Overheating/Radiator Hose Leaking

[Sweed]

I was driving home today, and I had the high beams on. Just wired up the sidemarkers, but I haven't driven the car in three weeks. Had an oil change and fluids topped up after it was painted (dad took it to a shop to have it done). The needle for the water temp went 70% of the way up (cruising at 35mph, but was just accelerating from a stand still), shut the high beams off (didn't need them) and the temp dropped to like 50% right away.

Did that twice, got on the highway (70mph, cruising), stayed fine. Got off the highway, slowed down (10mph) around a round about. Half way around the needle was way up. It went down shortly when I got up to speed (35mph). Slowed down again to park at my house, and it went up again.

Popped the hood, the fans weren't running. About a minute later, the fan (pass.side) kicked in, but the temp stayed up. If I turn the AC on, the fan on the drivers side comes on. But turn the AC off, turn the car off. I heard a hissing noise, and there was steam coming out from the thermostat/lower rad house around the thermostat area. Did that for maybe five minutes, and stopped.

I checked the overflow tank, it was quite full. Poured it out to half way between the min/max lines. Blue-ish liqued. Not sure if it was the anti-freeze/coolant or if someone mistakenly put window washer fluid in, since it's the same blue-ish color as my window washer fluid.

I have a 330 mile drive in about eight hours. What do you recomend I do? Park it and take another car or change the rad cap and top off the radiator? I don't have time for anything major. And I'll be doing 1000 miles driving the next two days.

Car is a 91 CRX dx, stock motor. Radiator recently replaced, along with hoses and thermostat.

[The devils playground]

i say take another car for now because you never know it could be somthing worse so i wouldnt risk it.

[ravevolution]

I agree, don't drive it on a long trip, park it and make arrangements to take another car. Then take care of the issue when ya get back

[ling427ttvette]

I've never in my life heard of blue radiator fluid. Some dummy most likely put washer fluid in there, I've seen it happen. I've also seen a dummy put radiator fluid where washer fluid should be.. ugh.

For now, don't drive it. Take another vehicle. When you get back, get the whole system flushed, replace the leaking hose and thermostat and see where that gets you.

[THE EDJ]

Originally Posted by ling427ttvette

I've never in my life heard of blue radiator fluid. Some dummy most likely put washer fluid in there, I've seen it happen. I've also seen a dummy put radiator fluid where washer fluid should be.. ugh.

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!

[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.

[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.

[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?

[jimmythekid1]

Originally Posted by Sweed

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.



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.



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?

it maybe filled to the top due to over heating. Also electric cooling fans don't kick in to about 220-240 degrees

[BART]

If I remember right, hondas used a braided ground straps alot that would corrode at the connector. Checking them all would not hurt anything, as far as replacing them, you could do that on a case by case basis.

[bondo]

i'm almost 100% positive that it's not your battery ground.
you'de be having a few other electrical issues if that was the case.

chances are it's the ground in your light harness.
the ground for the lights should be screwed somewhere around the lights to either your front valance or inner fenders.
you have grounding points for every harnees in the car and the points a re usually close to w/e their grounding.
it's just a matter of finding what harnes goes where and where it's grounded.

out of curiosity,where was it leaking from?
did it leave any puddles on the motor itself or just under it?
you might have just witnessed a typical overheating.
if an engine is run without fans on it then the temp rises fast andif it gets hot enough it will start to cycle through the overflow tank.
if it cycles long enough it will start to push coolant out of the top of the tank via steam wich could be all the hissing you heard.

if you can,try to locate the power wires to your fans and splice in +/- wires from your battery.
there should be a speed clip just south of the fans themselves on the harness wich you can tap the +/- to without cutting into any wires.
you might get away with some paddle clips depending on the connector so you don't have to sit there and hold it.
once the fans are on,start it and let it run for about 15 minutes or until it overheats,wich ever comes first. check your temp gauge.
if it doesnt overheat then you know that it's because the fans werent on.
if that's the case then figure out why the fans werent on and you should be good to go.

good luck with it.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by bondo

i'm almost 100% positive that it's not your battery ground.
you'de be having a few other electrical issues if that was the case.

Car makes a whistling sound through the speakers when my ipod's plugged in (directly to the Amp inputs) and I rev it. Stereo doesn't come on half the time, but I don't use it anyways.

Originally Posted by bondo

ichances are it's the ground in your light harness.
the ground for the lights should be screwed somewhere around the lights to either your front valance or inner fenders.
you have grounding points for every harnees in the car and the points a re usually close to w/e their grounding.
it's just a matter of finding what harnes goes where and where it's grounded.

I'll have to look this weekend. At school (350miles away) for the weekend.

Originally Posted by bondo

iout of curiosity,where was it leaking from?
did it leave any puddles on the motor itself or just under it?
you might have just witnessed a typical overheating.
if an engine is run without fans on it then the temp rises fast andif it gets hot enough it will start to cycle through the overflow tank.
if it cycles long enough it will start to push coolant out of the top of the tank via steam wich could be all the hissing you heard.

The last two days when I had problems, it was leaking/steaming from the back of the block, where the lower radiator hose connects to the Thermostat housing. Which incedentally has a little hole in it. Like maybe 3mm across, but it's close the the edge (nipple part) and is covered by like 1" of tube.

Couldn't see exactly where it was coming from. Didn't want to get too close (it's hot fluids), and there's a bunch of stuff in the way to see.

