This morning I saw alittle smoke coming out from under my hood. It was still dark outside so I couldn't get a good look under the hood. Just now I went outside to check on the car, and I can see where there is a coolant leak somewhere. Not sure if it is the radiator or a hose or what. I'll check on it when I get home.

Anyways, question is, do b16a2 use a 50/50 mix of coolant and water? Is there a mark or something inside the radiator showing how much to fill up? If I have a hole in my radiator, how much will a new radiator cost?

The car is a 00 Si.

 

radiators are $80 for new aftermarket ones that stay a tad cooler
that coolant got on somthinglike the manifold or radiator and smoked off.
check to see if its a hose or the radiator or just a loose clamp.
dont let it over heat too much

 

radiator - fully filled
tank - between min and max

no mixture, pure coolant)
good luck!

 

and check you thermo (lower hose must be hot)
if not, remove it untill you find replacement

 

Removing it immobilizes the vehicle... check your thermostat... make sure it's opening by starting the car, bring it up to operating temperature, and check to see if that hose is hot. If not, your thermostat isn't opening, remove the thermostat and manually see if it opens under hot water on the stove.. If it opens, you may have a blockage somewhere. If that hose is hot, you have coolant flowing thru the system and your thermostat is good to go. Is the fan working on the radiator? You could also have bad timing or head gasket issues... I'm sure your radiator cap is shot now that you've overheated it... pull off your cap and see if the rubber grommet is still attached to the cap.

 

Use premixed 50-50 coolant.

Here is an excerpt from the service manual:

 

And for Christ sake everyone let's try and find out what's wrong first before telling him to buy a radiator, remove hoses etc... My gosh

 

ron is a walking hondapidia

 

Ron did answer his question successfully, I just wanted to find out exactly what was going on prior to giving him advice... I.E. hey go buy a water pump and radiator and thermostat and blinker fluid etc...

 

Ok, after driving the car home I can see that there is a hairline crack in the upper plastic part of the radiator. The crack is just below the radiator cap.

I guess the next thing is, where is the best place to get a replacement radiator? What kind of price range are we looking at?

Again, the car is a 00 Si with 133k miles. Stock.

 

you could clean up the spot and apoxy it. $80 is the average for anew radiator

 

remove thermostat, i mean)
removing it leaves cooling system runnig in big loop all the time

 

Haha cool! I read it and was like "WTF?" You never know nowadays. I had the same thing happen to my thermostat, I ended up punching holes in it with a pair of needle nose pliers I had... I was stuck in the middle of the Mojave desert LOL!!

OP I would look around for a cheap radiator, maybe at a junkyard for cheap. If you care for your car and like upgrades, now is the time to get a decent radiator and fan combo...

FYI Rob and Big were just at the gate to Edwards AFB... pretty cool. I guess they are headed to fly planes or some ish...

 

Where can I get a radiator for $80? Is it easy to install on a 99-00 Si? I have never done much radiator work before......

 

There isn't much work involved. go to Ebay, type in radiator civic, and peruse the listings. To swap the radiator you will drain the coolant, undo the hoses, remove radiator, replace radiator with new, fill with coolant. There is a purge valve on the top hose to get air out the system. Cheers!!

 

dont forget to bleed it properly..
jak up the car after its installed
have teh car running, wait for it to get up to temp
the fan should kick on.
the upper hose should get super hot. by then the thermostat should open and the bottom hose will get hot quick. squeeze pump the bottom hose to get the air out (while car is runnig and the radiator cap is off) if you dont do this you can over and have baaad idle problems from air being in the system.

 

easiest way to bleed coolant is park it on a hill.
rad cap off.
start car.
add coolant as necessary.\

dont cry if u see air bubbles, its working the air out obviously.

dont touch any hoses, definatly dont squeeze them.

 

why not?
works everytime for me

 

Is it better to look for a radiator with the plastic top and bottom pieces, or should I get one of the ones that is all aluminum? Most of the ones on ebay are all aluminum....

Also, should the front bumper need to be removed when swapping the radiators?

 

no need to remove the bumper...
just unbolt the top bolt on the clamp...and it comes right out, but you have to undu the hoses(drain first) then unsnap the wires to the fan..wala very simple
to drain the radiator there is a screw on teh bottom of the radiator get a biiiig jug and unscrew..
the all alluminum radatiors are better, they stay cooler, but the ebay ones have crappy bleeder valve thingsy on the bottom they all break off. i just put a bolt in mine.
when you do the work yourself its rewarding and you learn alot.

 

If the ebay radiators have a faulty bleeder valve, what would be a good OEM style alternative? I am wanting to stay on a budget.

Thanks for your help.

 

i would get the ebay one. just dont tightn it with plyers or be ruff with it. itll look nice too.

 

Any idea if the Si and the 96-00 Civic DX, CX, LX, etc... share the same radiator/part number?

 

same, only dif would be if it was a full size radiator(gsr, ls etc)
civic have halfsized ones.