Hey everyone,
Sorry about the rush but I just bought a '96 Integra RS & it seemed to run & drive real nice & I even took it to a mechanic to have it checked out...& "supposedly", the car was perfect except the antenna was broken out & the right headlight was out. So I went & had my grandma pay cash for the thing. Then, later that day I noticed the car started to over heat to the 3/4 way so I killed my engine immediatley. To make a long story short, I ended up going to the Acura dealership & they told me that I had a blown head gasket, needed a new thermostat, oil change, oil filter. So i was like ok...so then they called me up 2 days later & said my head was warped from the blown head gasket, b/c apparently the car had been driven for a while with it blown...so they had to machine the head. The bill came to $1,010.86. I was pissed! Anyway, i got my grandma to pay for that AGAIN...so then I drove the car for about a week & a half (No problems what so ever ) & then im sitting at McDonalds drive through tonight & my engine & everything is fine b/c I check my gauges every second lol. Then next thing I know I look down & its at the 3/4 mark, I was like, DANG! It wasnt getting any hotter though, just sitting at 3/4's mark so i cut the engine again. I waited 30 seconds or so & saw a little white smoke come from out the sides of the engine, so then I started the car to get my food & the temp gauge started moving back down to normal (little above the half way point) at a fast speed & I began driving around the other side & parked the car, & at this point, the car was at normal engine heat... so I popped the hood & both my fans were off... then i turned on my A/C & they both came on. So i ended up taking it home with the a/c off the entire way & had no engine heating problems at all. I pulled into my drive way & popped the hood, & both fans werent spinning & the engine heat was just fine & I let it run there for about 4 or 5 minutes with no fans coming on, & the engine heat at normal. Now the guys at Acura said that with that blown head gasket, it was causing me an electrical problem, & that i was leaking coolant internally which of course was not good. But since I just had that fixed, I cant think of what is causing the car to over heat now..

Although, the other day, my grandpa told me he found radiator fluid in the garage underneath my car...but I figured it was just the over flow... b/c when I got it back from Acura, the over flow tank had half a tank of radiator fluid on a cold engine, & 1/4 full on a hot engine & now, there is like barely any all at the bottom thats always sitting there. While at mcdonalds, we did check are radiator & there was fluid all the way to the top of the radiator, but really none at all in the overflow tank ( i guess that gets leaked out ).. just the normal inch. I mean, I really love my car, its pretty quick for stock, I get alot of attention (somehow!!, its amazing really lol ), but if I cant fix this stupid over heat bullsh*t, the car goes up for sale by the end of this week. Help me pls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks
--Ryan

P.S. I never run my car hard EVER, the most I take it is 4,000 RPM's. Automatic tranny too if this helps. I baby it

I am just SO disgusted.

 

sorrie to hear that you're having so many problems with your car so soon after you bought it. Well, first thing i'll say is that since you went to the dealership for the repair work, you know its warrantied for at least a year. So if its anything involving a component they should have fixed, well then they should take responsibility for it. For now, inspect all your hoses to check for leaks, and if you can, get a pressure test done on your coolant system to check for leaks. Although if you lost enough coolant to make you overheat, i'm sure you'd notice the leaking when you popped the hood at McD's. The smell of coolant is a dead giveaway. Eliminate the possible causes one by one. If the problem persists, take it back to Acura, cause they did the work in the first place... if they installed the thermostat incorrectly or it was a damaged part for watever reason and its not regulating coolant properly through your motor, that could be the cause of your overheating. If such is the case, they should repair for you at no cost and hell you might even talk em into a loaner car for time of repair & inspection.

I'd also be curious to know what electrical problems they are speaking of, and if such a problem existed and they knew about it, why didnt they advise you on a course of action to rememdy the problem??

 

that was lengthy.....paragraphs might have helped .....j/k
anyway, what kind of mechanic did you take it to that couldn't tell the head gasket was blown
regarding your question as to what could be causing your car to overheat:

1. you said acura changed the theromostat, and it looks like they flushed your radiator, have you checked to see if your radiator is using up fluid from the reserve? Of it is, you might have a leaky radiator, so you might want to look into a sealant or new radiator.

2. if your fans are running at the wrong times, there might be something wrong with the relays.

3. try taking it back to the dealership to see if they can do anything about this without charging you.........urr, I mean your poor grandma, anymore money. If not, try finding a mechanic outside of the dealer that has some experiece working with import cars.

good luck
welcome to HT

 

1st question about the radiator : Yea I think they did flush it...i just got done looking into the tank & its not filled up to the cap... although, the over flow tank right next to it is like completley empty... is that supposed to be normal? Im used to working on a Z24 Cavalier so im so confused when it comes to an import.

2nd question about relays : Yes I've thought of this before, but I havent had any trouble until this night. There is ONE thing that I did tonight that I havent done at all since i've had the car...& that is NOT running my A/C. I always run my A/C even with the windows down, & both my fans spin while its on... tonight was the first night I cruised with out the A/C on & I never saw the radiator fan come on when it over heated.


