Here we go again second thread on this. 92 civic with the stock d15b7, but not the original motor. Having issues with it getting hot. So what I have done already is pulled the thermostat and confirmed it is working, confirmed cooling fan works, replaced radiator cap, and water pump when I did timing belt a few hundred miles ago. On top of all that I had a blown head gasket so I replaced it with an oem gasket and had the head resurfaced. So basically I have done all there is to do almost besides confirmed the radiator itself is ok.
So, when I drive the car it is absolutely perfect for the first 5-10 miles or so. After that the temperature will very slowly creep a little above operating temperature. I have not let it get anywhere close to the red since I replaced the head gasket. I am paranoid because the cylinder head was considerably warped and I spent 90 something dollars on the milling. I know a little above operating temp is perfectly normal and ok, but this has been super regular driving, no extra load whatsoever on the motor.
Now what I am noticing is that after the temp starts to creep up I pull over and check it and my reservoir has overfilled above max. Brand new radiator cap. Another thing is right after I was done replacing my head gasket I found a leak at the water pump. Hooray! I tore it all down and sealed it up in a couple hours. Could a clogged radiator increase pressure in the system like this to dump it into the reservoir and maybe even blow past the brand new o-ring I put in when I did the water pump a couple weeks ago? The only thing is with the previous engine (I put a lower mileage d15b7 in about 800 miles ago) it never ran hot as far as I could tell. But, on the other hand, when I had the head pulled, there was crud in the coolant jackets I cleaned out that could have clogged up the radiator.
Reading over this it seems obvious everything is pointing to the radiator. But an opinion is appreciated. Tia

 

sounds like YOU DID NOT PROPERLY BLEED all the air out

 

That’s not it, I burp the system exactly how the Honda owners manual says to.

 

Does sound like a clogged radiator

 

Depends one what was used to 'fix' the headgasket issue before it was 'replaced'.

 

likely those "STOP LEAK" crap...

 

sigh
Here is the motor with the head off

no I did not leave the coolant sitting in the cylinders

and here is the head after I had it resurfaced. Never in my life have I or will I use head gasket sealer
Sure do love being talked to like I am an idiot when I just ask for an opinion and put all the needed information in the post.

 

We're trying to locate the source of the problem. If you did use any stop leak before actually replacing the headgasket than you probably clogged some passageways, including the radiator. Passageways in the radiator is much smaller so it can be easily clogged.

If that cylinder got flooded with coolant than you might have bigger issues.

 

To me the radiator is a cheap replacement item in this situation. However, if you want to spend more time on it, I would run some multi-day radiator cleaner/flush through it to try and see what comes out. Not just the 15 minute flush, something you can run for a few days to really try to get any junk in there out of there.

Good luck.

 

Cylinder only had antifreeze in it cause I didn’t drain the block so when I took the head off whatever was inside dumped into there
Did not use any stop leak but when i put the motor in the car mud wasps had made nests in the coolant inlets, which I think I didn’t clear out good enough. What I really wanted to know from this thread is if a clogged radiator could be the cause of the water pump seal to blow, and the reason the coolant reservoir overflows while I drive. The radiator is losing coolant and that is when the car overheats, but it doesnt leak anywhere, just dumps it into the overflow tank.

 

This might sound dumb but a bad radiator cap (meaning it is not holding pressure) could also cause an overflow situation where it dumps into the overflow tank.

 

Yup, I bought a brand new cap from autozone, 1.1 bar. It wasn’t oem, it was aftermarket with a pressure release so I decided to try the cap off my friends del sol that most definitely works and it was the same.
Are the cheap aluminum radiators off eBay worth it? I am not against replacing the radiator entirely, but I’m wondering if I should go for oem or not.

 

Some of the Ebay ones have lifetime warranty! Rockauto has some denso one's for about $50 as well. I don't think I've ever bought an OEM radiator in my life (except from a junkyard and then cleaned it up), so I can't speak to it being better.