Originally Posted by bondo

if you can,try to locate the power wires to your fans and splice in +/- wires from your battery.
there should be a speed clip just south of the fans themselves on the harness wich you can tap the +/- to without cutting into any wires.
you might get away with some paddle clips depending on the connector so you don't have to sit there and hold it.
once the fans are on,start it and let it run for about 15 minutes or until it overheats,wich ever comes first. check your temp gauge.
if it doesnt overheat then you know that it's because the fans werent on.
if that's the case then figure out why the fans werent on and you should be good to go.

I've had the problem before. One of the fans didn't work or stopped working, and it was replaced.

Should I try this with the heat on or off (heat on>water to heater core)?

And thanks for all the tips and advice.
Not gonna be able to try any of it until Sunday though...

[bondo]

the radio buzz is a pretty common problem with home installs.
what happens is most people run the 12v power wireand the ignition wire from the battery or mistake the OEM radios 12v with ignition so when you rev the engine,the alternator charges your battery and you hear it through the head unit.
the IGN. wire needs to be wired into the existing radio ignition wire or atleast spliced into something that comes on with the ignition.

same goes for the amp.
the remote wire needs to be run from the head unit(amp wont work unless it is) wich needs to be off the ignition.
if you have straight power running to the head unit then your going to hear your battery charging through the speakers even if the radio is off or turned down.
it's basically a straight shot from the alternator to the battery,through the radio,through the amp and to the speakers.

it doesnt hurt anything but it's annoying.
your ipod should also be run through the head unit for good measure.
bottom line though,none of that has any bearing on the fans or main power supply.
if you had a loose battery terminal then the first place you would notice it is in the starter.
a bad battery ground will make the starter click instead of fully engaging the solenoid.

i'd try it with the heat off since it would be normal driving conditions.
i don't know if you were suggesting the heater core as a possible culprit but if that was bad then your floor boards would be soaked in blue.

if you can get the fans working and run it and it still overheats then the next thing i would check is the thermostat.

[Action B]

You can take it around for a bit with the heat full on that might help in a pinch.

[bondo]

Originally Posted by Action B

You can take it around for a bit with the heat full on that might help in a pinch.

not if the fans arent working.
fans are an integral part of the cooling system.
without them,it's going to go nowhere fast.
if you risk it then you risk a cracked block or heads.
neither is cheap to fix.

the "heater on" trick is usually only good if your thermostat is malfunctioning wich doesn't let enough coolant run through the block resulting in overheating.
turning the heat on helps to dispurse some of the heat but not enough to be a "fix".

[BART]

Your first post states that both fans function, so I would say they are fine. Your entire dash is grounded with one strap somewhere near the fusebox if I remember right. If your dash is not properly grounded your gauges will act up as well as anythiing else that gets its ground from the dash (radio, which you claim to also have problems with). A bad ground is usually the cause for whining and feedback through the radio, you hear it in your amp because it gets it's audio signal from the poorly grounded radio.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by BART

Your first post states that both fans function, so I would say they are fine. Your entire dash is grounded with one strap somewhere near the fusebox if I remember right. If your dash is not properly grounded your gauges will act up as well as anythiing else that gets its ground from the dash (radio, which you claim to also have problems with). A bad ground is usually the cause for whining and feedback through the radio, you hear it in your amp because it gets it's audio signal from the poorly grounded radio.

The fans weren't on when it was 70% up for about a minute, and I popped the hood. Came on about 30 seconds later after it.

Amp/Whine sounds like what Bondo describes. It's a power cable that runs from the battery to the amp, and it runs along side the audio cables. So, it could be that.

But I'm gonna check over all the engine bay grounds on Sunday.

[BART]

Originally Posted by Sweed

But I'm gonna check over all the engine bay grounds on Sunday.

Check for proper dash grounding as well, it sounds like most of your problems originate from there. Look up "ground looping" (I think thats what it's called, but it's early so my memory is fuzzy).

[Action B]

Originally Posted by bondo

not if the fans arent working.
fans are an integral part of the cooling system.
without them,it's going to go nowhere fast.
if you risk it then you risk a cracked block or heads.
neither is cheap to fix.

the "heater on" trick is usually only good if your thermostat is malfunctioning wich doesn't let enough coolant run through the block resulting in overheating.
turning the heat on helps to dispurse some of the heat but not enough to be a "fix".

It worked for me twice. Once when one of my fans failed and once when both failed. We can argue logic all you want but I've used the heater to limp my car before. Good idea or bad I don't know but it turned out okay both times in my case.

If the thermostat is malfunctioning, I'd just pull it out in a pinch and run with no thermostat, not run my heater. Its only two bolts in most cars I've worked on.

You might try driving in the middle of the night, it will be cooler and there will be less traffic, you could do a combination to limp it if you had to. Pull thermostat, run heat and drive in the middle of the night. Keep a look after your temp gauge if it goes up then you gotta tow it.

[Sweed]

Found the leak. It's one of the hoses that goes to the heater core.
Two small pin-size holes on the bottom, sprays water once the car is up to temp.

The fans didn't come on, but the temp needle went up to temp and stayed there. Didn't go up or down. We'll check the water level again 2mro, change the hose, and go from there.

Had the highbeams on for a few minutes when the car was up to temp and running. Didn't affect the tempeture reading in the cluster, and fans didn't come on.