my car randomly overheats sometimes, same thing happens to my brother's ek. except mine is a del sol.
No evident leaks. Most of my ac and radiator system are like new.
Radiator hoses, radiator, waterpump were replaced in 2010.
when I check on my radiator, it cools down pretty fast for me to open up the reservoir.
Reservoir is full, but radiator is low.
Not a blown headgasket, no oil or milky oil. Nothing like that.
it only overheats sometimes especially when its hot out or after I use the ac.

Any ideas?

 

thermostat? rad cap? fan?

 

air in your system...bleed it.

 

Is it really random or does it happen under certain conditions (besides it being how outside).

Gradual heating up at speed indicates a blockage or poor coolant or air flow, the cooling capacity is being reduced somehow. I've seen this from a blocked radiator, but yours is new? Then perhaps not.

Heating up when sitting still/in traffic points to the fan.

Check that the hose from the reservoir to the radiator is tight, install clamps if necessary. The radiator draws coolant back in as the engine cools. If the reservoir ends up full and the radiator low then it sounds like its maybe not drawing coolant back in or coolant is being lost but not replaced by the reservoir. People neglect this important connection sometimes.

Also, you could have a slowly leaking headgasket that is pushing exhaust gasses/pressure into the cooling system and causing the coolant to be forced to the reservoir. This will not result in milky oil or exhaust smoke. It will result in random overheating when the radiator/system become low on coolant. When you have the radiator cap off let the engine warm to operating temp (fans come on) and check for large significant bubbling in the radiator neck (careful because hot coolant can leap out). If you're still not sure get a block tester to test for exhaust gasses in your radiator. They are cheaper now, $20 at Autozone.

 

Good Advice, you can rent a block tester at Autozone.

Side note block tester is not 100% but helpful.

Like others said does it only happen at say idle? or running or both?

I would change out the thermostat to an oem one, cheap to do it and it does wonders.

I had similar problem.

 

I would try bleeding it first, then coming back with results. An air pocket could trick the sensor.

 

Time to go b series

 

It happens the day after I use the heater or ac a lot.
The radiator would be low, but the reservoir would be full.
No boiling over.

 

All the time and random loss of coolant without visible leaks points to head gasket the.

I would pressure check the system just in case for a leak you are not seeing.

You do not always have intermix of coolant and oil to have a head gasket failure.

 

yea ill agree same thing happen to my D16y7 in the past and i changed Termostat, Cooling temperature sensore(located on the termostat housing) and changed the fan motor and never had the problem again. But Check the cooling sensor(you can check it with a paper clip)

 

His problem is different with the loss of coolant.

 

Its a good idea to change the thermostat regardless.

Also, pressure testing the system is a helpful diagnostic procedure, if all else fails. I bet Harbor Freight has a cheap kit for that.

edit: http://www.harborfreight.com/radiato...kit-65053.html

Not that cheap but still worth it. Read the reviews.

 

So, I checked my list again.

Things that were replaced in 2010 and still look fairly new.
radiator hoses
radiator
waterpump

However, I noticed that thermostat was not replaced.

So I will go ahead and order one, everyone is telling me to go oem, anyone recommend a site?

Someone also brought up that my heater core hose might be leaking since my car overheats randomly. But im a noob and i dont know where that is located and where that hose is at. It only happens if I use the ac or heater the day before. Same thing happens to my brother's 97 automatic ek coupe. He has the same motor, just auto.

And im a girl, sorry for the confusion.

 

Try Ebay.

 

You can get the thermostat from your local Honda dealer. As for heater hoses, open the hood you will see hoses that run to the firewall is the back of the engine ( skinnier than the ones that goes to the radiator) run the car with the heater or AC on and look at those see if you see any leaks, use a flash light if you have to.

 

Thanks I will do that tomorrow. Good thing I have the day off.

 

Definetly sound like a thermo problem, i always changed mine out wen id do timing belt/waterpump combo, if not that, its probly heater hose related, motegi is on the dot with how to check altho the problem could be in the heater core itself, PITA, especially for a noob. Question: do u smell coolant in the cab? Particularly when u use the heater?

 

No, it just smells old... like it wasn't used for awhile. First time I turned on the ac and heater, dust flew out.

 

I lold at that. Seriously tho i kno that smell. Lol foreals tho sometimes if a heater/ac hasnt been used in forever it can maybe just maybe be a tell tale sign that the previous owner was trying to avoid the issues u talked about. If u dont smell coolant in the cab then it is most likely gonna be the thermo. Change it out and update us. Off topic: wat part of the bay u be in? I be all over 925 and back to 510, (im from hayward).

 

Yeah, it didn't sound right. Ill be ordering the thermostat asap. I was born in berkeley, raised in east oakland and san jose. Living in stockton now. My mom asked me the other day if she was to buy me a house if I wanted it in stockton or sac, I was like hell no I wanna go back to the bay and anywhere near the bart station. So she was like "san leandro?".

 

San leandro is coo. They got a car boy shop out there they got hella jdm goodies in stock all the time. U should check out castro valley its right next door to the haystack and the area is really cleaned up (castro lol, not the stack, its still hood out there lol) but hell yea the bay is where its at. Pittsburg gots bart but its hood out there too lol dont kno if that would be a problem fo u but i got hella homies out there. Brentwood antioch and oakley r coo, and close enough to the bay without bein too far from stocktown. Drop me a pm if u come out here id be down to help out a fellow bay head/ honda head, plus im a good lookn dude lol but enuf bout dat. Stockton gets stupid hot in the summer lol no wonder u wana come back to the bay. But yea bay love all day WE IN HERE HT GET USED TO IT LOL

 

I went to castro with my brother once so he can sell his prelude at the time. Its pretty small. My mom used to work in hayward and I have family in fremont and martinez.

 

Dats wasup yea castro is small, i wouldnt mind gettn out the hood and movin there tho, its a nice place to live and close to evrything. Yea i got cousins in martinez off alhambra right by the hi skool and safeway, i went to county day out there for a short time bak wen i was a troublemaker lol. Im tryna do good now, got involved in security and now ima armed guard out here in concord its a coo job. Keeps me on the street wich is all i kno besides hondas and guns wich works out good lol since i get to tote em legally now while dippn in the honda all day. Good luck wit ur car tho ma, and if u ever need help im out here all day.

 

Im a security too. Im actually working right now. How's the pay down there?
I don't want to be armed with a gun, maybe only baton, pepper spray, and taser.
my dad works in concord.

 

Lmao im at work too. Dam we workin hard out here lol patrolling the HT forums. But wen i first started i was only makin ten a hour and that was like a year ago n i was only rockn my spray n baton (a 6-d cell maglight LOL thang was huge) but i wanted more money wich was why i got my exposed firearms permit from bsis and my .40 cal glock model #22 (same as cops got), got it in hayward from security 6 they do firearms training and sales (ask for larry if u ever decide to get armed n tell him big niles sent u), and now im at 16.50 a hour wich is coo for now but theres room to move up doin this armed stuff, im tryna get my own squad car but i needa get bumped up to seargent first (im at corporal now), i gotta rack up like a nother 1000 hours to apply for sarge. But dam thats crazy u a honda head and a guard? Where u been all my life lmao. Btw im puerto rican and french and 6'4'' wit blue eyes if dat sound interesting to u lmao ok enuf a dat.