B20eg4dr

Okay, here is the problem. I recently swapped the engine in my civic and everything was running great. Now, 2 days ago my car started to over heat a slight bit. Just about half or a bit over half. Myself and a mechanic looked at it and determined after a bit of troubleshooting that the radiator hose had swollen thus causing the fitting/clamp to not seal correctly and this was causing a bit of coolant to jet out over the radiator. tightened the clamp and no more over heating.

Now, today I noticed the temp gauge rising while idling (was fine during driving) and so i checked the coolant in the fill tank. It was all gone (it was from the day prior). So I am like what the hell. Fill it up with a 50/50 mix and drive home. Temp gauge was fine until I got home and let it idle a bit to see if it was still going to over heat. It started to, I checked the reservoir and the coolant was gone again. I fill it up and let it idle, watch the reservoir and see if it drops, it did not seem to much. But, while idling my fan wasnt on until after the temp went past the half way point. After that it turned on. And the temp gauge seemed to drop a bit (turned the car off after this though).

Now, I checked my top hose and it was hot, my bottom one i checked and it was kinda cooler down by the radiator but warmer up by the tranny/engine it was warmer (could be because of ambient heat though). I gave both a squeeze and the bottom made a clicking sound happen in the engine bay somewhere and it sounded like a bit of fluid rushed in/out somewhere. Top one just made the clicking sound.

So, since I am not completely a guru or anything. My question is what would the problem be. Also, the timing belt and water pump were replaced with oem honda/acura parts 2.5k miles ago. No large leaks are being noticed and I havent noticed any white smoke. I will check again for the white smoke but the oil is not milky that i could tell. If anyone could let me know what they thought or if they have had the same thing happen I would appreciate it. I searched but nothing was really the same as my situation. Thanks in advace guys.


Cliffnotes: Car/engine (b20b) is starting to overheat. Hella rad fluid loss from fill tank with no noticeable leaks. Brand new water pump and timing belt. Top hose from rad is hot, bottom not as much near rad but warmer near tranny/engine. Oil is not seeming milky and no white smoke being noticed. Gas mileage has not been affected and Fan only seems to come on at 50%+ of temp gauge. Valve adjustment done within 150 miles (was barely off anyway). Thanks.

caRRRR

if you don't have any leaks that are visible, you may have a leak through the headgasket. if it was just overheating, i'd say there may be some air bubbles or possibly a stuck thermostat. but if you're losing coolant, then most likely it's a leak. any white smoke out the exhaust?

SDSG

Give the thermostat a check, if that's not the problem I'd say it could be the head gasket. Don't have to see water in the oil for it to be the Head gasket. I basically got into the same problem and it ended up being that, replaced it and the everything is perfect now

B20eg4dr

if it was blown wouldnt it still spew a bit of white smoke? it doesnt seem to be. also, here is what i have done to try to nail down the problem.

i checked the oil today and it seemed that there was a slow leak form the oil drain plug. i tightened it and put 1 qt of oil in. refilled the rad fill container to max and took off the radiator cap. started the car and watched for spray, smoke, etc. there was none that i could see or hear. the fluid inside the radiator is good and there were no bubbles or anything coming from inside. the fluid did jump/vibrate while the engine was on but never came over the lip of the radiator. let the car idle for about 10 min and it never went past the 40% temp gauge reading. i turned on the heat, stayed the same. i turned on the a/c and it went up just a bit (like maybe 2-3%). I think that is normal but am not completely sure. However, the thing is, at no time during this process did my radiator fan come on. Not during idle, not during the time when I had the heat on, and not during the time when I had the a/c on. The a/c fan came on of course but the fan did not. So, I am thinking that it maybe the fan sensor or maybe the relay. COuld it still be the thermostat? I am not sure if it is the head gasket as the HG would still cause it to lose copious amounts of fluid regardless. ANd wouldnt it cause it to over heat anyway, not stay at normal operating temp and idle just fine. Thanks for the help guys.

Oh, and I apologize for the radom capitalization. I am used to word where it does it automatically and I dont have the inclination to go back and correct it right now. Thanks again.

B20eg4dr

ttt

sone

Disconnect the tempo senor plug and jump the wire, if the fan kick on then it's the senor if the fan doesn't kick on then it's the fan motor.....oh, if it's the fan motor then i got a couple of those laying around....G/L

sprjit22

id say the sensor or fan motor. Jump the plug like the other guy said & that will narrow it down to fan motor or sensor.
the leak may be the heater valve thing. I have a problem with loseing coolant but, not enough to get hot & it is my heater valve or what ever it is called. It leaks a little bit but, not as bad as your describing.

elitist

Maybe thermostat? Just take it out for a day or so and see how it runs, also could have a leak on a coolant hose on the back of the head. Might be a pinhole leak that only really opens up under higher RPM's (as when you are driving) so thus you aren't noticing it at idle parked.

HondaHouse

ok from my understanding....
regular fan does not come on..fan switch
lower hose is cooler than upper hose..thermostat
but if the thermostat is not opening and allowing coolant to pass through, then the fan switch cannot read temp of coolant, therefore not allowing the fan to come on, correct?
i had the same problem on an ls integra i worked on not to long ago..same syptoms, ended up being the thermostat was actually bent and getting stuck half way while opening...just my 2 cents...hope that helps

B20eg4dr

Cool, from what you guys are saying it would seem to be the thermostat. i will try replacing that this week. I appreciate all the help.

Oh, and Yay for me hitting my first hundred posts. LOL