just got back from buying my second integra, a gsr from honda-tech member dc2 lover.

i really enjoyed the ride home but the temperature needle was pegged beyond hot almost the entire way.

he had a fan switch wired into the car so that i could keep the fan on at all times. i drove the whole way home with the fan on but it was still reading hot.

then i drove around my town to see if it was related to engine load at all but it just seemed like nothing could cool it off. sometimes i would be idling and the temperature would slowly increase.

so does this sound like a bad thermostat? or could it be something else?

 

Pegging the temperature gauge is not good. Did the overflow bottle overflow? What is the coolant level? Perhaps the gauge needles were removed and the temperature was not that hot. If it were really that hot, the engine should not have run for very long.

 

I would say change the coolant, after some years the cooling capability of it drops. Also replace the thermostat with a fail safe thermostat.

 

no, it did not overflow and when i popped the hood, it didn't even seem very hot at all.

anyways, im going to flush all the fluids and change the oil in the coming week.

how much does a thermostat cost?

 

First off, in a properly working cooling system, you can run on straight water and it won't overheat, much less old coolant. You should only use staight water when diagnosing the problem, then go back to the proper coolant mix.

Several possibilities. You could have a small undetectible leak somewhere that has slowly bled the system to where its level is so low it overheats. It could be a bad thermostat, radiator cap, water pump, clogged radiator or blown head-gasket.

Ask the previous owner if it was overheating on him, and make sure he didn't use any radiator sealers that you pour into the radiator. They can clog the radiator up so bad that it loses its ability to flow the coolant or transfer the heat effectively.

I would start with refilling the system and properly bleeding it, then go for a ride, come back and check for a leak. Make sure to check the little hoses at the throttle body/Intake manifold, that's where my leak was. Thermostats are cheap and easy to swap, you could go ahead and swap in a new one anyway while your at it.
Lets hope that it is something easy. Good luck.

 

thanks, ill check everything tomorrow. didnt get a chance to look at everything closely in the engine bay.

 

i just remembered some things about the temperature gauge. it acted very random! i would be sitting at a light, idling with the fan on, and the temperature would just slowly creep up until the needle was maxed out beyond hot.

then i would get on it really hard, popping vtec and then it would cool down all of a sudden. sometimes i would coast down a hill in neutral at around 50 mph and it would again heat up beyond the max hot.

also, i read somewhere while searching that vtec does not hit under certain conditions, and one of them was if the engine was too hot. is my vtec engagement a sign of a broken thermostat?

 

Check the coolant level in the radiator when it is cold.

 

do you think driving on a car that needs a valve job would cause it to overheat?

i can hear ticking, like in my old integra and i have a feeling that it needs an adjustment.

ill go grab a video of it now.

 

http://alexisthemovie.com/videos/valve-tick.avi

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alexisthemovie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do you think driving on a car that needs a valve job would cause it to overheat?

i can hear ticking, like in my old integra and i have a feeling that it needs an adjustment.

ill go grab a video of it now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No.

Check your coolant level in the bottle and in the radiator when the car is cold. Is the fan the stock fan? Your car gets hot at low RPM when the coolant is not moving fast. This is a typical sign of an underfilled coolant system.

 

i dont believe the fan is stock. i have a manual override and drive with it on all of the time but it could be stock.

i just checked the oil and it didnt even reach the dipstick so i filled up 1 1/2 quarts to top it off. i drove around for about 5 minutes and the temperature was normal. it seems to escalate very quickly as soon as i hit vtec.

anyways, i keep forgetting to check the coolant because im dumb. will do that next!

 

turns out the previous owner (not the seller because he only had it for 2 weeks) poured some leak stopper into the coolant reservoir and it completely clogged it up so the engine was getting no coolant at all.

because the coolant never got flowing, it boiled and melted a part of the radiator and the engine overheated very quickly.

luckily my headgasket was fine and the motor was healthy.

i got a performance radiator, new thermostat, and coolant for the car and it no longer overheats!