.:HSTuners::

02-02-2003, 04:58 AM

This is long so please bear with me and i'd greatly appreciate it if you read it all.

Hey there guys, i'm a newbie here so please excuse my ignorance or anything. I decided to go to you guys for help because i'm at end wit with my g/f's civic and i'm sure you guys can shed some light on the situation. My ladies car is a '93 LX with the 1.5 (D15B7..i think). Ever since she's had the car, her car will overheat in moderate to high ambiant outside temp. Yesterday, i replaced her radiator because it was leaking and i thought that might be causing the problem. Well, i installed the radiator, all new hoses, new coolant, new thermostat 3 months ago, new water pump was installed 2 years ago, radiator cap is 3 months old, and i also used that nifty bleeder screw trying to get the air out of the system. I have no clue what else can be causing her overheating problem because pretty much everything is new! Today after doing all the work, she took a 45 minute drive to a local mall and as soon as she got off the freeway, the temp started climbing; while on the freeway it was doing fine. one thing i noticed was that it seems as if the fan for the radiator doesnt come on at the right time, but it does work every once in a while. She got the radiator fan switch replaced about 6 months ago along with the fan relay. Once she got home, she let the car sit for about 30 minutes and i asked her to pop the hood..when she did that, i slowly turned the radiator cap and a shit load of pressure went into the resivoir bottle. I looked into the radiator tank and i couldnt see water in there, but there was some in there because i squeezed the lower hose and some water appeared to climb the transfer tube from upper radiator tank to lower. What is going on here?!?! I'm loosing my hair over her car! Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. On a side note, i'm not one of those redneck 4x4 guys that hate "ricers", i've always appreciated what people do to imports. Thanks!

02-02-2003, 08:14 AM

first thing is that cooling systems are very sensitive to air bubbles. you need to bleed it with the bleeder screw. then you need to get this funnel that mounts to the top of the radiator. you fill it up with coolant/water and start the car. keep an eye inb the temp guage, the funnel, and listen for the fans. make sure you keep the funnel full of water. while its running there should be air bubbles coming up to the top. after the fans come on and shut off twice. then shut the car off and and wait for the rest of the air bubbles to come to the top. after that you should be set.

shadowracer · 02-03-2003, 07:28 PM

If foxygrandma advice does not help check your temp sending unit it might be bad. Also check all your ground connections ie. the one from the trans to the frame the one from the battery to the body, and the one from the valve cover to the radiator support. Sounds funny but you'd be surprised at what a bad ground will do to a civic. Of all else fails do a compresion check on your cylinders, you be checking for even pressure across all of them. Low pressure could mean a blown head gasket. Also do a pressure test of your cooling system an leakage could me a blown head gasket also. Those are extremes but are possibilities, before doing that make sure her base timing is correct. If her timing is advanced to far the car would run hot. Hope this helps, I hate to see a fellow honda owner in distress

02-04-2003, 04:09 AM

Thanks for the help guys. i'll look into the possible problems and see what i come up with. By the way, how in the hell do you get to the sending unit for the gauge, that thing is in the WORST place, can even get the boot off! By the way, are hondas really that sensitive when it comes to timing?

TonitrusEN · 02-04-2003, 05:16 AM

i dont know, my venom 400 retarded my timing by 7 degrees.. and my car was dying ..

*AzCivic* · 02-04-2003, 12:27 PM

Try running only distilled water and no anit-freeze. Your in SoCal so I dont think you have to worry about freezing temps.

drdingo21 · 02-05-2003, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CrazyJeeper
Thanks for the help guys. i'll look into the possible problems and see what i come up with. By the way, how in the hell do you get to the sending unit for the gauge, that thing is in the WORST place, can even get the boot off! By the way, are hondas really that sensitive when it comes to timing?

not to timeing itself, but if you take of the timing belt or break the timing belt don't even try to start the car.

02-02-2003, 04:58 AM	#1
CrazyJeeper Posts: n/a	Newbie..Need Help! My g/f's Car Keeps Overheating...Why! This is long so please bear with me and i'd greatly appreciate it if you read it all. Hey there guys, i'm a newbie here so please excuse my ignorance or anything. I decided to go to you guys for help because i'm at end wit with my g/f's civic and i'm sure you guys can shed some light on the situation. My ladies car is a '93 LX with the 1.5 (D15B7..i think). Ever since she's had the car, her car will overheat in moderate to high ambiant outside temp. Yesterday, i replaced her radiator because it was leaking and i thought that might be causing the problem. Well, i installed the radiator, all new hoses, new coolant, new thermostat 3 months ago, new water pump was installed 2 years ago, radiator cap is 3 months old, and i also used that nifty bleeder screw trying to get the air out of the system. I have no clue what else can be causing her overheating problem because pretty much everything is new! Today after doing all the work, she took a 45 minute drive to a local mall and as soon as she got off the freeway, the temp started climbing; while on the freeway it was doing fine. one thing i noticed was that it seems as if the fan for the radiator doesnt come on at the right time, but it does work every once in a while. She got the radiator fan switch replaced about 6 months ago along with the fan relay. Once she got home, she let the car sit for about 30 minutes and i asked her to pop the hood..when she did that, i slowly turned the radiator cap and a shit load of pressure went into the resivoir bottle. I looked into the radiator tank and i couldnt see water in there, but there was some in there because i squeezed the lower hose and some water appeared to climb the transfer tube from upper radiator tank to lower. What is going on here?!?! I'm loosing my hair over her car! Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. On a side note, i'm not one of those redneck 4x4 guys that hate "ricers", i've always appreciated what people do to imports. Thanks!

02-03-2003, 07:28 PM	#3
shadowracer 1st Gear Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: South side chi-town illinois Posts: 37	If foxygrandma advice does not help check your temp sending unit it might be bad. Also check all your ground connections ie. the one from the trans to the frame the one from the battery to the body, and the one from the valve cover to the radiator support. Sounds funny but you'd be surprised at what a bad ground will do to a civic. Of all else fails do a compresion check on your cylinders, you be checking for even pressure across all of them. Low pressure could mean a blown head gasket. Also do a pressure test of your cooling system an leakage could me a blown head gasket also. Those are extremes but are possibilities, before doing that make sure her base timing is correct. If her timing is advanced to far the car would run hot. Hope this helps, I hate to see a fellow honda owner in distress __________________ D-series, my weapon of choice!

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02-02-2003, 08:14 AM	#2
foxygrandma Posts: n/a	first thing is that cooling systems are very sensitive to air bubbles. you need to bleed it with the bleeder screw. then you need to get this funnel that mounts to the top of the radiator. you fill it up with coolant/water and start the car. keep an eye inb the temp guage, the funnel, and listen for the fans. make sure you keep the funnel full of water. while its running there should be air bubbles coming up to the top. after the fans come on and shut off twice. then shut the car off and and wait for the rest of the air bubbles to come to the top. after that you should be set.

02-04-2003, 04:09 AM	#4
CrazyJeeper Posts: n/a	Thanks for the help guys. i'll look into the possible problems and see what i come up with. By the way, how in the hell do you get to the sending unit for the gauge, that thing is in the WORST place, can even get the boot off! By the way, are hondas really that sensitive when it comes to timing?

02-04-2003, 12:27 PM	#6
AzCivic Moderator Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Az Age: 43 Posts: 3,804	Try running only distilled water and no anit-freeze. Your in SoCal so I dont think you have to worry about freezing temps.