silentz

Car overheated and blew the head gasket. Got the head machine from a local shop. Replaced the gasket, timing belt, water pump from autozone. Everything works, start up fine, no leaks. Then I bleed the coolant with heater on max; 20mins in and its spitting out coolant from the radiator. Upper radiator hose hot, lower hose cold.

https://streamable.com/rdirn

Any idea?

Thanks in advance.

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Did you have the front elevated when burping the system?

silentz

Yep. The front is sitting on jack stands.
Just did compression test and 185 on all 4 cylinders.

mac25

After 20 min, I'd say the thermostat is jacked, if the lower hose is still cold.

silentz

I went to autozone and got another thermostat and replaced the original Honda one. It still does the same thing, the lower hose still cold causing the thermostat not to open. I ran without thermostat and the coolant move normally and no geyser after 20mins. Both hoses hot and temperature about 1/3 on the needle.

I threw both thermostats in a heated pot and they both opens around 173 - 175 degree.

I'm stuck on this problem.

silentz

Did a block test and radiator compression test and. Block test doesn't change the color of the fluid and radiator compression test holds 16psi for 20mins.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

if i remember correctly, hondas are picky on original thermostat

silentz

I tried both the Honda and aftermarket one. Both opens at 77 degree Celsius which is around 170 degree Fahrenheit. The thing is the lower radiator hose never got hot to allow the thermostat to open. It stays cold the whole 20mins till coolant spitting out of the radiator.

Colin42

Tried running it without the thermostat yet?

silentz

Everything works fine without the thermostat. Ran it around for 30mins no problem.

Colin42

Not trying to insult you but are you sure it's getting installed the right way and in the right orientation?

silentz

No insult at all man.

I double check and triple check my thermostat and even watch a few videos on YouTube to make sure i got it right.

Can you guys take a look if my coolant lines are run right?

https://streamable.com/zhx4z

Thanks

Wankenstein

Could be a weak/failing water-pump or clogged radiator. A weak water pump may not leak to provide an obvious sign and it may produce enough flow when the thermostat is out but not enough flow when thermostat is in.

With engine cold, climate on Max heat and fan on 4, run engine with rad cap off and observe flow inside radiator (at safe distance and caution) until engine gets to operating temp. A healthy water pump will provide noticeable flow when revved (around 2500 rpm) once the thermostat opens.
A weak or intermittent water-pump wont produce good flow.

Colin42

I think they're correct, but it's been a few months since I've popped the hood on my 2000

silentz

Dam..this could be it.

With the thermostat off, I can see the coolant flow nicely and no geyser running for more than 20mins.

With the thermostat on, not much coolant flow and geyser around 20mins. Before geyser, the upper hose would gurgle like mad.

Anybody else have idea before I pull the water pump and get it replace at AutoZone?

Wankenstein

Slow your roll playa...test first as I mentioned previously and stop buying **** parts from AutoZone. Use Honda genuine OEM parts instead. Check out sites like HondaPartsNow, Majestic Honda, even eBay Honda genuine parts.

It's possible that the new headgasket may have a leak and is causing the geyser situation. Did you use an MLS gasket? Torque headbolts in 3-steps with the correct crossing pattern using an accurate torque wrench? You may want to do a block test on it to see if exhaust gasses are getting into coolant and creating huge air pockets.

silentz

Hahaha,

I bought the felpro mls headgasket, water pump + timing belt kit, and arp head studs using snap-on click type torque wrench doing 3 steps torque according to the paper including in the head studs package ended with 67 ftlb.

Block test and water stays blue, compression test and 185 psi on all 4 cylinders, radiator compression test and it holds 16 psi. Only thing I didn't do was leak down test.

Autozone parts has been good to all my previous civic/integra/camry/corolla in the past. Maybe a bad batch.

If no other suggestions, I'll pull the water pump lol

Wankenstein

Alright, good job on following the service manual for the head gasket replacement. Felpro, for the most part, are reliable aftermarket parts but not as good as genuine oem parts. Obviously, aftermarket parts are much more convenient though to purchase in stock at a local parts store.

