Dont know what would cause this. when the car idles for a while it runs warmer than it should and the fan does kick on. Its a b16a swap into a 92 hatch. What could be causing this?

 

At idle, sitting still? The fan is supposed to kick on. As long as it doesn't overheat, it's all good.

 

If your not over heating then the car is doing exactly what it's supposed to. My opereating temperature is always the highest when I am parked and the motor has been running(i.e. LONG traffic light, etc)

 

yeah the fan does kick on. but even with it kicking on the temperate is like a 3/4 of the way up. Its fine when i'm driving.

 

change the thermostat...

Last week when my radiator was leaking, I noticed that my temp needle would get up almost to half when sitting but go down to nearly C while driving. I changed the thermostat along w/ the radiator and now it runs a little below halfway all the time, no matter what (which is good). My thermostat and radiator both had 160K on them. So I'm guessing yours is probably stuck or at least partially stuck closed.

 

Before you change the thermostat i would do a radiator flush. Have you dont one with this motor or even in the car at all? If that doesnt work then move on the to thermostat. If you need info on how to flush just let me know.

 

yeah i've done one before. (radiator flush) can you explain why the thermostat could be causing this if its stuck or not?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbocivic96 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Before you change the thermostat i would do a radiator flush. Have you dont one with this motor or even in the car at all? If that doesnt work then move on the to thermostat. If you need info on how to flush just let me know.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah do that but also at the minimal expense of a thermostat being they are less than $10. Thermostats are nothing but junk I've went through 4 or 5 till I finally got one that worked right. If you buy a new thermostat put it in some boiling water on the stove and make sure it works right before you stick it on. I would do that too just to make sure. Your fan comming on is a good sign, at least thats doing it's job

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EGhatched &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah i've done one before. (radiator flush) can you explain why the thermostat could be causing this if its stuck or not? </TD></TR></TABLE>

The way a thermostat is designed if it sticks it's actually supposed to be stuck open but most of the time it doesn't work that way. Your thermostat is always closed when the coolant isn't at normal operating temp. the hot coolant stays inside the engine, as the engine gets up to temp. the thermostat allows the coolant to escape into the radiator bringing fresh cool coolant back into the engine. While the thermostat is stuck closed it does not allow fresh cool coolant into the engine, i.e. overheating. When it's stuck open the opposite happens and the coolant does not get warm i.e. heater does not blow hot air.

 

could it be that my single cam radiator is just too small for the b series?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EGhatched &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">could it be that my single cam radiator is just too small for the b series?</TD></TR></TABLE>

That could be it, I don't know if they are different sizes do some searching. Also check out the thermostat like others said

 

Now I've always thought that all 92+ civic radiators are the same. My friend has a 99 si and he has the same radiator as my hx even though he has a b16. I'd go to the dealer and get a thermostat from them, thats when I kept having trouble with mine (buying ones from advance ) I finally went to the damn honda dealer and thats 30 miles away and got a good one. Parts might be high with them but you can't beat the quality. Oh yeah before I forget... you can also buy Honda Coolant thats already pre mixed so you just pour it in, be a good time to flush the system cause your gonna loose some taking the thermostat out, and don't forget to drain the coolant out before you put in the new thermostat, at least enough to get the level lower than the thermostat.

 

bought a thermostat from honda. I think it might have fixed it. Fan is coming on more often. Heater is staying hot and seems hotter. thanks for the help

 

glad to hear so you live in ne? I thought it was colder over there. I live in va and it's a lot warmer over here and my fan rarely comes on. it's like my car gets to a certain temp. and it just stays there. But you do have a b16 so that might run a little hotter and your radiator probabally soaks up more heat from the engine. My friend that has the si has a turbo too, you wouldn't belive all the heat that his radiator soaks up from that.

 

i dont think this is a problem at all. its normal for the fan to come on while you're idling but while you're driving there's air going through the radiator to col it down.
as long as its not overheating than you shouldn't have to worry about it.