Overheating problem need help

[Kev-o]

Ill try to keep it short and will fill in details as it comes.

99 civic si owned for 4 months i may have a blown gasket/leak/crack.
would like to confirm with block tester, leak down or compression test if anyone can assist me.

symptoms:
found traces of engine oil in coolant reservoir floating blotches and moderate buildup inside. The coolant seemed fine, i emptied and cleaned. checked it constantly for a week no change. note: i was driving with at lower revs
few weeks down it came back. cleaned it out again and didnt come back right away.

*keep in mind that the over heating happened peak ambient temp. 12-3pm
3 days ago i noticed my temp rising just past 50%.toke me a while until i put the rad cap on and then found small dribble coming out from the cap. the seals looked a bit swollen maybe the oil did that. replaced rad cap it and bled system but i put more water than coolant because i read higher water ratio is better for cooling..
i noticed small bubbles coming up the rad. tried to bleed out again after few hours
next day was fine but i didnt drive much
yesturday randomly starting to overheat. seems like air pockets in system. bottom rad hose and radiator not that hot. reservoir past the max line. cooling fan not on while the temp was rising past 50% but it does come on in intervals and shuts off after 10-15 secs (not sure if thats working properly.. i figured it would stay on especially when car is stationary)
opened the rad and filled up . at this point i pretty much lost track of how much i put in and take out cuz i always tried to keep the level between min max. when its hot its past max and when i come back on cold its empty.


basically i need someone to help me with confirming if my hg is gone.
i never drove it anywhere near red, but i might have missed it, that being said im pretty sure coolant would be bursting out of the rad or reservoir and noticed the steam.

i dont have smoke in the back.
i dont signs of water or coolant on the oil dipstick or oil cap.
i dont see any leaks or steam in the engine bay
im keeping track of how much coolant im pouring in as of last night
bubbles come when its hot. but while warming up from cold nothing...

[beebob]

maybe the thermostat is bad?

[Kev-o]

Originally Posted by beebob

maybe the thermostat is bad?

yes i was about to add a few details..
i do notice a small leak or something from the thermostat housing.. its a discoloration along the seam..its not steaming out. cuz i would have caught that.

and i was thinking.. when that time my temperature started to rise past 50% that thermostat was either closed or has something to do with the air pockets.
reason being ... bottom rad hose and radiator was ok to touch and grab.

so now.. im trying to lay out a plan and check things step by step

i need the car for work in 10 hours.
oh yeah btw i noticed a small burn in on the reservoir near the top part of the side.. i think it there was a breech.. i used glue to close that pinhole. would that be of any significance? oh man the more i think about it.. does that kill off the back pressure?


so after topping up and doing what i thought i was supposed to do and check..i drove it fine last night. the temp didnt rise and the reservoir didnt fill up.. im seeing bubbles in the reservoir and im guessing its a good sign that the reservoir isnt overfilling....


one more thing.. i remember opening the wing nut at the bottom of rad to drain some coolant.. now how tight is that supposed to be? cuz i think i have it pretty tight but i tried to tighten again and it moved a bit.. i touched the spout to see if it was dripping anything... i cant really say it felt like there was residual coolant.. but nothing close to like a water drop..

[jasonturbo]

So you have oil in coolant but no coolant in oil? Maybe drop your oil to make sure.

Pressure test your coolant system and see if it can hold roughly 15psi, that should be your first step.

Are your fans working? Can you feel coolant moving through the hose with your hand (check water pump flow hillbilly method)? Normally thermostats get stuck in the open position, perhaps yours is partially stuck closed, maybe swap that out it shouldn't take long and it's cheap.

Start with simple stuff, don't over complicate it.

If pressure test shows a steady drop and you don't have visible coolant leak then you need to be worried about head gasket or other significant issues.

[Kev-o]

Originally Posted by jasonturbo

So you have oil in coolant but no coolant in oil? Maybe drop your oil to make sure.

Pressure test your coolant system and see if it can hold roughly 15psi, that should be your first step.

Are your fans working? Can you feel coolant moving through the hose with your hand (check water pump flow hillbilly method)? Normally thermostats get stuck in the open position, perhaps yours is partially stuck closed, maybe swap that out it shouldn't take long and it's cheap.

Start with simple stuff, don't over complicate it.

If pressure test shows a steady drop and you don't have visible coolant leak then you need to be worried about head gasket or other significant issues.

well im not trying to complicating things. the fact i have air bubbles in the system its gonna start a chain of other shit just like what happened last night.
i want to find out if this is a hg issue first.and what could be causing these bubbles if its not the hg.
otherwise i could be replacing all these and have to come back to it again.
yeah id love to do the tests but i cant afford to buy tools and tests kits for situations like this.

eah im going out to get the block tester and electrical crap i need to test the sensors. meh shit i might just not need to do that. if i do have a hg prob im most likely going to see if liquid glass can fix it.

well if anyone wants to help me save $50 please do. ill buy u a bottle of that solution in return.
*btw i initially got a quote from lordco $100+

[fliptuner]

When you bled it, was the top of the rad the highest part of the system? Was the HVAC set to hot, with the fan off? Did you wait for the rad fan to turn on before topping it up and putting the cap on? Did you crack open the bleeder til the air was out?

From my experience, oil sludge in the coolant res., are the early signs that the hg is on its way out. Which doesn't mean you shouldn't do the regular checks, before coming to that conclusion.

[Kev-o]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

When you bled it, was the top of the rad the highest part of the system? Was the HVAC set to hot, with the fan off? Did you wait for the rad fan to turn on before topping it up and putting the cap on? Did you crack open the bleeder til the air was out?

yea i was on incline i had the heat and fan off .. whats the significance of the fan off? just to keep the heat in circulation?

ive prob seen the rad turn on and off more than 20-30 times and ive bled a few times.. the bubbles in the system just messes everything up.

bleeder i donno and dont see bleeder.. i watched a few different videos on how to. shit honestly i hope im doing it wrong and i caused the bubbles there, correct me and im done with that part lol


now .. where can i find cheap alligator clips
i had a question about a pin hole in the reservoir...



yeah ur right and most likely find the source of the over heat too. but say i do all that and i dont find an out on the hg prob. im out of all that money.
anyways im omw to get the kit.. knowing myself and my bad luck streak... meteorite strikes me. at least i tried..

brb

[fliptuner]

Heat on HOT, fan OFF. You want to circulate through the heater core but not cool it there.

Bleeder at the engine side of the upper rad hose.

Reservoir doesn't hold pressure.

See if CT loans out a coolant system pressure tester.

[Kev-o]

OK thx flip. K so went for 15 min drive reservoir level stayed same. Question about the fans. Should the AC fan be intermittent it steady on? Also is my rad fan supposed to come on with AC and in sync? Cuz it's not

[Kev-o]

Update. CT doesn't have the pressure tester at all where else could I find it? It would u know how much shops charge for running that test?

[Kev-o]

Well after hours of watching YouTube videos and researching in the problem.. spent 6 hours last night on the car and everything is looking good. Total costs for parts and tools was just over 100. Now I wonder when I should hit VTEC

[underscore]

AC fan should be any time the AC is on, rad fan should come on when the switch detects a high enough temperature.

[fliptuner]

What was the problem?

[Kev-o]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

What was the problem?

Overheating caused by leak into water passage