Overheating - some help please....

[SonofaBish]

Last week i picked up a 1997 Acura CL, with the 2.2 Honda motor for my wife to run every day, so she wasn't driving our Lexus...

I sat in over 2 hours of traffic Monday night in downtown Pgh without a single issue.... Then, yesterday my wife was driving it between Beaver adn our place and it started to overheat.... She saw some steam and shut the car off....

I got there and it seemed to be fine.. i could tell it had spit some coolant, but she started it up and it seemed fine and dandy... it'll idle seemingly all day long wihtout moving the temp guage above the normal temp...that is, until you start to run it up the road, adn the temp guage will rise quickly... can probably only get a 1/4 of a mile

I stopped and let it cool off a couple times, but once again, it overheated about my 3rd time of trying to go up the road... i looked under the hood and it was spitting some coolant from the back of teh engine, but it was very tough to tell where exactly it was comign from... it was defintely from around the head, in the general area of where the thermostat is on the back of the motor (left side)...

My first thought was a head gasket, but then i started to think and i don't wanna jump to a conclusion...

The car isn't pushign any coolant into the overflow resevoir, which i thought always happened with a head gasket... its also not burning any coolant in the exhaust....

I need to check a couple things after work and i can update this thread:
1.) Any coolant in the oil?
2.) Any oil in teh coolant?

I had a friend tell me to take the radiator cap off, and run teh car and let it heat up to see if it pushes coolant (he said it may not necessarily push it into the resevoir... my only issue there is that it seems to stay at a normal temp if its just idling, so i'm not sure how i'm going to get it to heat up... i don't really wanna overheat it on purpose, and can't drive down the road with the radiator cap off...

I'll check the items mentioend above after work, but does anyone have any thoughts here?? I have absolutely NO experience with Honda's.... I was kinda thinkin a stuck thermostat, since its not pushing any coolant, but i dunno.. its so $$$$ hard to tell where the coolant is spitting from...

[speedracer]

Cooling fan? This just happened to me with my Cobra, the fan was still spinning in it's last death throws but not enough to cool much.

[Terminated]

My thougths were on thermostat since it idles and is ok but heats up when you drive it. But even at idle it should be getting hto enough to pop the t-stat.

However, I also don't have any experience with those cars. have you searched Honda-Tech at all?

[SonofaBish]

No i haven't posted anything on Honda Tech... i'd rather not join ANOTHER car board, but if i have to, then i guess i will.... I also can't join a board while i'm here at work, so it'll have to wait until i can get home...

As far as the fans... i dunno if both of them are working, but the one is for sure... it even stays running after teh car shuts off (something that's common for Honda's).... However, if it were teh cooling fan, i would think that it would overflow coolant into the resevoir before it started spitting it out somewhere, as coolant would still be able to circulate between the engine and the radiator... yes? no? kinda, maybe, sorta?

[no1sirbutler]

How many miles? When was the timing belt and water pump last changed? Let me know these and ill ask my buddy who is a master Honda tech

[SonofaBish]

How many miles? When was the timing belt and water pump last changed? Let me know these and ill ask my buddy who is a master Honda tech
152K, and i don't know when the water pump and timing belt were last changed....

Please see the next post and i'll explain my results from tonight

[SonofaBish]

Ok so here's what i found tonight...

I found where the coolant was spitting from... it was one of the heater hoses running to the heater core from the head... got a new hose to replace that....

So... just as before, the car will get to normal operating temp and sit there at idle for like 5+ mins, then it will start to slowly climb... the fans don't turn on, but when i shut the car off, the one fan will run for a minute or so...

The upper radiator hose is very hot, while the lower radiator hose is still fairly cool... the thermostat is attached to the LOWER radiator hose... The radiator doesn't get very hot either... So, i was hoping it was as stuck thermostat, but i dont' think that is the case now... I took it out and put it in a pot of water and boiled the water... the thermostat opened up in the water....

So, i got a new thermostat anyhow, since they're not real expensive, and i'll put it all back together tomorrow.... I'm expecting to find that the car still overheats and that its the water pump.... it seems clear from the way the hoses are extreme opposites of each other that there isn't any flow between teh engine and radiator...

So, the only chance i have at this being a easy fix is that a air pocket got behind the t-stat and wasn't letting it open... however, i'm kinda thinkin it'll be the water pump, which won't be cheap... kinda blows...

no1sirbutler, please see what your buddy thinks from this info...

[no1sirbutler]

Will do Bish....I'll call him first thing in the morning.

[SonofaBish]

Will do Bish....I'll call him first thing in the morning.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! I owe ya one!

[SonofaBish]

Will do Bish....I'll call him first thing in the morning.
One other thing to ask, if u don't mind... If it is indeed the water pump and I replace it and thr timing belt, does this timing balancer belt need changed too? Apparently there's two different belts, and I only read about replacing the main timing belt, but since the chilton manual goes on and says about how to remove this balancer belt, I'm wondering....

Thx again!

[jaa55]

I cant see it being a water pump unless the vanes are rotted off the inside of it, sounds head gasket/cracked head to me if its overheating under load. have you tried just running it at a fast idle and checking to see if its building pressure in the rad hoses?

[SonofaBish]

I cant see it being a water pump unless the vanes are rotted off the inside of it, sounds head gasket/cracked head to me if its overheating under load. have you tried just running it at a fast idle and checking to see if its building pressure in the rad hoses?
the reason we don't think its the head gasket is because its not pushing any coolant, and its not burning any coolant.....

i let it run for quite a while yesterday and it never bubbled up or pushed any coolant, and its not burning any either.... also, there's no coolant leaks anywhere, other than the one that i repaired last night

maybe i'm just staying hopeful...

the other reason i think its a good possibility that its a water pump is that the suggested time interval on the timing belt and the water pump is 104K miles... the car has 152K miles on it, and i don't know that they were ever changed.... If they weren't, they were LONG over due

[SonofaBish]

furthermore, its not getting any flow between the engine and the radiator... like i said earlier, the upper hose is very hot, and the lower hose is hardly warm... AND the radiator is hardly warm as well....

To add to this, i had to put some distiled water in it yesterday because of the loss of coolont when it was spitting some, and the fluid at the top of the radiator was still clear water after 10+ minutes of running... so there's just no flow.... if it were a head gasket, it would still flow coolant between the motor and the radiator

[no1sirbutler]

Talked to my guy and he says it sounds like a head gasket as well. If it was a water pump then it would over heat at idle not when running. Says it's kinda common on them w some mileage. And the interval for a timing belt and water pump is more like 80K.



Let me know if I can help in any way.

[SonofaBish]

Welp, i said yesterday that the thermostat opened up in a pot of boiling water.... so i didnt' think that was it...

But, today i got done putting it back together with a new OEM honda thermostat and a new heater hose to replace the cracked one... I almost didn't, but my friend told me just to give it a shot - so i filled the system, and bled it, and i'll be damned.... the thing is running great........

Either the t-stat wasn't working properly in the car OR there must have been an air pocket behind the t-stat that wasn't allowing it to open... remember, i said that the lower rad hose was cold while the upper rad hose was warm... i stated to feel good when both rad hoses were getting warm... and then the fans kicked on, which they werent doing before.... and it was just good sign after good sign... lol

now lets hope she keeps running good...

[no1sirbutler]

Good news.....if you need anything Honda related let me know....my buddy is full of knowledge

[SonofaBish]

Good news.....if you need anything Honda related let me know....my buddy is full of knowledge
Thanks!

[383taman]

Good news.....if you need anything Honda related let me know....my buddy is full of knowledge

Sound like it after the last post