Overheating problem.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Xist

Could one of these be of any use to you?

OEM/Block Tester (27145) | Block Tester | AutoZone.com

It is supposed to tell you if you have a head gasket leak.

Rented one of those from orileys. Showed up negative 3 times. I'm gonna do a leak down test tomorrow. A fellow guard here at work showed me exactly step by step how to do it.

[user removed]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

I don't have a grill block. Anyway, can you give me a link to the bigger radiator? When I get home I'll burp the system again, and take pics of my radiator so you guys can see what kind of shape it's in.

9/10/2014

I don't have a radiator (grille) block.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

9/10/2014

I don't have a radiator (grille) block.

Huh? I'm confused O.o

[user removed]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

I only had an upper grill block.

9/18/2014

Now there is a grille block? Why would you restrict the airlfow to the cooling system on a car that is overheating.

I was adamant about getting the system properly bled. Now I read about "microbubbles" coming out of the bleeder and the car "pushing coolant" into the recovery bottle.

Fact is the system could NOT be properly bled. Why would you not be able to bleed they system properly, meaning nothing but coolant coming out of the bleeder.

Fact is when you can not bleed a system where no air is left in the system, it means air is getting into the system that is not supposed to be there.

Where does that air come from?

Obviously the atmosphere, but how does it get into the coolaing system which is sealed from the atmosphere?

That air did not magically appear in the cooling system, it absolutely had to get there from another place.

You replaced the radiator and you even went to the additional effort to prove it was not flowing properly. PERFECT. You know you needed that part, absolutely no question. Then the damn thing still overheats. OK remove the stat, runs much cooler OK, but only down to 180 and it still overheats when you climb a sustained grade after a longer drive.

Part 1

[user removed]

Part 2

In all of these process and repair attempts, I never read from you, I can't get the system to not bleed air (actually combustion by products)

The instant you posted here that you were getting air bubbles ("microbubbles") that many repeated attempts at bleeding did not eliminate, COMPLETELY AND PERMANENTLY, I knew you had a head gasket leak, but it could be a cracked head or block depending on how badly and how many times it had overheated. You have air inthe cooling system which is pushed in by combustion pressure, essentially the same thing as exhaust but coming into you cooling system, not out the tailpipe.

Had I known that any point that you could not get the cooling system bled properly (show me a quote where you posted THAT FACT) I would have posted head gasket.
In earlier posts you stated that you had tested for that and it passed.

It may have passed when you tested it (not questioning your statement) but it could still
FAIL when the engine was running at normal operating temperatures, much more likely at 230+ degrees.

The kind of gasket failure I think you have (which can never be absolutely proven until you have the head gasket inyour hand and inspect it) is one where the coolant does NOT enter the combustion chamber which would manifest itself as lots of white smoke on start up and loss of coolant.

This is what xyz (COVERED UP) by running his cooling fans constantly. HE NEVER FIXED THE PROBLEM THAT CAUSED THE COOLANT TO MAGICALLY DISAPPEAR) He did state this in his post. He did not FIX the problem which is not a legitimate repair.

Now his solution is much better than melting your engine which you will do and fairly quickly if you allow the problem to go un resolved and continue to drive the car in the circumstances where you have to drive a longer distance and climb that grade.

regards
mech

[Baltothewolf]

Oh I most certainly don't have a grill block on the insight, I was talking about my civic (in response to what a fellow ecomodder said about his civic).

At first I didn't notice any micro bubbles surfacing when I applied a lot of throttle, maybe I wasn't doing it right? Idk, but at first it seemed to be bled properly.

I absolutely don't drive the 6% grade and haven't gone near it in my car since I drove it home after buying it. It's overheating on much lesser grades so I know it would never survive another climb of the 6% grade. I may be ignorant in a lot of areas, but I'm not stupid haha (I know you didn't say I was, just saying). I can't avoid small grades of 100-200 yards where I live, as it is very hilly terrain.

I'm going to get a compression tester today when I wake up and preform a compression test and a leak down test just to be 100% sure without a shadow of a doubt that the head gasket is the problem.