I also thought that when the radiator fluid went into your over flow tank, it leaked out underneath the car, which may be why my grandfather found radiator fluid in the driveway underneath my car. Also, I have like a TON of radiator fluid on top of my radiator...maybe from the host that goes from the radiator to the overflow...here is some pix I took.


This was before I had head gasket replaced & head machined. As you can see, I have radiator fluid in my over flow circled in red. You can also see some on the fans.


Here is a pic of the radiator NOW on a cold engine...you cant see any fluid in there really. Maybe a radiator leak now that we can see?


As you can see, I no longer have any fluid in the over flow tank... so we know that its not over flowing, so it might have too less in the radiator itself??


Circled in red is green radiator fluid that is randomly all over the fans... in the first pic, which was like 2 weeks ago, you dont see it there...but now you do. Dont really know whats going on...but I think I might have found it...what do you all think?? Thank you so much

--Ryan

 

how hot outside was it when this happened?....
the dealership said the blown headgasket caused an electrical problem? you should find it out. cause if it caused your thermoswitch or wiring to melt or stop working then your cooling fan won't turn on..which can lead to overheating if it's a hot day....check the fuse for the fan.

 

my GSR would do the same thing (shooting up in temp and dropping). It ended up being a warped deck (head was not warped). I would make sure that Acura checked to make sure your block wasn't warped too.

 

i think your rad is shot..

 

have you check you fan switch, because if you are park with the ac on and both of the fan are running then the fan are still good. I had the same prob with my civic and it I replace the fan switch and now I don't even go past the half way mark.

The part is pretty cheap, its like $45 bucks from the dealership or you can get one from Mugen. I think that should solve your over heating problem.

 

Dont be Scared. I'll tell you what it is right now. I'ts your water pump. Im 100% on this. Could also very well be the reason why the previous owner warped the head. Coolant all over the engine bay is normal. The overflow resevoir empty is normal. The loss in coolant is also normal. Seeing the coolant under the car, normal. White steam comming from under the hood, again normal symptoms.

Now there is no "quick fix" or "rebuild" available from a service shop. Just buy the honda OEM water pump for your model. Now Normally when it gets time for the water pump to be replaced, the crank seal, cam seals, timing belt, accessary belts, and valve cover gasket should also be taken care of. People tend to neglect thos extra parts and they often go bad shortly after replacing the pump. So take care of those too. Good Luck, hopefully i helped.

P.S. and as previously stated check fan relays and thermostat.

 

OH!!! :and smack that bitch @ the stealership for the misleading electrical bullshizzle!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'll tell you what it is right now. I'ts your water pump. Im 100% on this. Could also very well be the reason why the previous owner warped the head. Coolant all over the engine bay is normal. The overflow resevoir empty is normal. The loss in coolant is also normal. Seeing the coolant under the car, normal. White steam comming from under the hood, again normal symptoms.</TD></TR></TABLE>

those are all also signs of a cracked/leaky radiator or radiator hose....you should be able to smell the coolant right away after the car warms up tho and know for sure....if not then water pump it is

 

1.not to state the obvious, but did you replace your radiator cap?

2.you can rent a pressure tester from AUTOZONE and test for a leaky radiator.

3.as far as coolant all over the engine bay...NOT NORMAL!...if there is coolant all over your engine bay, then it is not in your radiator, block, or head.

it sounds stupid, but if they did all that work at the dealer and did not check your radiator/ radiator cap for leaks, then they hosed you good. the car probably overheated before you bought it and that is what caused the head gasket to blow.

 

yeah i'm thinking that it might be the radiator. Mines was like that also when it was leaking, but a little worse. coolant sprayed all over the place and I had that white dried coolant on top of my radiator to. you can find a used radiator cheap in the classifieds. Thats where i got mines when i replaced it.

 

you should fill yer reservoir/radiator with coolant, get the car nice n hot with the hood open and see whats going on

just dont open the radiator cap

as soon as steam starts spraying, bingo you'll find the problem spot.

 

not trying to flame pal, but of course it's not normal. but a normal sign indicating a bad water pump, among other things relating to overheating.


reading the symptoms he indicated, including the blown gasket & pictures, leads me to assume that the water pump is the culprit. however it would be wise to check the entire cooling system as other members have indicated in bits and pieces.

`fill your radiator up w/ water for now, and fill the resevior up to it's minimum line. And be extremely careful and dont spill a bunch of water everywhere. You need to be observant if water is leaking out anywhere or steaming from a source etc. etc.

`before starting the car take ten minutes to observe if water is leaking from the radiator. then look on the drivers side of the block from under the car (removing the wheel helps) to see if water is dripping from the belts. (this is where the water pump is located)

`nothing yet? take the car for a spin around the block untill the temp gauage goes up. park it in the driveway and pop the hood. look for steam or coolant spraying out from the engine bay. check that main radiator hose. (it woulkd become obvious if it was) generally you'll see a small tear or rip with a discoloration associated w/ a hot spot. see if the cap is steaming/ leaking.


and go from there.

