90 accord overheating problem

[CB7-beater]

Hey whats up. Well I picked up a 90 accord off of my fiances friend for $200 bucks cause it has a overheating problem. I replaced the thermostat, fan switch on the thermostat housing, radiator cap, and the cooling fan relay in the fuse box. It turned out it was the fan timer under the dash that I replaced that fixed it. The problem is the fans work now but it still overheats since they never turn on cause the upper radiator hose is hot and the lower hose connecting to the thermstat housing is still cold and not turning the switch on for the fan. I talked to alot of people on H-T and they said the radiator was plugged so I drained all the antifreeze and flushed it out real well with a hose and filled it back up and bled the air out real well. Satuarday was the first day I got to drive it on the road since I just got it tagged and I drove it for like 30 minutes and it started to overheat and go into the overflow. What would cause the upper hose to be hot and the lower to be still cold? The only thing I have left to replace is the timing belt and water pump which the car has 97k miles on it and its due for. Maybe the water pump is not recirculating and taking a crap?? Let me know what you think, I need to get this fixed asap. Thanks..

[Goelette]

i once had this problem with another car. The radiator was full of dirt. I flushed it out very well, but it still wouldn't work. So I got another radiator, and problem was solved.

[CB7-beater]

yea I drained it and flushed it with a hose real well. I didnt use any of the super flush or anything you pour in there just sprayed it out well with the hose. The thermostat isnt a Honda one but a Stant but it should atleast work ok.

[NAiL05]

Check your radiator for hot spots with a heat gun. If you dont have one i think autozone has one to rent out. When they had this overheating problem how long did they drive it with it overheating? Might have a warped head or something dealing with the Head Gasket since it sounds like you replaced everything in it other than the radiator.

[CB7-beater]

im not exactly sure how long it was driven while it overheated. The car sat for about a month or more parked and wasnt driven since the girl that owned it was at college. I replaced everything except the radiator, and the water pump that might be causing this. Plus I used a Stant thermostat insted of a Honda one which might be it but it was brand new and I dont think it could of took a crap after a total of running 1 hour. The thing I need to figure out is why the lower hose isnt gettin hot like the top hose and not telling the thermostat to open, cause its suppost to open at a certain tempeture right?
And if the lower hose is always cool then it will never open? Or is it the water pump not circulating any collant??

[aero]

Does the radiator look old and nasty? And did you take off the lower hose when draining it to see if there was any crap in there?

As far as the water pump, someone posted a picture of a water pump that had the fins totally deteriorated off, so its possible. I would check the oil as well to see if there is any coolant in there, or see if the coolant has oil in it. It very well could have a warped head depending on how long it was run on before.

[NAiL05]

There is a possiblility it could be the water pump but usually thats done with timing. have they done the timing belt to the vehicle yet?

[CB7-beater]

timing belt hasnt been done yet the car has 97k on it so its due. I thought the overheating was cause the fans werent kicking on but it seems to be something more serious. I didnt take the lower hose off when i flushed it just took out the drain plug and let it flow out there. Maybe I should try filling it with the super flush stuff and flushing it again with the lower hose off?? When I drained it the first time the coolant that came out looked clean and had no oil. The car was taken to a shop b4 I bought it and had papers in the glovebox that said they also replaced the thermostat and drained the coolant and refilled it, and had papers that said it had a short to the cooling fans thats why It was overheating which turned out to be the timer under the dash I replaced that fixed the fans. I dont think the fans turn on now when It gets hot cause the hose is still cold and not sensoring it to turn them on?

[aero]

timing belt hasnt been done yet the car has 97k on it so its due. I thought the overheating was cause the fans werent kicking on but it seems to be something more serious. I didnt take the lower hose off when i flushed it just took out the drain plug and let it flow out there. Maybe I should try filling it with the super flush stuff and flushing it again with the lower hose off?? When I drained it the first time the coolant that came out looked clean and had no oil. The car was taken to a shop b4 I bought it and had papers in the glovebox that said they also replaced the thermostat and drained the coolant and refilled it, and had papers that said it had a short to the cooling fans thats why It was overheating which turned out to be the timer under the dash I replaced that fixed the fans. I dont think the fans turn on now when It gets hot cause the hose is still cold and not sensoring it to turn them on?

