[Sweed]

Originally Posted by THE EDJ

Premixed washer fluid is generally blue in color, as is some "high-mileage" coolant. It's used quite a bit in OEM shops. If you had the green stuff in there before, and the shop did not do a full flush before using the blue stuff, then the two coolants will react, resulting in a chemical that eats rubber seals.

You'll likely need to replace the thermostat, and possibly lower rad hose. Get the cooling system fully flushed and have them check the rest of the hose connections for unusual wear.

Good luck!

Oh hell. Wouldn't suprise me if they mixxed the fluids, but I'm pretty sure they added the blue fluid. Didn't see anything blue before I turned the car in. The -idiots- that did the oil change filled the overflow tank to the max. There's two CLEARLY marked min and max things. I think that might have been part of the problem. But I'm no expert.

Originally Posted by bondo

sounds like the fans are the main culprit for the overheating.
DEFFINATELY park it and find another ride. you don't want to crack the block in a car that you just got back from the bodyman..

it's not likely but check the wires coming from your fans to make sure they didnt get pinched when homeboy put the front clip back on.
elecrtic fans FTL.
mechanical fans might leach that .09454 of an HP but it's wrth it IMO.

Car has been parked.
But it had to be limped 15 miles home (did fine until the last half mile, where it was shut off and rolled), so hopefully all is well.

I'll check the wires, but I highly doubt it. Wires on the motor side of the radiator, bumper is on the other side.
Can't put a mechanical fan on the CRX. No room and the engine faces the wrong way.

Originally Posted by BART

To add to bondo's theory of it being electrical, you stated that immediately after you shut the high beams off the gauge dropped. Your gauges work off of ground and a poor engine to chassis ground can cause this, ie, when you put a high amperage load on (high beams) they will pull ground from anywhere they can get it in order to light the bulbs, this can cause other grounded electrical parts to behave strangely. Your temp gauge simply measures resistance between the sending unit and ground and if that ground is compromised your gauge will give false readings. You still need to get the hissing/leaking looked at but at the same time make sure you have a clean, sound, ground from your battery to the chassis and from your chassis to your engine. Grounds cause more headaches in electrical circuits than anything I have ever seen.

So, basically, new battery ground?
And all the engine gounds (there's thermostat/tranny/starter, valve cover, idk what else) should be checked (better yet, replaced after 19 years?)?

Should I bother checking the grounds/wires coming from the headlights?