[user removed]

It may pass a compression test but fail after it is hot, it might not even fail until it is subjected to the highest sustained load like climbing a 2 mile 7% grade.

It might show up on a leak downtest but it could (as I said already) not be totally proveable until you have the head gasket in your hand and if its not the head gasket (which i think is 90% sure head gasket) its something cracked in the block or head.

I would just see if I could find another engine before I spent your quoted price on a gasket replacement only to find out then something is cracked with a lot more cash down the toilet.

But then you run the risk of another progression of problems.

My (you pay me as a business) advice would be a teardown to see if the head gasket passed a visaul inspection and then go from there. Now you understand why xyz advised you to run the cooling fans constantly. Cooling fans are not designed for a 100% duty cycle and draw a huge amount of current which cost you mileage.

It may be your best bet for now or your only option (considering you do not have the money) but it is definitely not a repair any professional would recommend or perform in the present legal climate which applies to potential defendants in lawsuits.

For you, on your own car, you don't have to lookat it the same way I have to, even just giving you advice.

regards
mech

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

It may pass a compression test but fail after it is hot, it might not even fail until it is subjected to the highest sustained load like climbing a 2 mile 7% grade.

It might show up on a leak downtest but it could (as I said already) not be totally proveable until you have the head gasket in your hand and if its not the head gasket (which i think is 90% sure head gasket) its something cracked in the block or head.

I would just see if I could find another engine before I spent your quoted price on a gasket replacement only to find out then something is cracked with a lot more cash down the toilet.

Old Mech: he already said he wants a fix that will cure the problem. He's does not want to throw any more money at it, regardless of the "correct" way of curing it.

Now you understand why xyz advised you to run the cooling fans constantly. Cooling fans are not designed for a 100% duty cycle and draw a huge amount of current which cost you mileage.

NO! I never said that, nor did I advise running the fans "constantly"!

What I DID say (and actually what I did as a cure) was to wire the second fan into the primary fan circuit so it would ALSO RUN, WHEN THE FIRST FAN CAME ON, AND RUN IN TANDEM WITH IT. The problem was not with the fans. My problem may have been with the circuit controlling the primary cooling fan.

It was never established or proven whether my primary fan was coming on at the correct temp. I had no way of knowing the correct or actual temp of activation, as the dashboard gauge had no digits on it, other than a relative analog display of approaching toward the red zone. Personally I think it was either a fan sensor problem or maybe a head gasket problem. By the time the primary fan kicked in, it seemed to be too little, too late to be able to cool things down. It did it only infrequently, only under severe conditions. Not worth tearing the engine down over that.

P.S. I respect you for your experience as a seasoned mechanic and doing things 'by the book'. Do try to be more careful in reading my posts and quoting me, to avoid misunderstandings.

[Baltothewolf]

So I just got finished with my leak down test and now I'm even more confused! They all passed with flying colors! No abnormal hissing, no bubbles in the coolant, no air hissing from the oil fill cap, no hissing from the tailpipe! I even took the leak tester off and chucked it directly to my air compressor that had 100PSI of air and sure enough, no increase in hissing. I'm not convinced it's the head gasket... Something should have shown up!

I would also like to add I did them twice. I started with #1 and worked to #3 then did #1 again and repeated. Same results both times.

[j12piprius]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

So I just got finished with my leak down test and now I'm even more confused! They all passed with flying colors! No abnormal hissing, no bubbles in the coolant, no air hissing from the oil fill cap, no hissing from the tailpipe! I even took the leak tester off and chucked it directly to my air compressor that had 100PSI of air and sure enough, no increase in hissing. I'm not convinced it's the head gasket... Something should have shown up!

I would also like to add I did them twice. I started with #1 and worked to #3 then did #1 again and repeated. Same results both times.

That's great news. Maybe the head gasket is okay.

Have you tried taking the thermostat out?

I don't recall if you've done a flush with a hose.

Maybe there is a buildup / blockage somewhere that can be flushed out with a hose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxm3E5SkHrI

Wish I could post that link without it opening up.