Well, if you are driving(moving) the car should not overheat... fans wont help any, i've run with no fans before for quite a while. Only time they come into play is when you are stopped. Mine didnt come on automatically, so I just wired them up to a switch, never have to use it, but at least i know its there.

It wouldnt take too much to just do the timing belt/water pump, you gotta do it anyways. I would get the stuff for that, and drain the coolant, disconnect the lower hose and flush it out by running water through it, and see what comes out the bottom. Does the engine have any of that road salt looking stuff built up on it?

[CB7-beater]

Engine bay looks really clean. I just went to the store and got some Prestone radiator cleaner. Says your suppost to drain the radiator and pour this stuff in and fill it up the rest of the way with water and drive it for 3-6 hours or a couple days then drain it and flush it real well to get rid of all the rust and other crap in there. I guess ill just throw in a Honda thermostat when i have it drained and get rid of the Stant one I put in and see if this fixes it. If this stuff doesnt work then Im gonna lean towards the water pump which needs replaced with the timing belt ASAP anyway...

[swerve]

Well....assuming that your ECT sensor is working correctly sending an accurate signal to the guage, and the t-stat, Stant or otherwise, was an offset type with a check ball and assuming that you installed it in the correct position and with the check ball at its highest point, I have to firmly believe that you still have an air pocket of substantial size still in there. The problem seems to be that there is no circulation of water. The water in the head just keeps getting hotter and hotter because there is no circulation to the radiator to dissipate the heat. Hot water comes into the rad, cools, then gets circulated around to the engine and gets heated again. But this air pocket is acting as a wall and not letting the coolant circulate.Yes you may have got a bad t-stat but, the chances of the shop and you getting one also are slim to none.

You mentioned that the coolant was going into the overflow. There are basically only 3 things that can cause this.....a bad rad cap, an air pocket and a blown head seal. I say an air pocket for the simple fact that air will expand more rapidly than liquid for a given heat cycle and you didn't hint to any driveability problems suggesting a blown head seal. When you bled the air out, did you use the air bleed screw or just leave the rad cap at half turn? (had to ask-sometimes people don't know) Were you on any type of an incline or grade that could have affected the air pocket not traveling to its highest point, which would be the bleeder screw, causing you to not bleed it completely? You could possibly try revving the engine when it warms up to get the water pump spinning faster to ultimately force the air pocket to move. This has worked in some instances but not all, so don't hold your breath.

BTW if infact, you find that you blew a head seal, keep in mind that you will have to take the head to get resurfaced because it WILL be warped and/or cracked. No matter what anyone tells you, the head gaskets on the f22a will not blow out as on some othe vehicles. They are layers of steel sandwiched together and the reason they "blow" is torsional twisting between the head an block causing a leak. Hope this helps

[haccord992h]

what you need to do is take out ur rad and send it to a radiator shop to have it cleaned and probed, they will take the tanks off.i do this all the time so i'm pretty sure that this is your problem

[CB7-beater]

Hey thanks for the responses. I used the bleed bolt on the thermostat housing to bleed the air when I did it. I let it bleed for a couple minutes but I will do it again for longer just to make sure theres no air pockets in it. As far as the radiator goes I bought the Prestone cleaner stuff that you put in and Im gonna try it and flush it real well to get any rust or anything out that might be clogging it. As far as taking it to a radiator shop wouldnt it just be cheaper to buy a new one, ive seen them on the internet for 100 bucks shipped. The car goes into the shop tomorrow morning to get a new timing belt and water pump so im gonna wait to see if the water pump might be the culprit b4 I try the these other things I guess...

[NAiL05]

Yeah you could get a new radiator which would be better. You know how long that radiator has been in the car?

[CB7-beater]

not exactly sure how long its been in, my only guess could be its the factory one still. im gonna try to bleed it again real good and see what that does, other then that the t-belt an water pump get done tomorrrow so that would only leave the radiator if it still does it.....