Ok guy's I need all your help. I just got a 92 prelude with a frankenstine H22a head and h23 bottom end, It ran fine the first month now it started overheating, im not loosing any antifreeze and I just changed the thermostat. I checked everything I could with it being possibly the head gasket and there are no signs of it being that. I dont know much about cars let alone boosted cars It has a very small rad with a very thin fan(single fan) Could this be an issue? Also could it be the water pump going bad? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

When does it overheat? Sitting in traffic....interstate low load.....after boosting.....? Cooling system could be undersized but really depends on how much power you are making and how everything is setup under the hood. Can you get the temp to go back to normal if you turn the heater on full?

 

I can sit in it at an idle for an hour it wont overheat, as soon as I pull out it thats when it starts, wether im driving miss daisy or running a lil hard. When i boost it on the highway when I notice it overheating the temp drops down to normal, but if I drive normal it starts to overheat heat again. Im running 15lbs of boost right now From what ive been reading could I have lifted my head? There are arp head bolts and studs the bottom end has iron sleeves and eagle rod's with je pistons the rad i cant remember the exact name but says something about racing on it, if I did lift my head how can I prevent it from happening again?

 

If I turn my heater on it doesnt really do anything when trying to bring my temp down it blows luke warm air. I took my rad cap off and started my lude and it didnt shoot up with air bubbles or anything this is why im a little leery about it being the headgasket because I have no signs of a blown headgasket but maybe a lifted head I just want to get this fixed right so it wont happen again .. If this means anything my car is tuned for 23lbs would 15lbs cause the head to lift? I need help I will post a picture of my ride on here tomorrow

 

I'd suggest a leak down test.

 

A leakdown test is probably a good idea. Have you noticed any oil in the water or water in the oil? If the head was installed properly with ARP studs you shouldn't be having problems. How many miles are on the motor since it was built? Do you know if the head stud nuts have been re-torqued? Do you know who built the motor and why did the original owner sell the car....?

 

You guy's are awesome I had the rad tested today and found a small leak in one of the hoses. we changed the hose and did another pressure test and then we vacumed in the coolant now its running awesome not over heating yet! I just went down the highway at 120mph at 10.3lbs of boost did'nt have a long enough straight away lol. Thank's guys for all the help and suggestions. The reason the guy sold me the car was because he wants to start a new build on an 07 mustang.

 

ya, when diagnosing problem always start with the cheapest fix first. glad you found the problem.

 

From what i understand the oem axles are reliable up until extreme amounts
of hp are reached so you should be right there. A good traction bar will
definately help, i have heard a lot of good reports re: the esp traction bar.

 

thanks makes me me feel a lil better

 

I think the durability of OEM axles has more to do with tire/suspension setup and how you launch/drive the car. There is always going to be a limiting factor and weak link in the transmission of power to the pavement. If you make modifications to the suspension (ie. traction bar) to improve traction you are going to place more strain on the transmission+axles+tires. Tires are great b/c they don't break.....just loose contact with the road. If you went with wider tires or drag slicks you may start to worry about breaking axles and/or transmission parts......more likely axles.

 

Thanks I will def do some research on that, I have 17's on my ride right now I don't think I am going to put drag radials on just because I want to drive it normal to lol

 

Well so much for my overheating problem being fixed. Ok here's whats going on now as long as I don't turn on my heater in the car it runs fine, as soon as I turn it on it starts to overheat, could this be the heater core, being clogged? I checked the hoses on the firewall for the heater core and one hose is warm and the other hose is cold. Also ive noticed a lot of coolant when I open my hood from the resevoir, could this be a bad rad cap? At an idle I see no leaks, I just did a leak down test and it was good, I also had the coolant filled via vacum, (it would'nt hold vacum if it was the headgasket right?) (Or pressure right?). I need your help guys I am so lost on this overheating problem.. All suggestions are welcome lol

 

Sounds to me like you have a bad bubble in the system, a clog, or your water pump is shot.

First thing to try, is start the car, and open the bleeder valve on top of the water neck by the throttle body, and make sure you run the car and let it warm up a bit, and you have steady coolant, no bubbles.

Next thing, if you feel the heater core is clogged, I would loop the hoses, and eliminate that part of the system, just for reference.

If that didn't do it, I would pressure flush the whole system, and refill and bleed it, replacing the thermostat this time, possibly with a lower temp.

At some point in here, I would get ahold of a infrared thermometer, and check your coolant temps, around the engine, on the rad, and the upper and lower hoses, both while the car warms up, and when it is running. Maybe even drive for 5 minutes when warm, and pull over to check it all then as well.

If you find any issues, you may need a thicker rad, a better fan, a second pusher fan in front of the rad, ducting to get more air flowing over the rad, of wiring the fan to run more while driving.

I have seen a 4th gan making 600+ whp run for hours, driving hundreds of miles, even a bit of um "spirited" driving thrown in, and run just fine on a half rad and single fan.

Just for reference, I have a stock civic half rad in my car, and have done 1300 mile road trips, hot lapping nights at the drag strip, etc, and never had any heat issues at all.