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Hello all -- need some advice!

We recently had a 6" rock from the road explode through the front bumper of a 2001 Civic ex. The following work was done to repair the damage at a local Firestone shop:

- replace radiator & radiator fan assembly
- replace a/c condenser and fan assembly
- flush and refill both cooling and a/c systems

After this work was done, the temperature gauge has started going crazy and the cooling system in general seems to be a bit strange.

When the car is started cold, the car does not appear to warm up as it used to (it is getting cold in the NE right now).

After some initial warming up time, the temp gauge will read at 1/4 or less but the vents will not blow warm air. Once the car is driven, the temperature will start to go up. Once the temp gauge starts hitting around 3/4, hot air will blow out of the heater vents. When we stop at an intersection and the car idles, the temp falls back to around 1/4 and then the vents blow out cold air again.

After some amount of driving (say at least 10-20 minutes) the temp gauge seems to stabilize at the 1/2 mark and we get warm air from the vents.

At seemingly random intervals, the temp gauge will suddenly shoot all the way up to the red zone. Sometimes engaging the A/C (which should force the radiator fan on) seems to work bring it down a little, but not much. This strange over-heat condition persists even in temperatures below 30F outside with the car in motion. When we inspect the car it does not appear to be overheating, however we have not attempted to fool with the radiators caps/etc out of safety. However after about 5 min or so of driving, the temp gauge seems to stabilize back at the 1/2 mark. This condition happens intermittently -- in a 1hr trip it will happen at least once, maybe up to 3 times.

The guys at the local shop say it's "air bubbles" in the system. I think they just don't know what they are talking about and am about ready to take this to the dealer.

Any thoughts on what this might really be? I'm not sure where the thermostat is in this car, but could it also be damaged? Could this be air in the system -- and if so can it be bled out some how?

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

 
Rep Power: 0

Yep. You gotta burp the cooling system.

When the car is cold, pull the radiator cap off,start the car, and turn the heater on defrost and full blast. As the car warms up, add coolant as you watch the level drop. Once it's fully warmed up and the level stabilizes, slap the cap back on and enjoy a stable coolant system!

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks for the reply! I'll try to do that this weekend.

 
Rep Power: 0

NP. Let us know how it goes.

 
Rep Power: 0

1. You do have to "burp" the system in cases like this.
2. I can't believe the guys at Firestone did not do this.
3. I'm wondering if you don't have some king of partical contamination.

I'd like to hear what the cause was.

 
Rep Power: 328

YEP, YEP, YEP, you my friend have air in the cooling system.

Just do as described my foos and you should be good to go.
You could take back to Firestone and tell them to do it, you did pay for a job that they did not complete.

Welcome to the site by the way and update this thing when it is fixed.