 

Yea, im taking it to Acura for sure tomorrow... its not my decision, my grandparents want the best for me & my new car. A few things needed to be said though. The car doesnt over heat at all anymore...thats the weird part! Its done it once in a week & a half...the hard part is getting it to do it again. Now also.. after the car over heated (sort of.. it was at the 3/4 mark & not going any higher) the engine seemed to barley "putter" on..instead of idling at 1,000 RPM, it idle'd at .500 RPM, half of 1000. It was just puttering sort of, & I didnt have the A/C running either. One thing guys that I also noticed, was that my speedometer light was sorta pulsing, not like hardcore, but it sorta was pulsating to the beat of my music in the car, which is something I have never seen it do before while night driving. I looked & the engine heat was fine...but then 2 minutes later, it was horribly hot at the 3/4 mark. Does this arrise any other idea's?


I had too thought it was the water pump or radiator, & Acura took my engine part hardcore & said they didnt see anything else wrong with it, & if they did, im sure they would tell me to just get a few more bux out of me.

Acura said today that they would run some pressure tests on it & I will mention the water pump. Now..I do know on the Z24 Cavalier that they have to take out the engine to get to the water pump...do you have to do this on the Acura Integra?? The engine bay in an Integra seems incredibly bigger & more spacious than the tight spot for the cavy engine.

Anyway, thank you all for all of your responses, I REALLY appreciate it & I will let you know what Acura says to me tomorrow! Thanks so much!

--Ryan

 

Fill the resevior bottle to the Max line with Radiator fluid. Fill the readiator fluid up to the top, so that when the engine is cold and you take off the cap you can see fluid, not the inside of the radiator.

Start your car with the hood open, and just sit and wait to see if any fluid is leaking and where it is from. Get someone to keep an eye on the gauge. It seems like you are all forgeting to do simple things like this.

 

Ok, so to just get this straight... the overflow tank = resevoir tank? To be honest with you all, i dont know jack sh*t about imports lol

 

yeah, same thing

 

In case no one else has noted this, this is obviously not the OEM radiator -- it's apparently been replaced at some point (probably associated with the previous owner's overheating/head warping woes).

Did you get any previous service records when you purchased the car? Usually, when a dealer (and many times as independent shop, too) services the car, they will stamp or record the service in the appropriate place inside the owner's manual. If you can tell whether or not the full timing belt service was performed, you will know the liklihood of water pump failure. Typically, a timing belt service is performed 75-90k mi, at which time all drive belts and the water pump are also replaced. If this was done at the normal service interval, I would be hesitant to blame the water pump.

Since this is an aftermarket radiator (and not all aftermarket radiators are created equally), I'd look into it. Your engine bay looks just like most do, when the radiator lets go. I've replaced mutiple radiators on Integras for just this reason. This would also explain the coolant your grandfather found on the garage floor beneath your car. I'm thinking that, when this aftermarket radiator was installed, they somehow did not reconnect the fans correctly (considering that you said the main fan never comes on without turning on the a/c).

--good luck with the fix. Feel free to IM me if you decide to replace the radiator and need a walk-through

 

All I can say is check out the entire car.. I'm guessing you purchased it with those aftermarket parts on there, like the short ram intake and whatnot. Pretty much means the car was beat on more than once most likely. Is 3rd gear rough at all?

(Also, the weenie that installed that intake didn't even remove the resonator box in the pictures it looks like. Ditch that thing.)

resonator box=useless plastic box thing just below your air filter that sits inside the bumper.

 

Well, the car seems to go into 2nd & 3rd fine I suppose, of course you can feel it shift like in most cars, but it doesnt seem too bad. Its at Acura right now & there running the tests on it. I will remove the plastic pipe thing you told me too And I did buy the car with all the aftermarket stuff on it. They only thing I have replaced is the front speakers in the doors with Kenwood 6 1/2" s & work awesome. I have the speakers for the back but Im going to have Circuit City install them b/c I dont want to mess with it. The car is fun to drive, & I espeically like how there not all that slow, considering the car weighs 2500 lbs & has 140 hp to the crank while the Civic EX has 127 to the crank & the DX has a measly 109 or 110. I also was told the radiator was aftermarket not too long ago b/c of the "Lifetime Warranty" sticker. I just cant figure out how the car is overheating now with the fixed head gasket & head. Oh well, best of luck I hope.

 

From my experience its the radiator. Just replaced mine and it was leaking in the same spot. Make sure you keep refilling that overflow til you get it fixed. From what I have been told (and correct me if im wrong), the radiator will pull more fluid from the overflow when the car is off because a better vaccuum is created (unless the radiator really needs it, then it will draw). I always noticed more fluid transfer when the car was off than from when the car was on. Get that radiator replaced. Try to do it yourself if you can. I hear its a good $600 job from the dealer. Might want to replace the thermostat while you're at it. Koyo makes a nice stock replacement for about $150. Good luck. Let us know when you get this problem resolved.

 

That plastic thing your going to remove is actually a good thing. It directs cold air from the outside to the intake thus the intake is not completly sucking in hot air.

If I was you I would leave it there.

 

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