I just finished a swap, had a coolant leak so I fixed that.. now when I let it run it'll heat up within a minute. My temp guage never goes over 50% though (actually it never has, there might be something wrong with it). I see steam or smoke coming from the block... its kinda scary. What could be causing this?

EDIT: damn... I just realized I didnt plug the over-flow tank back in, im gonna let it cool down and start it up again, could that have been my prob?


[Modified by drjondurst, 3:37 PM 3/31/2003]

 

did the cooling fan come on?

the smoke might be from the coolant leak...

 

no I didnt let it run long enough for the cooling fan to come on cuz I was freakin out over the smoke, dont wanna blow the engine before I even get to drive it. It smelled like hot metal too.

 

did you spray the block with any type of cleaner as well...that caused mine to steam a little bit...make sure you bleeder screw is tight, your radiator cap is tight...if its overheating, you might have your thermostat backwards...

 

Nope didnt spray any kind of cleaner.. I'd say the mixture in the radiator right now is like 80/20 coolant/water cuz I had gotten a 50/50 mixture from Honda.. and I had a couple leaks so all that coolant spilled on the floor and I probably had a little left in the engine, once I fixed the leaks I filled the rest up with faucet water.

I didnt mess with my thermostat at all. I just tightened the bleeder screw by hand, think that could be the prob? I got a couple pics of where the steam is coming from.. I'll post em in a sec.

 

Damn out of all the pics I took the smoke doesnt really show up much except for in this one..



The red line is where the smoke is coming from.. in between the head and block. Atleast thats what it looks like to me.


[Modified by drjondurst, 4:29 PM 3/31/2003]

 

Does it smell like oil or antifreeze ? Check to make sure there is no antifreeze in your oil or oil in your antifreeze.


[Modified by 90blackcrx, 5:46 PM 3/31/2003]

 

what do you mean...like with your fingers?

use a wrench or ratchet and make sure its not leaking

was this motor siting for a while sometimes these motors can get pretty dirty when they come over from japan and there will be coolant and oil all over the manifold so when you start em up for the first time they smoke as everything is burned off.

oh yeah the 88-91 civ/rexs temp gauges rarely go over half way unless somthing is wrong.

[Modified by 89civicdx, 4:12 PM 3/31/2003]


[Modified by 89civicdx, 4:14 PM 3/31/2003]

 

When I said by hand I meant with my fingers... yea. I used a wrench and tightened it and the engine doesnt smoke anymore, though it still does get pretty hot. I was even driving with no bumper and no hood... I cant imagine how hot it'll get when i put the hood back on.

It makes this weird ticking sound, I dunno what it is, I just know I dont remember hearing it on the sohc a6 I had. Anyone know what it is?

It doesnt pull near as hard as I was thinking it would, Im thinkin of a couple reasons why this could be.. when i ported the exhaust, I didnt port the holes all the way, actually hardly any, lol. Im gonna get a 92-95 civic ex downpipe for $30 shipped and match it with my ZC exhaust mani and that should solve that.

Also, Im still getting a code 7 cuz I have adjusted or replaced my TPS yet. Would fixing that code make it any faster?

 

You're thinking the same thing I thought at first.. headgastket, but nope theres no smell of oil or antifreeze and neither is leaking from between the head and block.

 

Well after you first finish swaps, when you first start them up and get them hot its very normal for them to heat up, and burn all the **** off the manifold (greese) and anything else that has been on the manifold or even block. Lots of imports spray **** on them, kinda like cosmolene. it takes a few heating cycles to get that **** gone. IF it still continues I would be checking for leaks.

Also, did you bleed your cooling system? this is pretty important.. You need to get the car hot enough and make sure the fan turns on.

Port matching and all that really isnt going to make that much of a difference in power. Try adjusting your base timing a bit, also what ECU are you using? if its the stock pm6 it will be slow as ****. definatly need a pm7 or pg7 ecu.

Also, I would get your tps fixed asap, (would it make it slow?) more than likly if the ecu isnt getting a correct signal from the tps it will just run rich, and put it in a type of safe mode.

Good luck
Jeff

 

i 2nd that with the timing...what did you use for TDC, did you use the keyway or the line that is on the crank? at 1st i used the keyway and it felt faster than my a6 but still felt like a snail...i then used the line on the crankshaft, and man its a lot faster than before...this was also on the pm6 ecu...i still need to port my dc header...i didnt have time to do it...

if its still overheating after you bleed the system, double check your thermostat and make sure its in correctly and you didnt put it in backwards or upside down...