94 Overheating

Hey I have a 94 Integra LS DOHC (no vtec) and its overheating. i've checked everything i can think of, No leaks in coolant, replaced the thermostat, replaced the temp sensor, bled the radiator, etc.

Here are the symptoms; It's 85degrees outside, I'm driving for about 10minutes and the temp begins to rise. I turn the heater on or have it on heat and just let it flow on its own into the cabin and the temp falls. What could be messed up that would make me have to keep my heat on to keep the engine temp cool? The gauge goes up to the red but soon as i turn the heat on in the cabin it goes down fairly quickly to normal operating temp.

Thanks

bump i have this same problem!!!

fan not working??

Are the fans working, do you have a possible restriction in the radiator? When the car is one, see if any of the hoses are being sucked flat and make sure all hoses aren't kinked. Also, very rare but possible, the fins on the water pump may have corroded away but lets leave that as the last possible explanation. Check that other stuff and come back.
- Aaron

None of the hoses are being flattened, I fixed the fans and just to be sure I even wired them straight to the battery to have them stay on for a quick 20min drive and it didnt help. I did notice something else though; the upper radiator hose is hot to the touch as it should be but the lower radiator hose is cold to the touch. shouldn't it be relatively warm, just maybe 20 or so degrees cooler than the upper? and also, when I turn the radiator cap half off and the car is warming up and close to normal operating temps the coolant gets pushed up and out of the top. Should this lead me to believe that there is a clog in my radiator? A friend suggested my Radiator to be clogged and needs to be replaced.

thanks!!

sounds like the rads clogged with something. take off the bottom hose an see if you can see the clog maybe.

Replace your Radiator Cap. Professor told me hes ran into some weird issues from bad radiator caps, suggests to replace every couple years. Take off the bottom hose, stick a garden hose in the cap, and see how fast or slow the water comes out, should just dump out if free flowing.

alright I checked the lower radiator hose, i haven't taken it off yet but now it's getting hot like the upper one but its a little lower temp than the top. That should mean that there isnt a clog right? I'm going to try flushing the radiator to see if that helps. I think there may be too much water in the radiator, it may be close to 70/30 or even 80/20 water/coolant mix by now because of the stopping and filling it with a jug of water before I fixed the leaks everytime it was overheating. would the bad mix ratio cause the overheating symptoms i'm having though?

your radiator hoses should be the same temp, u probably have a plugged radiator if u already replaced the stat

dsf_91 said:

your radiator hoses should be the same temp, u probably have a plugged radiator if u already replaced the stat

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Lower hose should aways be cooler than the top rad hose after a drive.

No one has mention this but have you bled the system of air? there could be a air pocket stuck inside and will cause the symtom you are having.

yea i turned the bleed screw half a turn and ran the engine till the coolant squirted out constantly and no more bubbles came out. i'm going to flush the system and see if its clogged in the morning.

are you losing coolant? burning it could be a possibility.

TheIVJackal said:

Replace your Radiator Cap.

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try this

is your water pump engaging? Check the belt to the water pump and listen for the pump to engage next time you drive it.

i'm not losing coolant anymore, it's been at the right level for over 2 weeks now. I checked the water pump a while back when the overheating started but it was fine, I havent checked recently though so i'll check it again but since the problem started before I dont see that being the issue but who knows thanks for the responses though!!

thatbryanguy said:

yea i turned the bleed screw half a turn and ran the engine till the coolant squirted out constantly and no more bubbles came out. i'm going to flush the system and see if its clogged in the morning.

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Easier way to bleed the system is running without the rad cap. Run the car till its warmed up and/or rev to 2.5k rpm until the fan kicks in. you should be able to see quite a bit of air pockets.