A block test is a good place to start when testing for a breached headgasket. However, a block test only detect one of several types of breaches. A leakdown test is the gold standard . Check the links in my signature for the types of breaches.

Just to clarify when you bled air from coolant you;
1) raised front of car on jackstands (radiator neck higher than engine)
2) climate control on max heat with fan off
3) bleed coolant at idle the until radiator fan engaged (20-30 minutes) while adding 50/50 coolant mix as needed to radiator and reservoir
4) After engine cools overnight fill radiotor and reservoir as needed
5) Check dailly (engine cold) for a week to ensure no coolant loss in radiator, coolant gain in reservoir.

If timing belt (and related parts) is due it would be a good time to replace those items too if you are going through the work it takes to replace the water-pump.

Did ​​you check the freeze plugs?...lol. Trick question as there are none. Good luck and I hope the water pump solves the issue for you.

Wankenstein

I recently replaced a thermostat and radiator in my newly acquired, schweet-*** 2000 Buick Century Custom (dings, paint fading and old weed odor included ) and during the air bleed procedure as the temp rose from when the thermostat opened at 193F and then right before the temp 225F the radiator fans engage the coolant started geysering (if that's a word?). I was using a spill-free funnel and damned surprised that kit's cap didnt blow off.

Turned the engine off and let it sit for 10 minutes, replaced needed amount of coolant and it geysered again but only just before 225F.
I deduced that it was just the pressure at that high of temp that was causing the coolant jizz and not an issue with the coolant system.
So, I decided to outsmart (rarity) this situation by bleeding it from cold to 205 degrees with climate control on max heat/fan speed on 3, and when it reached 205 degrees (obd2 Bluetooth scanner) I switched it over to Max cold a/c to get the rad fan to engage sooner to complete the bleed properly. Worked out well and haven't had any issues since.

I never had this issue during bleeds with the three '95-'98 Civics I have owned. Did your radiator fan engage at the correct tempature during the bleed?

Just adding that Honda oem waterpumps are rock-solid and while they (or any water pump) can become weak it rarely comes up as issue on this site. If you do change it out I would advise going with genuine oem or at minimum Asin brand. It's somewhat of a laborus repair and sometimes parts stores "lifetime" part mean replacing that part too often throughout your lifetime.

Asin water pump: https://www.sixityauto.com/aisin-wat...BoChM8QAvD_BwE
​​​

silentz

Been fighting this problem for a whole day.

I took the timing belt, water pump, tensioner and the w.pump gasket back to autozone and they replaced with the same Duralast unit. Also rented their block tester with fluid.

Came back, put them in and add coolant. Start up fine no leaks then geyser again at around 20mins. Same as before.

Drain some coolant and did a block test, water stays blue for 10mins of squeezing. Brought the block tester back to Autozone and talked to a guy at the counter. He told me he had the exact same problem on his 240sx and doesn't matter if nissan water pump or after market, it would boil and shoot out of his radiator. What he did was drill a hole in the thermostat and that fixed his issue and I should give it a try.

I drilled a hole in my thermostat, bleed coolant and no geyser even at 20mins. Took the car on the street/highway for 40mins hitting vtec and all with the temperature at the middle or lower.

I think I'll leave it as is until something else broke.

Thanks for the help guys.

Wankenstein

Glad you got it sorted out. Good tip from the parts guy. Keep an eye on the coolant in radiator and reservoir every morning for a few days before starting the engine.

Is that a B16, 18 or 20?

silentz

Yea, I'm going to keep a close eye on it for sure.

It's a b16 head on b20 block.

Thanks for the help.

Wankenstein

Yw. My '95 EX has a B20/LS (p75 ) non-Vtec, low comp. Which ecu are you using?

silentz

Bought the car and it came with p28 with base map. It comes with rev limiter at 6800 rpm due to the weakness of the b20 block.

silentz

Someone asking to see the coolant lines from water neck and throttle body. Here is the video.

https://streamable.com/1al39

Thanks for the help guys.