Ok well i have a 90 inegra 4door with a ls bottom end and a gsr head. I put the motor together before winter last year and it has ran great up until now. What happens is it runs normal but then it will start getting hot, and what it does is the top radiator hose gets hot but the bottom ones doesn't. Now i know that sounds like a thermostat but i put a new one in it when i swapped the head and then i put a new one in it 3 days ago. but it still does it. so i bought a new radiator cuz mine was looking pretty bad like it would blow anytime soon. But that didn't do it either, it still overheats. So i thought maybe the water pump somehow crapped out witch doesnt make sense to me cuz theres nothing going on in a honda water pump but i went out got a new gsr water pump and still the same thing. Now my dad said that it could be air bound but ive never had that happen on a honda... so i bleed it n bleed it and bleed it still nothing i got air out of it but it still does it. i even used this funnel thing that's ment for all kinds of cars that goes on were the radiator cap would go and tightens on like a radiator cap and you fill it so that its higher then the motor and it helps get the air out but that didnt work either. now the only thing left is the head gasket but it was new when i put the head on and it doesn't steam out the exhaust and theres no oil in my antifreeze and theres no antifreeze in my oil and it doesnt use any antifreeze so i don't know what it is. i did order a head gasket but id rather not pull it apart for nothing...anyone have any ideas

 

anyone??? i need my car to get to work

 

Have you even check to see if it even overheats like with a thermametor to see the actual degrees, mayb the coolant sending unit or the cluster is giving you false readings. Also does your fans kick in?

 

how olds ur radiator?

 

ya ive checked not with an aftermarket gauge but u can hear the antifreeze boiling and the bottom radiator hose is ice cold and the top one is wicked hot...and like i said i just put a new radiator, thermostat, and water pump in it the other day one at a time and none of them fixed the problem...the only thing left is the head gasket but like i said its fairly new and i have no loss of antifreeze, it doesnt steam out the exhaust, there's no oil in my antifreeze, and there's no antifreeze in my oil so idk whats going on. Somehow there's air in the system and i cant get it out but ive bleed it and ive had all the hoses off and blew through them so i don't have a clog. what else could it be??

 

u just said it. the rad is clogged.
bottom cold n top hot :t hud:
it can happem.
the inside gets so rotted out that it cloggs it n blocks the cycle.

 

What no i didn't say that its clogged... I said i blew through it so i know that its not clogged. And i also said that i have a brand new radiator in it that i bought and put in just the other day so no there's no clogs. I blew air though the radiator before i put it in and when i had the water pump off i blew threw both hoses to see if maybe there was a clog in the motor somewhere and the air went easy and out where the water pump would go. Pluss ive flushed it a ton of times. The only other thing is the head gasket so i guess im gonna just go ahead and change it cuz i ordered it and it will be here tomarow

 

Is your car burning coolant? Have you checked the dipstick to see if you have coolant mixed with your oil? Have you tried running the car without the Thermostat? Have you changed the radiator cap?

 

Wow people need to read what i wrote so i don't have to keep repeating myself...NO there's no antifreeze in my oil and NO there's no oil in my antifreeze. Im not a noob to honda's ive been building high horse power drag and street hondas since i was 15 and im 23 now. This is just my daily driver...

Anyway for the people that can read, my head gasket came in yesterday so i swapped that out and it still does it. So now ive put in a new head gasket, water pump thermostat and radiator. There's still no hot antifreeze going through my lower radiator hose. It makes no sense, ive never had this problem. The sleeves aint cracked, the head looks mint i mean it was just checked out by L.N.R. right before winter and they put new valve seals, guides, and lapped my valves in for me cuz i didn't have the time to do it at work. The head checked out fine. So im stumped. Anyone have any other ideas????

 

Did you check the ECT? How about that one plug that goes into the thermostat? Is that the cooling fan switch? I'm having overheating issues as well and I figured I've tried those 2 but not what you mentioned so I'll return the favor and suggest what hasn't worked for me haha. Good luck man lemme know how it goes

 

When you grab the lower hose can you feel any fluid swishing around? Air being pushed to overflow? Also with the cap off can you see any fluid cycling through the motor? I'm new here but have had an 86 accord as my dd for the last year and a half. You have alot of motivation for what you have already done. If you pull the hose off of the top side of the lower hose does water come out? You could also give it a try without the t-stat to eliminate that. I know I got a bad one from the zone for mine.

As a side note I just picked up a 90 DB1 that had a busted radiator and 165000 miles. Among other things it has been beat pretty good but doesn't smoke out the back or have blowby out the valve cover. Here is an example of what I found after it wouldn't start without jump starting. No fuse in battery term only copper and metal.

 

damn I hate overheating probs......seems like you tried everything too.....maybe the coolant route in the block or head is clogged...not necessarily the radiator, but the other coolant passages......especially if the lower hose is ice cold......coolant is not circulating

 

sounds like an issue with a sensor. Since you said that the lower hose never got hot but you see the temp needle rising means that the thermostat isn't at normal operation temp yet.

 

well i took an old thermostat and murdered it lol... I took tin snips and cut the whole valve and spring off it but i used the round plate part of it so i could put the gasket on it and so it would kinda have some restriction and it don't overheat anymore. And there's no air in it anymore either. So i think it was just air but ive never not been able to get it out like that. so i might leave it like that for now. If any1 has any other ideas than let me know