Hey guys, I've been having lots of problems with my LSVTEC swap in my EF hatch recently. First the radiator fan stopped working and I noticed the car was getting hot when stopped for more than 20-30 seconds. We couldn't figure out exactly why it didn't work so got a Hayden fan controller kit with sensor and rigged it so that the fan kicks on if the car starts overheating. Tonight, however I noticed that the fan is pushing air thru the radiator instead of pulling it away from it so I'm going to have to fix that.

I've disconnected the fan for now, but when I was driving home the car started overheating on the freeway. I was going maybe 60 in 5th gear, with the heater blasting, with almost no throttle. After exiting and driving to my house a few blocks away the needle was still dangerously high. After turning the car off, and turning the key back to the "ON" position only a few seconds later the needle now only reads about 1/3 (where it normally was when driving around with no radiator fan in the fist place).

My question is, is it possible that my cluster is malfunctioning?

Recently I:
- replaced coolant, bled the entire system and even double-checked for air/bubbles
- replaced the thermostat (non-OEM auto-zone brand, possible suspect??)
- checked the radiator cap, fine
- noticed that the drain plug has a VERY small leak but bought a new one and some thread-seal tape
- fluid level is fine as well as overflow chamber
- No bubbles in rad fluid or other indications that head gasket is bad

I've also noticed that one of the radiator hoses appears a bit bloated, but that might just be due to it being a larger integra rad hose hooked up to my smaller diameter EF SI radiator? I'm really stumped as to what to check next. Tomorrow I'm going to fix the fan to blow the right direction, make sure the drain plug leak is 100% fixed, and swap in the old thermostat to see if it makes a difference, but beyond that I'm completely stumped as to what the problem could be. Water pump? Need a new cluster? FML

 

the water pump could be bad. its not pushing water through the block, therefore; overheating.

 

test water pump. If it's good and you have any resistors around:
There's a plug (single wire below and slightly to the right of the dizzy) for the temp sensor. Simply pull it off and ground out that wire with the key on. your temp gauge should peg out instantly. and you can try different resistors (200, 400, and 600 ohms one end on the plug and the other grounded out) to test the gauge. if the gauge checks out, take out the temp sensor, hit it with a heat gun and watch the gauge again. after that, If the fan is functioning (fan switch on thermostat housing), leak-down test. Compression tests just aren't accurate.

 

did you have the head pressure tested before mounting it to the block?? just do leakdown, if gasket proves to be bad, make sure the head is pressure tested before you put it back on.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm going to try this first.

 

^^thats what i was gonna suggest but he said it just fine

 

Grounded out the wire and temp pegged right up as it's supposed to.. Waiting on a friend so I can pick up some resistors at the store. If everything looks good I'm gonna test the sensor, and if thats functional I'm going to bitch at the guy I just bought this swap from to get me a new water pump.

 

are you getting a check engine light code 11 for engine overheating?
if not then your thermo gauge sensor is probably bad
could also depend on which head gasket youre using, golden eagle swears by the vtec head gaskets for cooling reasons

 

Nope, no CEL whatsoever. I believe its a LS headgasket. Can't remember tho.

 

Did you overheat the engine since you replaced the thermostat?
Thermostats aren't bulletproof... in fact they are sort of fragile and damage pretty easily if you overheat.

Switch the polarity on your fan wires so it spins the other direction and pulls air through the radiator.

Get a new thermostat - OEM is best.
Make sure you install the thermostat the right way!

Test it again and see where you are at.

 

Running open thermostat and problem is fixed. Apparently the BRAND NEW thermostat I threw in there was faulty. I'm going to take this advise an go OEM