Murphys Law

2002 honda civic ex 1.7l vtec. Mechanic fixed thermostat and suspension. I had car 2 days, put on front brakes and head gasket blew. Week later, new used motor is installed, guy says go ahead and drive. I'm way out of my 10 day temporary inspection. Anyway, seems to drive fine in town. Hit highway, didn't make it to 45mph. Crept home doing 20. Radiator blew. Changed radiator, refilled coolant, thermostat wasnt seated right, drained coolant, changed thermostat. Refilled coolant.
Current problem
Steadily getting air out of coolant so it stops stalling out the motor. Radiator and ac fan are hard wired to run constantly. Cannot get the Honda to mid temp, which is making it hard to get air out. Cannot get thermostat to open.
Questions
How could they have hotwired fan power, and how can I fix it.?
Car is not throwing any codes.
Hard to hold 2500epm idle to bleed when car is more likely to stall out.
Someone else bought car, they keep telling me to drive it, I keep telling them they missed a spot.

Help!!!

ezone

Stat was not the problem. It needed a head gasket.
Wait...how badly did it overheat?
Finally, someone figured out the head gasket.
Wait...how badly did it overheat this time?
Why not just fix the head gasket?
Oh. Nevermind.
Radiator was probably already ruined during one of the overheat events.
Wait...how badly did it overheat this time?
I bet the new used engine needs a head gasket.
Did it need one before the radiator event? You'll never know.
Most of those engines need a head gasket sooner or later anyway. Used engine may have come with a blown head gasket, no extra charge
Stalling may be a totally different problem, but I don't know that from where I sit.
Because your mechanic couldn't figure out how to fix the original overheating problem? (blown head gasket)
Fans have nothing to do with that. New stat could be ruined from overheating, for all we know.
Also, most people can't grok how that cooling system is designed, so they expect the wrong things.
If you ran it for 15 minutes the stat probably opened in that time.
You gotta figure out what was done first. Ask the mechanic that did it?
I'd look for obvious hacked wiring, and see if someone stuck a jumper in the fan thermoswitch connector.
I still don't understand what you mean by 'stall out'.


This makes no sense to me


Sounds like you need to...either fix this engine or get another (warranty?), and make sure the radiator is actually good before the next engine is overheated.

Slumpertcivic

If your somehow thinking your ECT sensor is in a air bubble and that is causing your issue, unscrew it and fill coolant into the radiator until it goes out the ECT hole.

if your cooling fans are hotwired constant on, your car cannot complete a proper IDLE learn cycle which might result in stalling out. Many other things might have gone wrong on the engine install though they could also cause that problem.

guitarsnlikker

Ezone your post was better than watching a YT video!

Murphys Law

Didnt try replacing head in 1st motor because previous owner not only hot wired fans, he also ran without a thermostat in.

As far as current motor, overheat was under 1 minute. As soon as I stopped it would start cooling down. New radiator, and not leaking coolant obviously, fixed that problem.

And no, not even after 45 minutes of running will the thermostat open. I know this 2 for 2 reasons. One, lower radiator hose never fills. And 2, fluids and motor dont get up to temp. Even unplugged fans, and shes still sits below 170. Have infrared heat sensor gun.

Stalling. While idling, needs air out of coolant and idle relearn. Scanner confirmed it hasn't done that yet. Every couple minutes engine dogs. Rpms drop from the 750 to 1000 to almost 0. Usually it gives itself a push and will stay running. If you give it gas, almost guarantee to stall. While driving will also do this. Seems excessive for air in coolant. But very hard to properly and fully circulate when it wont warm up.

sniperscout

iTrader: (8)

Motor not getting up to temp is not a symptom of a TStat staying closed. It is a symptom of the TStat being stuck open or coolant is bypassing it somehow. A thermostat being stuck closed typically results in the engine overheating. If the TStat isnt opening up like you say, then unplugging the fans from the radiator wont do anything as the coolant isnt circulating through the radiator to get cooled off by them to begin with. I am not sure what your issue is though as your symptoms (not getting up to temp and TStat staying closed) seem to contradict each other. When you replaced all the coolant did you use any kinds of additives like Water Wetter that are designed to keep the coolant cooler?

Murphys Law

Nothing added to coolant. Update:

No overheating or leaks. After driving for a bit, both radiator hoses are full, bottom still cold tho. Havent checked fuses yet, but they had wires stripped on sensor on thermostat housing. Will working with that crap later. Going to try to get idle relearn done. First minute or so driving and car cuts out and stalls when you give it gas. After that smooth driving. Park it, and she does it again. Hoping it's the idle issue.

ezone

Why do you think this is a problem?