I took a trip from NJ to pittsburg this weekend. The PA turnpike has big mountains that NJ doesn't so I never noticed this before When going up an incline at about 80mph for about 4 or 5 min, the thermostat starts approaching the 3/4 mark. Once i reach the peak and start declining, the thermostat goes back to normal position. I've tried changing the radiator cap with no difference. I have a 93 hatch with JDM b16. The radiator is the original one with the car. Could this problem be due to the small radiator?

 

could be,
is your thermoswitch okay?
it activates the cooling fan if the temp is too high.... maybe its on its way out?

 

how can i tell if the switch is working?

 

i ahd that same problem... when i had my stock radiator, i took a trip out to UCSC to visit a buddy of mines, on highway 17.....it started to get hot....i had to turn on my fan in order to cool it a bit....

my conclusion was since it was a incline it putt alot of load on the 1.6(guess on all motor but we have no torque!) thats why it heats up so much... and the puiny civic ratiator cant cut the mustard... thats why i had to upgrade to a integra radiator

 

I've seen tons of swaps with stock rad...

My guess would be the ignition is advanced a little too far and it's pinging which makes you run hot.

that's what was happening to me at least... same deal high speeds up hills.

 

yeah, all swaps will work with stock civic radiators, but if your putting alot of load on the motor it will heat up more.... the stock radiator wont handle it... unless its dual core...but thats from my expeirence...

 

try cleaning out your radiator with new coolant, change your thermostat.

i have a b16 in a hatch and i drive on highway 17 all the time i have never had engine problems.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by miataguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the thermostat starts approaching the 3/4 mark. Once i reach the peak and start declining, the thermostat goes back to normal position. </TD></TR></TABLE>

My car does that with the turbo, but never overheats. On a 6% grade in full boost and 110 outside temp the thermostat goes 3/4 to the red and holds.

 

It could be several things, but about five years ago, I had the same problem coming home on the hills of I-81 in VA (one of my favorite roads!). I noticed the thermostat needle indicating a rise in temperature and reaching the halfway mark. I turned on the heat (it was summer) and the temperature went down. Got home and replaced the radiator and all's been good since in that department.

 

Yup it could be quite a few things. When I did my swap I had the same problem with the stock rad. I just decided to put in an integra rad and never had a problem since.

 

where is the thermostat located? Will it be easy to short so I can test it?

 

Also, my radiator hose it leaking at the radiator. Can I just go to the local pep boys and pick one up? Should I get a hose for a EG or an integra? Here is a pic:

 

leaking is prob the main cause

 

what radiator hose should I get? OEM or aftermarket? For which motor?

 

get what's on there now.. just new...

I Highly doubt that a leak is causing over-heating though.

 

last week in traffic my neddle was rising then i would drive quicker and neddle would go normal. Problem was that it needed antifreeze or water even tho my catch can was filling up.

 

isnt this normal... Even in the owners manuals it says the car will warm up after going up after climbing large inclines during HOTT weather... as long as it doesnt OVERheat, your good right... as long as it goes back to normal after the hill your good, RIGHT?


Modified by ninety3EX at 8:50 PM 8/3/2003

 

I've never read that... and I've gone up some big hills at full throttle reving the **** out of my car and the temp needle doesn't move...

THE ONLY time my temp needle moves is when...

A. it's warming up
B. The thermostat went
C. When I was climbing a specific hill reving the **** out of my motor and my timing was too far advanced (and even this only happened when it was HOT out.)
D. When the a/c is on in 98+ days in traffic. (but frankly I think that was the advanced timing too... (hasn't been that hot since I fixed the timing).

and my car has 160k on it... So I don't think it's normal to heat up on hills unless they're SERIOUS and LONG hills...

 

the stock radiator on my cx busted, so i bought an aftermarket replacement. most oem replacements are dual core. i got it for $90 at a local shop. im running a b16 with no probs at all

 

I'll probably replace it with the dual core from autozone, only $99. Is it pretty easy to change out? I'll replace the hose while I'm at it. I don't know what hose is on there, would the stock one bolt right up to a b16?