Honda Civic / Del Sol (1992 - 2000) EG/EH/EJ/EK/EM1 Discussion

Overheating, power loss

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Old Jan 7, 2017 | 11:37 AM
  #1  
PerfectionIsKey's Avatar
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Default Overheating, power loss

Info on car.
1995 Honda Civic ex(Ej1)
B18B1 w/ Gsr trans
bone stock minus intake, no Cat to a Vibrant performance muffler.
stock ecu and harness.

Quick rundown on the issue in having. The car feels at loss of power, this is was BEFORE any overheating issues but I feel it gradually getting worse.
Cold start or after long drives the car will not start unless gas is applied(very lightly feathered) and gas is applied for a little after idle(maybe 30 secs give or take) and than the car will idle(A little high roughly 2k at cold starts while it's very cold outside).

The car car will not overheat unless either of the two things
After a very long drive(hour +)
or if the car is pushed a little hard(not red line just pushed at all).
CAR STILL has tons of low end just doesn't have any mid-top end and runs rough.

extra info:
When warmed up/over heating slightly the heater BLOWS COLD, rarely will blow just a tiny bit warm and sometimes has a smell of coolant. I also haven't investigated but passenger side has either water or coolant on the floor mat directly infront of the ecy and about 3-4 inches back towards the passenger seat.

compression test numbers :
Cylinder :1 150-155
cylinder 2:170
cylinder 3 180
cylinder 4 :170-175
this is a cold engine, dizzy unplugged all spark plugs out and a dry test.

has a brand new oem water pump
spark plugs are changed so it's not that I run oem Honda antifreeze and the fan is running constant.

Last edited by PerfectionIsKey; Jan 7, 2017 at 11:38 AM. Reason: Adding info
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Old Jan 7, 2017 | 01:51 PM
  #2  
mk378's Avatar
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Default Re: Overheating, power loss

Heater not working means there's a bubble of air in the system. I don't see you've tried to bleed the air, which is essential after draining the cooling system. If you start the engine cold with the radiator cap off and bubbling or gushing occurs, that means the head gasket is blown.
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Old Jan 7, 2017 | 04:30 PM
  #3  
PerfectionIsKey's Avatar
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Default Re: Overheating, power loss

Originally Posted by mk378
Heater not working means there's a bubble of air in the system. I don't see you've tried to bleed the air, which is essential after draining the cooling system. If you start the engine cold with the radiator cap off and bubbling or gushing occurs, that means the head gasket is blown.
Sorry I should've said when I did the water pump and poured fresh coolant I bled the system.(ran the engine with the cap off until all bubbles were gone, I waited a good 3-4 mins of no bubbles before installing the rad cap back.

see everything makes me want to say headgasket but this is what is mind blowing me.

The heater blowing cold 70-80% of the time
the car does get hot all the time only randomly at times and when at a idle/very low speeds and good compression? Everything is leading to it not being a headgasket.

normally a headgasket is a relief to me because I get to rebuild a head and replace gaskets and seals and overall making the engine stronger. But my tensioner bolt is cross threaded so if I remove it I have to timesert it and that means I have to pull the engine and I work 6 days a week and have 0 time to do that.
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Old Jan 7, 2017 | 09:41 PM
  #4  
jonsey1886's Avatar
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Default Re: Overheating, power loss

Originally Posted by PerfectionIsKey
Info on car.
1995 Honda Civic ex(Ej1)
B18B1 w/ Gsr trans
bone stock minus intake, no Cat to a Vibrant performance muffler.
stock ecu and harness.

Quick rundown on the issue in having. The car feels at loss of power, this is was BEFORE any overheating issues but I feel it gradually getting worse.
Cold start or after long drives the car will not start unless gas is applied(very lightly feathered) and gas is applied for a little after idle(maybe 30 secs give or take) and than the car will idle(A little high roughly 2k at cold starts while it's very cold outside).

The car car will not overheat unless either of the two things
After a very long drive(hour +)
or if the car is pushed a little hard(not red line just pushed at all).
CAR STILL has tons of low end just doesn't have any mid-top end and runs rough.

extra info:
When warmed up/over heating slightly the heater BLOWS COLD, rarely will blow just a tiny bit warm and sometimes has a smell of coolant. I also haven't investigated but passenger side has either water or coolant on the floor mat directly infront of the ecy and about 3-4 inches back towards the passenger seat.

compression test numbers :
Cylinder :1 150-155
cylinder 2:170
cylinder 3 180
cylinder 4 :170-175
this is a cold engine, dizzy unplugged all spark plugs out and a dry test.

has a brand new oem water pump
spark plugs are changed so it's not that. I run oem Honda antifreeze and the fan is running constant.
The puddle under the passenger's seat could be a leaking heater core OR loose hoses/piping/fittings which can obviously induce air into the system and then cause an overheat. Check and see whether it is leaking (involves pulling the dash on that side of the vehicle) and report back. Also those compression #s are indicating a obviously loss of compression for cyl #1. Do a wet compression test and if possible a leak-down test to rule out HG issues.
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Old Jan 7, 2017 | 11:16 PM
  #5  
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Default Re: Overheating, power loss

Originally Posted by PerfectionIsKey
Sorry I should've said when I did the water pump and poured fresh coolant I bled the system.(ran the engine with the cap off until all bubbles were gone, I waited a good 3-4 mins of no bubbles before installing the rad cap back.

The heater blowing cold 70-80% of the time
the car does get hot all the time only randomly at times and when at a idle/very low speeds and good compression?
All this I quoted says you haven't bleed the system properly.

You are supposed to run the system with the heat on max hot until the radiator fan kicks on at least twice. That usually takes 20 minutes or more before you are topping up the radiator, coolant reservoir and putting the rad cap back on.
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