its been about 2-3 months since my turbo install and about 2 weeks ago my car started overheating. ive changed the thermostat, radiator hoses and flushed the whole system. when i did my oil change, i checked for coolant in the oil and there's no wierd smoke coming out of my exhaust(in case of a bad head gasket).

it only overheats at idle, right after i drive around for more than 20 min. wtf is going on? im due for a water pump/timing belt change so im going to do that soon. but ive never heard of anyone overheating at idle because of a bad water pump. can someone help? thanks

rage

 

bump...

cmon guys i need some help

 

long shot:replace water pump
your water pump has a few small seals... when they leak, it disrupts the closed system and you don;t really see fluid leaking because it is evoporated.

My DSM turbo had the same problem. It only apppeared on idle because the engine wouldn't get any air cooling. Basically the water circulation gets messed up.

 

thanks for the reply. im going to change my water pump in a week or so. but what if that doesnt solve it? u think i should try to hook up a manual switch to my fan and see if it helps?

 

while the car is on idle, try to feel the flow of the water...

I remember that the water would fill all the pipes, but I wasn't able to feel it rotating....

It's like a vacuum was beeing created, not allowing the water to complete full circle. Instead, it just stated in the same spot. It can warp your block.

 

so i would have to feel the hoses to see if its pulsing or what? thanks again

 

just curious but does your fan turn on????

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Racerage1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so i would have to feel the hoses to see if its pulsing or what? thanks again</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, they will get hot but try to feel some pulse/flow/movement.. Seems to me that the water just stands there getting hot. when your car moves, it get air from outside+fan which is enough to cool it down... But when it idling, the fan is not enough in the long run.

 

the reason i asked bout the fan is because that happend to a friend of mine....his fan didnt turn on so it would overheat when at idle but while driving it was okay... check to see if the fan turns on....

 

well rage I have no idea, But damn I didn't know you had a turbo.
I'll have to check that out sometime. I'll still smoke you

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2 B 4GO10 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">long shot:replace water pump
your water pump has a few small seals... when they leak, it disrupts the closed system and you don;t really see fluid leaking because it is evoporated.</TD></TR></TABLE>

coolant does not evaporate

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the reason i asked bout the fan is because that happend to a friend of mine....his fan didnt turn on so it would overheat when at idle but while driving it was okay... check to see if the fan turns on.... </TD></TR></TABLE>

the fan turns on...but it still overheats at idle. thanks for the reply though.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gixxerdemon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well rage I have no idea, But damn I didn't know you had a turbo.
I'll have to check that out sometime. I'll still smoke you </TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL...naw man, u know im scared of your car now . hows it treating you ? any future plans? turbo perhaps?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by super-dooper fast &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

coolant does not evaporate</TD></TR></TABLE>

Do you put 100% coolant in your car?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Racerage1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

LOL...naw man, u know im scared of your car now . hows it treating you ? any future plans? turbo perhaps?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually its really not that fast. I haven't taken it to the track but it'll run low 15s from what I'm told. Still faster than my CrapRX. But it runs good and I am real happy with it. But if I have enough money I'm going for an allmotor ls/vtec setup.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2 B 4GO10 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Do you put 100% coolant in your car?</TD></TR></TABLE>

no...but the coolant still wont evaporate just cause its mixed with water

 

ONE WORD... FAN. its probably fallen off your fan motor or loose and not spinning while the moter spins. Check for looseness in the fan. let your car idle and listen for the fan to go on. if it goes on and your fan aint spinning, replace the nut that holds your fan onto the fan motor. or just get a new fan

 

ive been in rage's car and at idle his fan kicks in like normal about once every 45 sec to a min or so ... a couple days ago his car overheated at night on the freeway cruising which was wierd to me cuz nights are pretty cool here.

would an overly retarded ignition cause a car to overheat?

 

Just get a VTEC Del Sol radiator it will solve everything, your probly not getting the cooling needed for a turbo car. the VTEC Del Sol radiator is a duel core so its double the cooling then your stock one and the fan is not gonna do crap at idle for long times. I dont think its the water pump because if it does not overheat when moving that means its working. like i said just get a new radiator that has a higher capacity for coolant

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by super-dooper fast &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

coolant does not evaporate</TD></TR></TABLE>
yeah but the Disstilled water does

 

check the upper VS the lower rad hoses when warmed up. if the bottom hose is cool, its your thermostat that is dead (or put in backward??). If they are BOTH warm, its look elsewhere.

 

Its your fan. I had the same problem last week. I changed EVERYTHING else first. I should of just checked the fan. I hooked it up on standalone switch and run it all the time. Problem solved. I just have to remember to turn it off when I turn off the car because I wired it up in haste to see if it would work. I need to re-run it to an ignition source.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nerces &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
yeah but the Disstilled water does</TD></TR></TABLE>

do you use only distilled water in your cooling system?

 

my civic ex overheats too. i changed the radiator, and themostat. i even hardwired the fan to run all the time when the car is on. still didnt' help. doing water pump soon.

 

Just an fyi... if you are running lean or the timing is too far advanced or too far retarded it can DRASTICALLY increase temps...

My car used to overheat when running at high rpms for a sustained period... I retarded my ignition a little and it don't do that no mo.

Here's a quote from a decent link...

Other factors that can contribute to overheating
include retarded ignition timing, detonation/preignition, a lean air/fuel mixture, exhaust
restrictions (partially plugged converter or muffler), a radiator that's too small for the
engine, and overworking the engine (towing, mountain driving, etc. in unusually hot
weather).

http://members.aol.com/agspeed/overheating.htm

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by super-dooper fast &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

do you use only distilled water in your cooling system?</TD></TR></TABLE>

buddy, say you mix coolant and water 50%... theres the evaporation right there.

so you basically lose 50% of whats in the system.

i say check radiator & fan. maybe its not a big enough radiator or the fan isnt moving enough air.