swap. Just go to the junkyard pick the engine that you want d16z6 or y8 or LS and start pulling **** out. Get the whole engine/trans/axles/ecu (wiring harness too if it's obdI) then pull shift linkage, clutch master cylinder, lines and slave. Then you are good to go.