Anyone have any ideas with a problem I知 having?
let me start by saying I知 a paint and body guy with some mechanical ability. Not a ton so take it easy on me.

I have a b16b with unknown history to it. I was told it was rebuilt 15k miles ago with nippon pistons and fresh gaskets, head studs and stuff which I believe to be true. I opened up the valve cover and it looks super clean and you can see where the Honda bond oozed out in some places.which tells me someone was in there before

It runs good,sounds healthy, but it won稚 circulate coolant! after like 5 min of idleing it starts to run hot( using a digital thermometer because I believe the gauge in the cluster is bad) and I have to shut it down. Also, the fan won稚 kick on, but if I jump the fan switch it will turn on.
So far I have replaced all the temp sensors and fan switch. New thermostat. Tried to bleed the system multiple times! Even had the front of the car jacked way up in the air.
I don稚 have a bleeder on my model and the heater core is deleted.
I did a leak down test and it holds pressure on all cylinders. No coolant in the oil or exhaust as far as I can tell. Also no bubbles in the radiator.

After doing all this I assumed the water pump was the problem. I did notice the tinyest leak from it too. I tore it down and the water pump looks and feels perfectly fine. The gasket is a little flattened out. Assuming that痴 why it was seeping.
Now since it痴 all apart and I知 waiting on parts I flushed the motor out with a garden hose at every place I could and water runs freely. I知 at a loss here.
Could it be as simple as a radiator cap??? Lol I have a skunk 2 radiator in it now and I also flushed that and it flows nice too.... I NEED IDEAS!!!
is it possible it has the wrong head gasket on it and it痴 blocking the coolant passageways???

 

To me that still sounds like the thermostat isn't opening as it should. You should be able to remove the thermostat from the housing and connect the coolant without it, which should cause the water to flow constantly. Try that to see if there's an effect.

 

I just ordered a new oem thermostat that will come in with the new water pump. I can稚 start the car right now because I have the timing belt and water pump off waiting for my new ones to show up. I値l try that if when I go to put it all back together I知 still having the issue. But now that I知 thinking of it. When I originally changed the thermostat the one they had in the car was hollowed out... so this is an on going thing. I致e never driven the car since I bought it last year. I知 trying to button up all the stupid stuff the last owner did. It also had a turbo kit half way put on it when I bought it so I致e been going through a lot with making that right too. Do you have any idea why the fans won稚 come on unless I jump them? Is it because if the thermostat isn稚 opening then the fan switch isn稚 seeing coolant and knowing to turn on?

 

Yeah, typically when bleeding the car. the thermostat opens first and shortly after when idling the fans will kick on. Before the thermostat opens there is only a tiny bit of coolant that gets past and runs by the fan thermo switch.

And being you have the heater core delete, there is no path to the fan switch but through the thermostat. Even though my memory may be off, the heater core hose might be behind the thermostat too now thinking back on it.

 

Yea it is. I think I知 having a really hard time bleeding the system because the heater core bypass. That痴 probably all it is and I just ended up replacing everything for no reason. Never had such a hard time bleeding a cooling system. I know your supposed to let it run till the fans cycle twice and top it off as the levels go down but at the same time I can稚 just let it sit there and overheat waiting for it to burp air. Guess I can try to fill the motor with coolant first through the upper hose and then hook up the hose to the radiator and fill up the radiator. Just crazy to me. I shouldn稚 have to be doing all that.

 

Please post pictures of the routing of all coolant hoses originating from the water pipe, thermostat housing, cylinder head and intake manifold. I suspect you have a fluid control problem.

 

I have mine currently taken apart but this is how they are run minus the heater hose being looped.

 

As simple as it may seems, yes, it can be the radiator cap.

I have a D16Y17 and recently the coolant just started to boil off with no apparent reason, the internals of the radiator were VERY rusty, to a point where you could smell the iron after removing the radiator cap.

At first we found out the headgasket had rotted away due to time (original headgasket for 22 years), headgasket was changed but the problem persisted,
thermostat valve was locked closed, we let it run freely and the problem persisted.

after about $500 later we found out that the main reason was the old radiator cap, changed it and now it has been 5000 miles without losing a drop

as it is very cheap I recommend to changed the radiator cap

 

Yeah picture shows the heater core hoses are behind the Thermostat.

Rad cap will prevent the system from pressurizing which lowers the boiling point causing it to boil prematurely. You can test the system and then test the cap to see if they both hold 16 PSI.

 

Thanks guys! Once my parts come in and I get it all back together I値l let you guys know the results. I really need to get it working right so I can go get it tuned! Never had a boosted car before and I知 excited. I bought it last summer and have never been able to drive it yet lol

 

i had a lot of trouble bleeding my cooling system since the block bolt is seized.
the lisle funnel kit is a godsend.

 

Is the single mark on the crank pulley supposed to be lined up with this mark on the block???

 

No the mark on the block is for a mark or arrow on the crank gear. To see it you have to take the pulley off. That is for mechanical timing. You need the timing cover and the pulley to set ignition timing.

 

Thanks. I ordered a socket that supposed to make taking the crank pulley off easy. I知 going to do that. I don稚 have a timing cover though but my ignition timing shouldn稚 be affected if I didn稚 touch the distributor right? I have the cams locked in place from when I was taking the belt off

 

Alright guys I知 back! I put another new thermostat in the car along with a new water pump and I think my issue is fixed. My problem now is that the gauge in the car still says I知 overheating. I don稚 believe I am because I used an infrared thermometer and it痴 not getting over like 185 ish at the thermostat housing and the coolant in the radiator is around 140. I already replaced all the temp sensors. The gauge still slowly rises all the way to red. I mean within like 3 min of just letting it idle. My lower hose is getting hot now though so I know the thermostat is opening. Any ideas how to test the cluster gauge?

 

This already seems like you've gotten most things sorted. As for the cluster - I can't say. I'd probably suggest using one of these even temporarily.

https://a.co/d/fy2vfbi

Get a kit and put that in. If the gauge in the dash is reading wrong - likely a faulty sensor. Checking with an IR thermometer only checks the outer temp - the actual coolant temp may be higher.

Before you got things sorted to where it is now - I was going to suggest hooking up the fan directly for a bit to see what happens - but I think you're past that now. The current issue you're having may be electrical, faulty sensor or a faulty cluster. Just my opinion - not a professional point of view.