Honda Car Forum

pars wrote:
> No no.. The fan (only one) was working properly. It came on when
> the engine started to over heat and only turned off when the engine
> temperature
> went back to normal. But even though the fan was working properly, the
> engine was
> still overheating. It was when I turned on the interior heater that
> caused the engine's overheating
> to stop.


It sounds like either a bad thermostate. Or the radiator itself is all
gummed up on the inside making it not so effective. How many months
and miles old is the radiator fluid? Old fluid can cause an overheat.
Also a gummed up radiator can cause an overheat. Did you ever use tap
water to top off the radiator? If so how much? The calcium deposits
build up from tap water, that's why I always use bottled water.



East-

"jim beam" <nospam@example.net> wrote

> understood. but if you have a little time on your hands, you can often
> do a reasonable job of straightening them up with a small nail or
> something similar. and it might be a good idea to look into the
> protective expanded metal grille mod! i need to do that this summer
> when i have a bit more time.
>
> fwiw, this:
> http://snipurl.com/ojni
> unless it's a pricing error, is very affordable!

It isn't an error. Plastic ones are low-cost/undurable/unrepairable. Here are brass ones for less...

http://stores.ebay.com/ABLEMARVS-STORE

A popularity with a brass unit is that they can be repaired and hold up to
higher temperatures. I've not bought from this ebay store so I don't
know much about their product.

Burt wrote:
> "jim beam" <nospam@example.net> wrote
>
>
>>understood. but if you have a little time on your hands, you can often
>>do a reasonable job of straightening them up with a small nail or
>>something similar. and it might be a good idea to look into the
>>protective expanded metal grille mod! i need to do that this summer
>>when i have a bit more time.
>>
>>fwiw, this:
>>http://snipurl.com/ojni
>>unless it's a pricing error, is very affordable!
>
>
> It isn't an error. Plastic ones are low-cost/undurable/unrepairable. Here are brass ones for less...
>
> http://stores.ebay.com/ABLEMARVS-STORE
>
> A popularity with a brass unit is that they can be repaired and hold up to
> higher temperatures. I've not bought from this ebay store so I don't
> know much about their product.

there was a time when i might have agreed with you on that, but not any
more. yes, when the plastic cracks, and it does eventually [after about
10 years], the radiator's done and it's not repairable. BUT,
brass/copper radiators are soldered, and solder creeps at operating
temperatures. consequently, in my experience, those things end up
leaking much more frequently, /and/ those leaks are harder to track
down. so, /i/ am a plastic and aluminum guy these days. they work,
they work well, and they last pretty much as long as the road debris
damage you're experiencing allows. plus they're lighter.

The radiator's coolant was suppose have been changed with the last
timing belt replacement which was 40,000km ago. I've got a bottle of
de-ionizined coolant for top-ups. If I were to use bottled water, it
would probably be Aquafina instead of mineralized water. I would never
put tap water into a Honda rad.

I'm going to get a price for a rad replacement from my Mechanic and go
from there. Even if it does appear to work well, it's still got
280,000km on it, which can't be good.

I would expect plastic and aluminum to be more brittle then the other
medals. If so, it wouldn't be a good replacement for my rad,simply
because mine tends to attrack a lot of stone chip and perhaps more
likely to crack and leak from the impact. It already happened to me
once when the car was brand new (less then 5000km on it). I hated the
fact that Honda classified it as road-hazzard and didn't help pay for
the replacement.

Pars

jim beam wrote:
> Burt wrote:
> > "jim beam" <nospam@example.net> wrote
> >
> >
> >>understood. but if you have a little time on your hands, you can often
> >>do a reasonable job of straightening them up with a small nail or
> >>something similar. and it might be a good idea to look into the
> >>protective expanded metal grille mod! i need to do that this summer
> >>when i have a bit more time.
> >>
> >>fwiw, this:
> >>http://snipurl.com/ojni
> >>unless it's a pricing error, is very affordable!
> >
> >
> > It isn't an error. Plastic ones are low-cost/undurable/unrepairable. Here are brass ones for less...
> >
> > http://stores.ebay.com/ABLEMARVS-STORE
> >
> > A popularity with a brass unit is that they can be repaired and hold up to
> > higher temperatures. I've not bought from this ebay store so I don't
> > know much about their product.
>
> there was a time when i might have agreed with you on that, but not any
> more. yes, when the plastic cracks, and it does eventually [after about
> 10 years], the radiator's done and it's not repairable. BUT,
> brass/copper radiators are soldered, and solder creeps at operating
> temperatures. consequently, in my experience, those things end up
> leaking much more frequently, /and/ those leaks are harder to track
> down. so, /i/ am a plastic and aluminum guy these days. they work,
> they work well, and they last pretty much as long as the road debris
> damage you're experiencing allows. plus they're lighter.

"pars" <sdaro@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:1143952439.230643.126250@u72g2000cwu.googlegr oups.com:

> The thermostat is still orginal.



Thermostat is a prime culprit. Replace it with OEM. They ought to be
changed every 5 years or so anyway.



> But I'm kinda leery about replacing
> it. I've had past situations where the new thermostat didn't work. I
> wouldn't want to throw out a perfectly good one (that's proven itself)
> for a defective one.



It costs all of $20.



> The radiator has seen 280,000km and the fins are
> beatup to hell and almost flat across the board.


But not rotten? That's odd. Up here they corrode into dust.



--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

"pars" <sdaro@hotmail.com> wrote

> I would expect plastic and aluminum to be more brittle then the other
> medals. If so, it wouldn't be a good replacement for my rad,simply
> because mine tends to attrack a lot of stone chip and perhaps more
> likely to crack and leak from the impact. It already happened to me
> once when the car was brand new (less then 5000km on it). I hated the
> fact that Honda classified it as road-hazzard and didn't help pay for
> the replacement.

Plastic radiators are reliable if they're engineered right. My original 280K-miles
plastic radiator is one heck of a monster. But as soon as someone complains
about a leak on a plastic radiator the game is over. There are no tools in the
shop than can repair the nylon reliably.

We'd smash the engine block on a hoist that penetrated the Civic's brass radiator
and ripped open a 3" gaping hole ...it was no problem with a propane torch. Try
welding an aluminum tank with a TIG welder and you're liable to blast a hole
right thru it.

Solder creeps occur once every six years or so and the torch will fix 'em for
another decade. Usually, if you can't find the creep, you'd just pop open the
top with a torch and clean out the coolant tubes with a long dipstick. The
reassembly will fix two problems.

pars wrote:
> The radiator is clean, but most of the fins are flatten from stone
> chip. Which will require a new rad core.

you can buy a "comb" to straighten the fins out. ive seen em at
autozone/pep boys/ etc.

OK. I can handle $20 dollars. I'll get my mechanic to change the
thermostat the next time I take the car in for an oil change. It only
took me 7.5 years to accumilate 280K and no noticeable corrosion on the
rad.