Rep Power: 294

Ok so recently my car has been overheating but honestly i am pretty sure its not a bad headgasket. It has no signs of heatgasket being blown. It overheats when i drive like about 1 hour and then floor it on the freeway. Like today it started after i made a 3rd gear run. It went up but no that high i turned on my heater and it went down and when i would stop at the stop lights it would go all the way down. What do you guys think is happening?

 
Rep Power: 362

check your radiator fluid to see if you have enough.

since you're turbo, I bet you that it's your headgasket.

also check your spark plugs ... I blew my headgasket ... I checked the plugs and realized that 2 of them were cracked ... after I sold my kit, I realized the fuel pump was cracked too ... obviously causing a lean issue.

 
Rep Power: 336

radiator clog. water pump needs replacement, ummm...throw any codes? change the radiator fluid.

 
Rep Power: 294

Well my headgasket has blown twice and i know how that is and this one isn't like that thats why i dont think it is the headgasket. I do have enough fluid and i have been checking it.

 
Rep Power: 286

I still think its the headgasket. Could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's your problem.

 
Rep Power: 294

well i just drove my car for 5 minutes and it became overheated so now i do think its my headgasket. It doesn't matter since i will be taking off my head again anyway. What makes me blow my headgasket so much? I think i need a koyo radiator to help out a little

 
Rep Power: 362

is your car tuned?

 
Rep Power: 336

go online and get an aftermarkget headgasket. im sure you will find one for your car.

 
Rep Power: 315

Sure sounds like your running too lean!

 
Rep Power: 294

My car is tuned thats the thing i don't understand! There is no after market headgaskets for our car. At least i have never found one. This time if it is a headgasket its minor because it doesnt over heat big time like the other times. The tuners said they left it kinda rich and sometimes my check engine light comes on and it says i am rich

 
Rep Power: 0

I agree it's a blown head gasket because you said, "i drive like about 1 hour and then floor it on the freeway." When you floor it you generate more compression in the cylinders and the hot gas blows into the coolant causing a hot spot and bubbles in the cooling system and it overheats. When you turned on the heater and it cooled down, a heater core is nothing but a small radiator so that additional cooling helped drop the engine temp some.

They make a tube tester that screws on the radiator cap, fill it with chemical and water and run it and if it changes color the gasket is blown.

"It's a good idea to use a combustion leak tester to confirm your pressure test results. This tool gets inserted into the radiator neck with the engine running and uses a special chemical that changes color when combustion gases are present in the coolant." Check with local radiator repair shops and you'll probably fine one. New product on the market that might help, I can't post the link but Google "rxauto" and check it out. Also, Google "combustion leak tester" and you can find a picture of the tester.

If the thermostat and water pump are good and the water isn't rusty and cruddy then it almost has to be the head gasket. A word of caution: NEVER put cold water in a hot engine because you can crack a head, let it cool off for an hour before adding wtaer then use warm or hot water. One of the worst things to do to an engine is run it hot so get that problem fixed ASAP because running hot the oil can burn on the cylinder walls and the rings can stick and umpteen other ramifications, and when oil gets to hot it loses its lubricating properties, . . . and, and, and . . . .

I believe they make aftermarket headgaskets that are tougher than stock gaskets. 95 Mustangs were notorious for blowing head gaskets and they came out with a metal gasket that cured it. Make sure you timing and mixture are correct and I'd take it to a Honda dealer and have a tune up.

 
Rep Power: 336

http://www.robearracing.com/pd_golden.cfm
this might help you out. im still searching for the aftermarket hg. i know its outhere somewhere

 
Rep Power: 294

Would an aftermarket radiator help any?

 
Rep Power: 336

i doubt it.

 
Rep Power: 294

I already have a kms block guard

 
Rep Power: 362

get some arp headstuds?

 
Rep Power: 305

an upgraded radiator will help keep your motor cooler but it wont solve the problem you have now. did you get new or upgraded (ARP) head studs? to my knowledge, there aren't any aftermarket head gaskets available for our cars. Some guys have upgraded the studs to ARP and torqued them down 5 lbs over spec plus a Nippon leakless headgasket (OEM Honda) and have fixed the blown head gasket situation. what kinda fuel system are you running?

 
Rep Power: 294

I have arp headstuds and have the nippon leakless headgasket and i did torque it more than specs. It lasted about 1 month and thats it and i am running rsx injectors and a return fuel system

 
Rep Power: 453

why did you torque it more then specs? how much more are you talking about?

 
Rep Power: 288

he said 5 lbs over SG....and couldn't you just use a tube of silicone gasket maker?

 
Rep Power: 294

5 over so i think it was 52 should i try more

 
Rep Power: 453

are you using the correct sequence when installing the head gasket and tightening the bolts?

 
Rep Power: 315

It is common to find heads that are not perfectly flat. They will last on a stock engine, but not with mods. You may want to get it checked if you haven't already.

 
Rep Power: 453

^^^ exactly what I was thinking. If you have already blown 2 headgaskets, it is a possibility you have a warped head or warped deck. I would get it checked out. Use a flat edge and feeler gauges to check.

 
Rep Power: 294

Well we will see when i switch to my other head. I think its the head because i blew the head gasket with this head stock once. This is my second with turbo and 3rd overall. First time was just with exhaust. I am following the sequence i am doing everything the way i should

 
Rep Power: 0

I concur with what others have said and until you get the hg replaced another radiator is not going to help. What with it overheating twice, you could have a cracked head or warped head so don't JUST replace the HG, take the heads to an automotive machine shop and have them checked for cracks and milled to make sure they are perfectly flat.

Pay attention to what streetglower said, use the proper sequence when tightening the head bolts and follow Honda specs for torquing because if the heads are perfectly flat there is NO reason to over torque. Think about it; There are thousands of engines out there just like yours running fine so why deviate from factory torque specs?

You have received some really good feed back from the members and I hope you get it repaired because I know over heating is an aggrivation. Again, over heating is pure torture to an engine and one of the worst things you can do to it so get it fixed pronto because. If it gets tooo hot tooo long the oil on the cylinder walls quits working and the rings stick and 'gall' the cylinder walls then you have to pull the engine down and hone the cylinders and do a ring job, and hope it didn't get hot enough to gall the connecting rod and main bearings.

 
Rep Power: 294

Well all the other memebers with turbos and arp headstuds torque higher than what the factory specs say. I also do follow the sequence and i am swaping the head again so i willl find out if my other head was messed up. I should finish today or tomorrow

 
Rep Power: 453

before you swap on another head, again I highly recommend you check the surfaces of the head and the block. If you have another incident of overheating, you could easily warp the new head you put on there. I believe this has something to do with it since you have already blown a few headgaskets. Otherwise there is too much cylinder pressure doing all this.

 
Rep Power: 294

I kinda think i got lean when i boosted it. The weather is changing and i went from tuning at 104 to driving in 40 degree weather thats a huge difference. I also my car was tuned rich and i used to have the cell saying my car was rich now it doesn't come on. I also turned up the boost a little. All this i believe was the problem. I checked the head and its perfect and haven't checked the block but i will tomorrow

 
Rep Power: 303

this is definately your problem. cooler air is much more dense with oxygen. on top of that you turned the boost up with out a new tune. i bet your running lean and that is the whole problem with the overheating issue. do you have an egt or a wideband? this would be very helpful right about now. monitoring your afr and egt's is very important on a f/i car. especially if it was a factory n/a motor. i would definatley go buy a egt at least if not a wideband or both.